Teaching a Semi-Old Dog New Tricks

I can’t officially categorize myself as an old dog, but after nearly 14 years in PR, I think I qualify as a semi-old dog.

Upon college graduation, I entered the workforce as an assistant at a boutique, Philadelphia-based PR agency whose client base consisted of large, national consumer accounts. I worked my way up the ranks there for almost 12 years. I had a minor stint in corporate communications at a restaurant franchise, but eventually returned to the boutique agency and stayed until it closed its doors.

A few months ago, I happily accepted an offer here at Buchanan PR – an agency with business-to-business clients and a significantly different structure than I was accustomed to (at my old agency, I worked on a single account 80 percent of the time; at Buchanan, each account person handles multiple clients).

Having started only three months ago, I’m pretty much still the newbie. As you can imagine, being the new person can be a little scary – especially when you’ve got a lot of PR experience but are dipping your toes into an entirely new arena of the industry.

So for all my fellow semi-old or old dogs, here are four things I’ve learned about going from an agency where you’ve been for years to being in a new place with a whole different set of rules.

1) Ask questions. Just like when you started your first job, ask away. You can’t learn about your new company and set of clients by twiddling your thumbs, and there’s only so much that Google can teach you.

2) Don’t feel embarrassed. Though you might want to shy away from asking a younger colleague for help, don’t! There’s so much you can learn from each other. They’re not embarrassed to ask for advice from you, so why should you be embarrassed to do the same?

3) Find your niche. Just because you come from a different background doesn’t mean you don’t have anything to offer. You can provide a fresh perspective. What do you have in your arsenal that applies to your new company? Is it a solid list of contacts who can help direct you to new ones? A knack for bringing in new business? Expertise in digital media platforms? Whatever it is, figure out a way to use it. 

4) Know that it will come with time. This has probably been the hardest for me to acknowledge. I went from being the go-to person for everything – from account work to new employee training and new business presentations to fixing the copy machine – to feeling a little lost, learning a whole new set of contacts, new procedures and where the forks are stored for lunch (very important, I know). As hard as it is – don’t stress about it. You were good at your last job and you’ll be good at your new one.

Just remember, everything takes time. Eventually, it all just falls into place and you’ll figure it out. In the meantime, learn all the new tricks you can!