Today, we continue to run excerpts from my new book, Always Be Job Hunting to give you the flavor of the book and encourage you to check it out on Amazon.com

Chapter 3: Finding a First Management Job

Once I had my first newspaper job, I did almost everything and anything that was asked of me to develop as broad a portfolio of skills and experience as I could.

The site of my first newspaper job is just a parking lot now, ther building is gone but the paper is still in busienss.

A first job is a time to learn about your chosen profession, I believe, and to develop a wide range of abilities so you can move up the ladder in your field. If you only learn to do one thing, you won’t be prepared for a new job or a new employer should your current one decide you’re expandable at some point.

My full-time job was education reporter, covering three local school boards and two community colleges. This meant I worked from 2 p.m. until whenever three or four nights a week. School board meetings normally started at 7 p.m. and with contentious issues on the agenda, could go well past midnight. I took notes during the meetings, then raced to a pay phone (no cell phones in those days) to call in a story that I was writing in my head , even as I dictated it to someone on the newsroom’s copy desk back in the office.

I know this routine sounds like it’s out of a movie and you may be wondering, “How can someone write while they’re talking?” but that’s exactly what I learned to do. I loved it.