Purpose Statement: This blog post for my Writing 310 class lists and discusses some of the job skills that I have acquired.
I have had a variety of different job experiences that have given me a variety of different skills. Before I ever held an official job, I often helped my grandpa with yard work on his property in the country. He would pay me $10 an hour to rake hay or weed his garden, and doing that job for three or four hours a day every high school summer taught me how to maintain a high level of work activity. It was tempting to just sit there and listen to music and only work at half the pace instead of giving it my all, especially when I was tired, but if grandpa could tell that I hadn’t really been working then he wouldn’t give me the full amount of money. He believed strongly in work ethic, so I learned a little bit of that from him.
My first on-campus job was being a Phonathon Caller for the George Fox Advancement Offices, when I began going to college as a freshman. It was a job where students would call alumni, past faculty and student families, and ask for donations. It wasn’t an easy job, but I learned a lot. This job definitely helped me with my communication soft skills, such as meeting new people, taking independent action, and remembering information. I had to go off of a script, but also personalize each conversation to each stranger that I was talking to. In a three-hour shift, I would often hold ten to fifteen minute conversations with anywhere from ten to thirty people. While I’ll never work at a call center again if I can help it, those communication skills will definitely be useful in whatever job I have in the future.
The job I had last summer was a full-time job working at Walmart, eight hours a day, five days a week. That was another difficult job. Being on my feet for almost eight hours straight, constantly talking to customers, moving up and down, carrying heavy boxes, was a lot for me. However, I feel like it gave me a lot more valuable experience. I was able to provide customers with service, telling them which aisles to go to or helping them reach something on a top shelf. I endured long hours of work, and maintained records of item backstock and similar numbers. If I ever need to work in retail again, or even if I don’t, those skills will remain in my arsenal.
Probably the most helpful job I’ve had, in terms of skills I hope to use frequently in the future, was my job as an Assistant Writing Fellow last semester. I helped freshmen in the LIBA 100 Liberal Arts class with writing and editing their essays, and assisted course teachers with writing workshops. I determined and analyzed problems in the students’ writing and gave them advice on how to fix it. These writing and editing and communicating skills are the most similar to one of my prospective dream jobs, which is to work with an editing and publishing company. However, every single one of the jobs I’ve had has given me some skill that will be helpful in the future. A work ethic, thinking fast on the job, and persevering through long hours will be useful in any job.
Writing Wizard 