Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Occupational Hazards

I didn’t quite expect it to be like this. Actually I don’t really know what I expected.

Before you get ideas, it’s my job I’m talking about.

Public Relations, I thought, was about people with great persuasive skills, writing skills and speech skills. I was right. But what I didn’t know was, that it is a highly stressful and thankless profession. At one end, you have to satisfy the client who believes it’s his birthright to offload the most menial forms of work onto their PR agency. On the other hand, it’s the journalist who will throw tons of attitude and give you a cold shoulder all the time, as if he’s God and you’re at his mercy. Then there’s your own set of managers who keep giving you deadlines that you simply have to meet, or they’ll give you a look that’ll make you feel like the most worthless piece of shit on the planet. And to top it all, you always have to have a smile plastered over your face and repeat the same thing, again and again to a variety of journalists. If one of these guys don’t kill me soon enough, I’ll probably commit suicide myself.

Anyway, this is probably the fate of most PR professionals. There’s not much we can do about it. Of course, there are certain exceptions too. Some journalists are actually quite sweet, and hear you out patiently. And some clients as well, who have a decent understanding of the media, don’t treat you like a slave. And thankfully, my managers know when to let their hair down and give me a break. But then, I’m human. I need a reason to crib.

It’s not like I’m unhappy or dissatisfied with my job. It’s too soon to say that. I mean, it’s been, what, 4 months, since I joined? I guess what I’m saying here is, I’m stuck between the being out-of-college and starting-work phase, and it’s going to take me a while getting used to working with professionals and their deadlines. Till then, I suppose, this blog will be the vent to all my frustration. Tough luck for you guys tho! ;)

11 comments:

annie said...

Welcome to The Corporate World!! Believe me..it's a pat of every profession, every industry....so chill!! U just started out there so understandable, u'll find it quite mmaddenin. Will get better with time, as you learn to take the crap.
So smile now:)

R said...

You've just started cribbing anyway. Besta. I crib about not having a job after all. Jeeeeeez.

And those clients... *#^@!

Rahul said...

When I'd started working 3 years ago, it was like a bolt from the blue. I soon quit and took cover in the confines of the university again :-)
Not to say I know how it is with you, but I've seen many of my friends grin and bear it for a while, only to see later that they are enjoying it! Good luck!!!

Anjalika said...

oh...i didn't know it was tht bad...
infact,swati is been complaining about it too...THE EXACT THING...

n u know wat does she get in return..it's worse...someone mentioned to a journalist who was working on ppl who crib in their profession..n swati's name came on top...tht is so mean...

now i know y PR in india crib so much...soon these agencies will realise tht they dn't have talented ppl in their team cos they treat all their ppl like shit...

they have the audacity to this,then i guess ppl like u should shut their silly guts into the ass of their mind which is so full of crap.....

very sad....there will be no progress if they continue to behave like this....

anyways,she's quitting her job too,soon maybe....

[Amod] said...

The transition from college to corporate is disliked by most ppl. Who would like to step into working fixed-time finish-before-deadline environment from vella years of college? But we all have done that!!
I know you're in a cribbing mode :)
Your Gtalk status message are always on these lines only, which gives a fair amount of idea. First job is not the favourite for most ppl, so don't think that it will always remain like that. May be in your present job you get a more exciting thing to do. Wait and keep your ears open.

annie said...

Happy Independence Day!!

radiohead said...

areee .. no one is supposed to think of suicide jus bcause of some hard time at wrk .. no no .. naah naah ..

u got to chill ;)

nd if someone gives u a face u give tht cold face bck to him .. a confident poise of ur capabilities ;)

or jus take a lil small break whn wrk gets over u .. n get bck to it again .. thinkin tht its meant to b done .. i think this helps ..

cheers

annie said...

Hope you survivin the heat @ work!Long time..

Mirage said...

@annie: I'm trying!!

@rohit: tera number bhi ayega!

@rahul: hehe...i think i'll go bak to student life myself!

@nika: She is?? It's abt time too!

@amod: Will keep that in mind.

@anuj: hehe...hmm lets see

@annie: Happy Independance Day to u too :). yea have been surviving this...will see how much more cn i absorb! :)

Anil P said...

It'll get a lot worse before it becomes better.

Hang in there!

Deepali said...

I think it usually does get better always. Mainly because some of the routine things become second nature and so you become good at what you are doing, which starts a whole new cycle of more "challenging" work. Venting is only natural because if your job didn't get to you, then you aren't making enough of an effort.