When Someone Actually Dreams of Labor
If you’re not new to my blog, then you know I like to talk about money and career and I like the entire classroom to share. If you are new to my blog, welcome.
This year (like every other year) I wrote on my vision board that I wanted to focus more on my blog and revamp it some. I planned some ideas and even reached out to past collaborators (Hi Gaily!) because I really want this to be a place to learn, share, grow and just have fun. Moreover, I want to be more consistent with posting.
Previously, I wanted to do a money diaries series and I got a few submissions, but as I went through the editing process, I realized that people can tend to use money information for harm more than good and scrapped it. But I always knew I wanted to talk about money in a meaningful way because secrecy is far too often encouraged, leaving people making less than they deserve.
In order to move forward talking about money and jobs and progression, I reached out to a few people across different fields of work to find out about what it’s like to be a working man/woman in 2021. Some of the respondents even work for themselves. Thankfully in my little questionnaire, a few people noted that they don’t dream of labor so it won’t be super obvious when I post my own answers. But without further adieu, let’s get into what it’s like to work in PR/Communications in the Corporate Environment.
Ayetozee: How long have you been working at your current place of employment and/or for yourself?
PR/Communications: 3 years
Ayetozee: If you work for a company, how did you get the job? Was it through personal relationships, cold applying, etc?
PR/Communications: I was asked to work there, my application was sent through and when I got it they called me.
Ayetozee: At your job/in your industry, what percentage of people do you think are qualified for their positions?
PR/Communications: In my department we were all trained in communications with the exception of one person. (Communications, PR)
Ayetozee: What was the starting salary for your job? If you work with clients, what do your charge on average for your services/what is the lowest price point? Based on the expectations for your work, do you think that salary is fair?
PR/Communications: I’m not certain what the starting salary was but my salary was 34,000. I do not think it was fair. Based on expectations, experience and degrees, absolutely not.
Ayetozee: If you have received additional qualifications during your tenure in your current position, do they qualify you for raises? Or is there a set schedule for raises at your job?
PR/Communications: If you received additional qualifications - you often times did not get a raise. Government has a rule for raises, I’m not sure what they are but every time your contract is up for renewal, they’d give you a raise between 20-100 dollars.
Ayetozee: Do you think your manager/supervisor encourages individual promotion or is it a place where you’re expected to stay in your position?
PR/Communications: She did. She suggested me for a promotion which I got.
Ayetozee: Is training available at your job? Do they pay for is or is it something you’re solely responsible for?
PR/Communications: Training available? No, but they’d send us off for training or if we saw something we wanted, we could apply and depending on what it was, they would pay.
Ayetozee: How long do you see yourself staying at your current place of employment? How long do you seeing yourself staying in your current field of employment?
PR/Communications: Communications/Pr is one of those fields that you can stay in but change industries you work in. I stayed in Tourism and Hospitality but I also work with a small percentage of people in different industries.
Ayetozee: Do you see your job and/or field as your dream place to be?
PR/Communications: It was my dream job until my last year. It became a chore that I was no longer challenged with.
Ayetozee: Is there Human Resources at your company? How do you feel about them? Do you feel comfortable going to them about anything you experience on the job?
PR/Communications: There was HR at our company. I hated them. They were inefficient and spread our personal business around the place. I never went to them for anything other than a job letter however.
Ayetozee: What factors do you think most commonly cause people to leave your job and/or field?
PR/Communications: Not being paid and no growth.
Ayetozee: What is the benefits package like at your job?
PR/Communications: We got insurance. Insurance didn’t cover eye or dental. Vacation time that rolled over and in my position there was tons of traveling, domestically and internationally.
Ayetozee: What benefits or work related things do you think can make your work environment better?
PR/Communications: Longer Vacation time, Better Insurance. A more modern approach to different industries.
Ayetozee: Is salary information widely available through your job/industry or is secrecy encouraged?
PR/Communications: It is not, everything is a secret.
Ayetozee: Do you feel like senior management abuses their power at work?
PR/Communications: If by senior management, you meant older people. Sometimes but I didn’t experience much of that.
Ayetozee: How long is the maximum do you think that people should stay at a job in 2021?
PR/Communications: As long as their needs are being met, they’re challenged, they can pay their bills and they’re happy, it doesn’t matter.
Ayetozee: What does your dream job look like?
PR/Communications: Independence with financial independence.
If you want to add to the conversation or participate, feel free to send me an email via the contact page. I’d love to have tons of answers and for people to be able to use this as a tool to negotiate for more, get ideas about a career path to transition to or generally learn about what it’s like to work at home or even elsewhere.
