Not many people know this, but my first work experience was at WIN TV.
I wanted to be a newsreader.
I was still in high school at the time, and the school District matched students with work experience in vocations that interested them.
It was cool to be inside a newsroom, and even cooler driving around Central Queensland capturing stories.
But the moment I remember most wasn’t a breaking news story or a live segment.
It was a conversation with one of the camera operators.
He told me his dream was to be a cameraman.
He didn’t know why it was his dream.
He just always wanted to do it.
So he went to the studio to ask if there were any jobs, and none were available.
But that didn’t deter him.
He committed to doing this every day.
Every morning, he’d walk in the door and ask if they needed anyone on cameras that day.
Each day he heard no.
Then one day, someone called in sick and they didn’t have a backup.
When he went in that morning, the response he received was, “You want to jump on the camera?”
After that, he kept getting asked back, and eventually they gave him a full-time gig.
That story shaped how I think about career advancement.
While we spend a lot of time thinking about timing, applications and qualifications, some of the best opportunities go to the people who are simply already there.
You don’t always need to be the most experienced.
But you do need to show up before the opportunity is official.
Because when something opens up, it’s a lot easier to say yes to the person who’s already proven they want it.
As a result of the work experience, I decided I didn’t want to be a newsreader.
But it did shape how I would later coach professionals and executives.
(Let me know what your first work experience was. I’d love to hear it!)