The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword

Whilst working in journalism and content creation may not be quite as brutal as fighting in the war, my titular proverb is aptly relatable to the placement I undertook at Excalibur Press. It helps describe the way in which I found my own personal strengths whilst working in a completely new sector and ultimately how I grew whilst starting on my professional career path.

Having previously believed a career in teaching was for me, it’s safe to say I was relatively new to the working world of journalism and social media before I began my position. Grasping the basics whilst being thrown in head-first proved to be an eye-opener, showing just how unprepared I was to start my career in this industry. Despite my lack of knowledge and expertise, I found that I had several transferable skills from previous positions I had held, as well as general learnings that were applicable to my new role.

My internship with Excalibur Press has so far taught me that as threatening as starting from scratch may initially seem, there are plenty of aspects of life that translate into the work put in behind a computer screen.

Upon reflecting on my experience starting within the company and the sector as a whole, I will use Gibb’s reflective cycle to analyse and further delve into the beginning of my placement.

Description

After securing my placement, I began working at Excalibur Press in June 2022, a time when the business was busy creating content for a variety of clients, so I found myself caught up amidst the ongoing production line of work. It was a very chaotic time to be starting, and there was little time available for my managers, Tina and Alex, to show me what to do.

Primarily, I was working on writing journalistic pieces, something in which I had a level of past experience in at that point, as I was yet to be trained in writing and uploading social media content, meaning I could only achieve half of my job requirements.

Feelings

I felt rather overwhelmed at the start of my placement, something that certainly took over my self-confidence and made me doubt whether this was the right direction for me to be going.

I also found that this pushed me to try harder than I normally would, in an effort to prove myself in a way. I strived to be a fast learner and adapt to my new surroundings, making it my mission to quickly develop the skills needed for aspects of the job that I had yet to learn, including the production of content for social media.

Evaluation

As a result of my determination to continue within my placement at Excalibur Press, I actively pushed myself to work as hard as possible and commit to my placement. Gagné and Deci identified that “motivation involves having intent behind behaviour and truly adapting to new, challenging methods” (page 336), something I believe I demonstrated as part of my determined nature. Whilst I found the first few weeks especially challenging, I remained resilient and that worked positively in my favour as I managed to prove myself within the team.

On the other hand, I feel as though my lack of preparation for the role hindered my immediate performance, which is something I could have worked on prior to starting in the company. As much as this didn’t work in my favour at the beginning, I think it helped showcase my willpower to my colleagues and enabled me to further grow as a result of joining the company. I have been able to look back on pieces I wrote when I first started and compare them to more recent examples of my work, allowing me to see my progression and how far I’ve come professionally in such a short space of time, something I found very inspiring and encouraging.

Analysis

Whilst hindsight is a wonderful thing and it’s easy to say what I would change should I be in this situation again, I would like to acknowledge that I acted to the best of my ability at the time with what I had prepared for. Looking back now, I have been able to find the mistakes in my approach, which I believe has proved invaluable in helping me develop myself both personally and professionally.

Conclusion & Action Plan

In future, having reflected on my actions and experiences, I would prepare myself better and learn more about the environment I was set to work in before I began, so as to ensure I was as well-equipped and ready for the job as possible. Callahan et al found that “preparation relates directly to academic achievement and… benefits have been shown within professional work also” (page 90), which provides further motivation for me to be better prepared in similar future situations.

I would also address my lack of confidence and be more self-assured, as this could have hindered my work performance if I’d felt particularly low and allowed it to. Luckily, however, I did not experience this at the start of my placement, but I know my capabilities and know this could have been a possibility, so this is something I will aim to work on for the future.

Bibliography

Excalibur Press Logo. Website link: excaliburpress.co.uk Accessed: 24 November 2022

The University of Edinburgh, Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle, 2020. Website link: www.ed.ac.uk/reflection/reflectors-toolkit/reflecting-on-experience/gibbs-reflective-cycle Accessed: 24 November 2022