January 15, 2016 started out as a typical day. While running errands that chilly Friday, I was perusing a grocery store when my phone rang. I pulled it out of my pocket and saw “VOXUS” flash across the screen. “This is it!,” I thought.
This was the phone call that would determine the next chapter of my life. Trying to keep calm, I politely answered, “Hello, this is Ashley.” I’m sure my soon-to-be supervisor,could hear the shaking in my voice. He responded with, “Hi, Ashley, this is Anthony at Voxus. I’m just going to cut to the chase. Would you like to be our new intern?” My heart leaped out of my chest, and I spun around stomping my feet in pure joy. I squealed, “YES!” and Anthony laughed at my excitement and said, “I’ll see you Monday.” I’ve since been hired permanently and the rest is history.
As 2016 draws to a close and I come upon the end of my first year with Voxus, I find myself reminiscing on all the experiences and all that I have learned here. Detailing this past year would make for a very long list, so I decided to keep it short and sweet. Here is the most valuable lesson I’ve learned.
Deadlines are flexible, mistakes are not
Everybody has had moments like these. You’re writing a blog post, it’s due in 20 minutes and you’re barely through the first paragraph. Yet somehow you complete it with just enough time to hit “Send” minutes before the deadline. You pat yourself on the back for a job well done. Then an hour later, your director replies asking you to address the edits and clean up the document. You think, “How bad could it be?” Then you realize, it can be bad. Really, really bad.
One of my biggest downfalls is rushing to make the deadline. Rushing creates room for mistakes—such as grammatical errors, misspellings and factual errors. Attention to detail is everything.
The absolute best advice I’ve received thus far is to slow down. Slowing down, paying close attention to the small details and making sure you’re producing quality work is the only way to succeed in a business that involves 90 percent writing.
My parting advice to the public relations newbies—like me—out there: read what you write, then read it again. Then, when you think you’ve memorized your work and caught every error, read it one more time.
Producing quality work is more important than delivering something that needs extra time.