Being fired can boost your career

Recently I was asked to give an inspirational talk to a bunch of students about my PR and journalism career in a bid to inspire them into following similar career paths. It got me thinking about my first foray into the industry, how difficult it is to be an intern and why sometimes being fired can be the best things for your career. I started off in newspapers as a trainee journalist (yes dear reader, back in the day when the main route to a national was to work your way up from some far flung local paper, to the regions and then to the bright lights of London).

My job was to make coffee, cover stories about local council meetings and write obituaries. Our house style was based on a right leaning daily red top, and if you were a young woman you were expected to dress like a newsreader (that is; suited and booted with a perfect coiffure). But in my hurry to cover the big stories, I grew impatient with the obituaries and after one error too many I got the sack.

Ouch! What was a girl to do after this rude awakening to the real world? Well, after dusting myself down and crying into my pillow,  I vowed ‘to make ‘em pay’, got myself several part time jobs and put myself through journalism school and landed a gig with a national paper.

I guess the lesson here is that sometimes getting fired can help us refocus; sometimes what we need is a proverbial kick to jolt us out of our comfort zone to help us reach our career goals.

Oh and by the way, I still prefer the bigger picture; I have just learnt that I need to try that bit harder with the detail. And if I am working on a big project and I need to get an intern in, I always make sure I make her coffee sometimes and say thank you. Who knows, she may be my editor one day!

If you need a unique marketing or PR campaign to reach your target audience , submit a brief now!

Chloe

Leave your reply

Click here to cancel reply.