10 Career Tips From Marie Claire’s Editor-in-Chief

Marie Claire’s editor-in-chief Anne Fulenwider at the New York Women in Communications Foundation’s Student Communications Career Conference

As the new year starts off, some of us are making resolutions around our careers and exploring whether we’re happy with where we are.

You may be asking yourself:

• ‘Do I feel engaged in my current job?’
• ‘Is it time to take the next step?’
• ‘Do my skills and experience make me competitive in the media job market?’

Regardless of whether you’re looking to overhaul your career or just make a few changes, a recent keynote by Marie Claire’s editor-in-chief Anne Fulenwider (@annefulenwider) will help.

At the end of 2014, Fulenwider spoke with attendees of the New York Women in Communications Foundation‘s Student Communications Career Conference. The conference consisted of various panels pertaining to the communications field. I had the pleasure of attending a few of those panels as well as Fulenwider’s luncheon keynote.

Although the conference was geared toward students, the top 10 career lessons she shared are good reminders for everyone.

Enjoy her list, then leave a comment with the most valuable career lesson(s) you’ve learned.

1) Put in your time and do the hard work.

2) You have to show up. It’s about creating your own luck. You need to show up and see what happens.

3) You need to throw yourself into whatever you’re doing and work hard. On the weekends, turn it off and do something you like.

4) Work doesn’t feel like work when you enjoy what you’re doing. You’re going to work for a long time, so don’t be bored.

5) Seek new experiences. Do things to keep your curiosity going. Curiosity is the opposite of complacency. Complacency is the killer of good ideas.

6) Remain useful in the most positive way.

7) Make people notice you. You have to point out what you’ve accomplished. Your hard work deserves recognition. You need to be right and brave. The times I have been most bold are the times I have been the most successful.

8) Stick with it. There are many variables in your life, so it’s crucial you hold onto something for yourself. Work can do this. Work is going to forge your life and expose you to new people and different lives.

9) Work helps you with financial independence, which is empowering. The odds are you will live long and never know what will happen, and financial freedom can really help you.

10) Do the things you’re afraid of. Don’t ever let the reason for you not to do something be fear. You have to intellectually dismiss fear.

Want more media career stories? Check out Beyond Bylines’ monthly column Career Crossroads. You can also read our other recaps from the Student Communications Career Conference on ProfNet Connect.

Polina Opelbaum is a communities service specialist with ProfNet. If you need a subject matter expert for that story you’re working on, ProfNet has thousands of folks available to help. Members of the media can register for PR Newswire for Journalists to begin using ProfNet and PR Newswire’s other free media tools.