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Topic: First Day at New Job
| Author | Message |
| bmore_beat | Posted – 3/9/2006 9:01:44 AM | show profile On Monday, I begin my new job at a local daily. While I am very excited about the new opportunity, I am unsure of what my first day will entail. Can anyone tell me what to expect? Tours and introductions? Getting right to work? This is my first job in the media industry (I'm leaving the nonprofit world), so any help from more experienced posters is most appreciated. Thanks! |
| prlove | Posted – 3/9/2006 2:38:52 PM | show profile From my experience, the first day at ANY job involves tours, introductions, filling out paperwork, getting set up on your e-mail, training and whatnot. |
| ideefixe | Posted – 3/9/2006 4:10:53 PM | show profile Not to be a wet-blanket, but don't expect a parade to be followed by rose petals and cuddly puppies. Sometimes new hires think that there will be more ceremony--the ''tour'' could be a wave in a a vaugely westerly direction with an off-hand ''there's the ladies room'' and then ''there's the coffee machine''. If you have specific questions--how long do most people take for lunch, is there a staff refrigerator, do you need a code for the copy machine, where are supplies--ask them. Better to ask questions than to appear to know and then be lost. And don't take it personally if people aren't effusively welcoming. A local daily is likely to be staffed by the overworked, underpaid, etc whose capacity for delight is about full. |
| Collier | Posted – 3/9/2006 6:36:18 PM | show profile i think it depends on the editor. my first editor at the local daily held my hand the first day. on the first day at my most recent job, they didn't even tell me how to work the phones. i would expect to get right to work. do you have a beat? if so, call your primary sources, introduce yourself and ask them what they would like to see from coverage. if your covering education, for example, call the school district's pr person and ask to tour one or two schools a week until you have gone to every one and met the teachers and principals there. even better, if you can come up with a story your first day on your own, then you will get major points. |
| carolynkate | Posted – 3/9/2006 7:04:22 PM | show profile how about at magazines? I'm also starting a new job on Monday at a glossy mag. Anyone have experience in this area and might let me know what to expect? I have an editor I report directly to, so I assume I'll go over everything with him first, but who knows? Also what goes on at the TWO HOUR Conde Nast orientation?? |
| bmore_beat | Posted – 3/14/2006 9:28:19 PM | show profile For the Record ... I started on Monday, and my first day was pretty much as everyone said it would be. First, I received a tour of the facility and was introduced to dozens and dozens of people. I was shown around my work area and helped with phone and email setup. The associate editor took me out to lunch with some people from the art department and then I went to work ... Pretty straightforward. |
