The First 3 Years: The Winding Road of My Early Career

No one travels the same exact road at the beginning of their careers. Even if you have a super detailed five-year plan—if 2020 has taught us anything—it will almost never go as planned. Reflecting on the beginnings of my career in 2017, here’s what my experience actually looked like, and what I’ve learned from it.

Getting My Foot In the Door

I graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in Professional Journalism and Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies. I had my sights set on getting hired by an online publication to manage and build out their digital content strategy—blog writing, editorial calendars, keyword research, social media strategy, etc. My ultimate goal was to end up working for a women’s publication—like Bitch Media, Bust Magazine, etc.—writing blogs and pitching ideas.

I had spent the last three months of college sprucing up my cover letter, tailoring my resume, attending career counseling, and interviewing for positions, to get passed up for people with way more experience than I had. 

The flashy position I was hoping to land slowly turned into data entry for the magazine I interned at, working part-time as an administrative assistant at a digital marketing agency, and working in retail to make ends meet. 

… and I was tired. And disappointed. And feeling down on myself. But I had my “in.” I was working side-by-side with the people whose jobs I wanted to be doing. And I now had a network of people I could learn from and easily access.

My Takeaway: Your first job isn’t your next job, or your last job

Getting your foot in the door can mean a lot of different things. For me, it was working the front desk at a place I wanted to be and taking two other jobs to keep me afloat. I wasn’t passionate about printouts or ordering supplies, but I was excited to be learning from people who had years of experience in the fields I wanted to end up in.

Throw My Hat In the Ring

So I begin soaking up knowledge and volunteering for new things, citing my degree as reason enough to let me edit blogs and proofread every deliverable we sent to clients. When we needed to do keyword research for blogs, I raised my hand to learn how. When we had to hire freelancers, I offered to manage that communication. Soon enough, I had the title “Digital Marketer” and was making enough to leave my retail job and be okay when my contract at the magazine ended.

By one year in, I was already doing a lot of what I had wanted to be doing—managing editorial calendars, working directly with people I admired, and managing the process of publishing blogs.

And I didn’t love it like I thought I would. 

I’m good at writing. But I don’t LOVE it. I enjoy editing, but my vision starts to blur after a couple of hours of staring at a screen. And I didn’t feel like I was helping anybody. 

After a few months of soul searching, I found myself pitching the idea of becoming a project manager to my CEO. I would take a course, do a trial period for project management at the company, and move into the new position if it was a good fit.

And we tried it. And I loved it. And it wasn’t at all what I thought I would be doing in my career. And I was nervous I was going to screw up, but it felt right.

My takeaway: Advocate for yourself and keep an open mind

My title changed a lot in my first year of “big kid jobs,” because I found a way to ask for the work I wanted to be doing, and kept learning whenever I could. Even though my first job wasn’t exactly what I wanted, I was able to make the right moves and advocate for myself to get closer to what I wanted to be doing—and I listened to my gut the whole time, keeping an open mind to new possibilities.

Imposter Syndrome, Small Wins, and Side Hustles

And now, I’ve been project managing for more than two years, and it comes with a lot of wins, challenges, and feeling like I’m not cut out for this. There’s something unique about being a young, female project manager. I’m not the direct manager of anybody, but I manage a piece of everyone at the company’s work every day, which can lead to conflicts—with undercurrents of unavoidable ageism and sexism—that present unique challenges that I have to tackle. At the same time, it presents unique opportunities for empowerment and celebrating the wins of my teammates on a daily basis. 

But, my full-time job can’t be my everything. I still need the opportunity to be creative and get nerdy about word choice.

So I find myself taking on blog writing—like the one you’re reading now—and freelance gigs on the side to continue flexing my content strategy muscles. And with every new responsibility I take on—be it at my full-time job or a new freelance client—my imposter syndrome tells me I’m not actually good at this, and it’s only a matter of time before I’m found out. 

But, with all of the new challenges COVID-19 has thrown at our industry, I’m reminded again and again of the importance of continuing to hone my skills and getting new experiences. Who knows: my career might have to meander in a different direction.

My takeaway: Celebrate the small wins and own the losses

Of course, celebrating my wins helps quiet the imposter syndrome. But acknowledging my mistakes, taking ownership of them, and giving myself grace when I do make mistakes quiets my imposter syndrome even more. Also, side hustles and freelance gigs help build in more of those small wins and learning opportunities.

Keep Going

The fact of the matter is, no one’s careers look how they thought they would in 2020, and our careers will continue to be impacted for years after this is over. My career is not at all where I anticipated it would be three years ago, but I’m learning to ride it out and go where it takes me. 

// Image by Ryanov