I’ve always been a picture-taker, even before smart phones. While I didn’t have my camera all the time or often carry it to work with me, I did manage to grab a few classic “coworker shots” that now flash me back to the old days.
Fresh out of college, first jobs in my chosen field (marketing, then copywriting)… memorable characters from my workplace, some of whom I’ve kept in touch with; and others, a fading recollection.
With well-paid work being scarce, layoffs aplenty, and resume rejections par for the career course in these trying times, I bet I’m not the only one doing early-career throwbacks.
Taking a moment to reflect on old jobs, old faces, and the ways we worked before the speed of technology took hold.
Let’s kick it back to career life in the early ’90s… my hey day!
My first job out of college was for an industrial company. They started me on customer service and admin duties, then quickly added print marketing projects and trade show management (which I hated, by the way!).
Then they had me managing stock inventory in the computer, preparing bills of lading for international orders, and at some point they added purchasing to my ever-expanding task list.
I would get faxed replies from customers in China who addressed me as “Mr. Dina” and said things like “Many thanks and so sorry for inconvenience” – they were always apologizing and ever-grateful.
We worked with a lot of super nice people, in small departments that interacted frequently. I did everything from taking customer orders for machinery parts, to reporting late payers to our accounts-receivable manager, to designing ads for trade publications, to prepping trade show displays and making trips to the warehouse out back to troubleshoot customer orders.
In the photo above, I am actually wearing my friend’s borrowed clothes, having gone out drinking the night before (WHAT??), and stayed over at her place. If I tried to do that now, they’d have to wheel me out in an ambulance, probably.
My roommate and I were excited to be on our own, set up for work life and weekend enjoyment in our tiny garden apartment in northeast NJ.
Here we are celebrating Christmas, with one of the engineers from work and his buddy, and my friend Liz from college who made the trip down from New York. Back in the day, I invited everyone to our parties, including my brother and my mechanic! What a wild mix.
After I left that job, I worked as a copywriter for Toys”R”Us’s in-house creative advertising team up at their Paramus HQ. This was a jump to the corporate big-time.
I remember my first day, being tasked with headline-writing for one of our international stores. I felt shocked (and grateful!) to finally immerse in a role where I had only ONE hat to wear: managing writing and editing work that came through our department.
Working for Toys”R”Us was a blessing in that again, I was teamed with incredible people. I still remember my first day, all the smiling faces welcoming me, and getting invited to a group lunch at Pizza Hut. (Remember sit-down lunches and their salad buffet?! It was like Chuck E. Cheese’s is now, but better.)
We worked hard, and we partied a little, too. The TRU Copywriting Department partnered with various graphic design teams on the advertising floor, where we married the message and visuals for all written communication published by Toys, Babies, and Kids”R”Us, and Imaginarium stores.
Every job was scheduled by our traffic department, who passed around job folders that contained all the needed information including headline and copy direction, product information sheets, drafts and revisions.
One aspect of my old job as a Toys R Us copywriter that I remember clearly was having to rein in my creativity and keep the voice tame. Bosses, marketing directors and GMs generally would go with the less-edgy headline and more reserved copy message.
Times have changed since then. I feel like a lot of what I wrote, with my lively tone and fondness for wordplay, would definitely fly and be welcomed in today’s retail market.
There was never a shortage of social events — Thursday night happy hour, the aforementioned group lunches (we were close to Ridgewood, NJ, with its impressive selection of eateries), and weekend get-togethers.
Sometimes we would even take a field trip to someplace like Mt Fuji (Japanese restaurant up on a mountain in north Jersey), or have a weekend trip into Manhattan for dinner and a comedy show.
How My First Jobs Shaped My Career
In an effort to sum this up intelligently, here are my professional takeaways that shaped my copywriting career and independence as an online business owner:
- Exceptional customer service – high empathy, making my best effort to meet their needs and resolve issues
- Independent work – juggling multiple priorities and learning to self-manage daily tasks and demands of a small team
- Creative collabs – working with graphic designers to marry image and design for a powerful message
- Time management – adhering to tight deadlines in a team work environment with ever-changing deadlines
- Tech skills – mastering the tools of the design world, including receiving on-the-job training to bolster my production skills
- People skills – adapting to and working with different personalities, accommodating for varying work styles
- Flexibility – pivoting with shifting priorities in a dynamic and fast-paced work setting
- Writing and editing – mastering the craft of my trade with a variety of challenging projects targeted to different audiences
After leaving the corporate advertising world with 7 years of experience accumulated, I moved on to the world of online marketing, and freelance copywriting for clients who found me via my website.
A whole host of new skills, and a new phase of career development… a long story for another day!
Find my copywriting services at DinaGio.com