Lessons From My First Job That Led Me To Taking My Own Career Path

Your first experience at trying out something and failing or succeeding is one that you remember the most vividly. Take first jobs for example – there are usually joys, frustrations and lessons which you take from it all.

Anne shares her inspirational journey on her first job, and the lessons ingrained in her. She started at the bottom, working her way up, simply fuelled by passion, hard work, and determination to succeed in building an exceptional career for herself.

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This is her story:

My first job was an internship position at KBC TV when I was 24 years old. I was later contracted as a junior producer, making Sh12, 000 a month. Here, I worked for two years before being employed as a part-time production assistant, making Sh25, 000 per month.

The salary was enough until I realized that I was expecting a baby. This was the point I knew I had to get another job or ask for a pay rise. Since the pay rise was not in the works, I had no option but to apply for other jobs while still working here. Soon enough, I landed a place at Express DDB, an advertising company, as an account executive.

The salary was still Sh25, 000. I worked from Monday to Friday, 8am-5pm, and Saturday, 9am-1pm, while still squeezing time in the evenings, to go to KBC. Juggling between my daughter and two other jobs to make ends meet was exhausting for me, and one of the toughest periods in my life. As a single parent raising a child on my own, I had no choice but to do it all.

My first real job came in 2004 when I got a news anchoring job with KBC. I started off by reading the 1 pm news and eventually moved to business news on the 9 pm bulletin. I then finally crossed over to CNBC Africa. Since then, I have been able to work at Citizen TV and eventually launch my communications firm.

I look back and I am grateful for all the experiences I gained along the way. They have helped me and brought me to where I am in my career.

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Lessons learned

Changing jobs: I have learnt not to just jump ship because of a bigger cheque. I do regret some of the decisions I made because the corporate culture I had known before was very different.

Work ethic: My first job taught me about work values. I learned that hard work pays, networking always opens doors, and to never burn bridges. The journalism field is tough terrain but it is also very close-knit.

Education: I should have gone back to school earlier. I’d have loved to be doing my PhD right now. I think studying really opens up our world view. I would advise anyone who’s working to take on further studies.

Work for free: Young people shouldn’t fear to work for free to gain experience and build networks.

Follow your passion: Take a job that’s close to what you want to do; if not, take what’s available and work towards your dream by going to school to build your knowledge, network with prospective employers or contacts, or dare to start your own business.