Technische & Beroepsopleiding

First name : Anja

Function/job description : Journalist

Studies : law studies, but without university degree. left uni after 14 semesters before my finaly exams because I found my dream job

Previous job : none - always worked as a journalist

How did you find your current job : someone told me about free positions, I applied, presented myself, got the job... then the company underwent several internal reorganisations - and without another application I now work for the third post in this company

What are your main tasks at work: I work as an editor at a daily newspaper. My day usually starts with reading several other newspapers (thus noticing the level of information the competitors offer). Then I read the news agencies - which I will continue doing during the whole day.
I have to fill "my" 2-4 pages every day until 2 p.m. When I have an overview about the news situation we decide on what topic should be the headline one in our paper. Then I decide on which will get most important space on my pages and what to put into the other spaces of the initially blank page. I have to look for some colleague that either write the articles or add more info to what the news agencies already published. I have to convince a colleague to write a comment. Then I have to look for photos in our piture agencies database. Usually I have to shorten the articles and reports I want to publish, write new headlines and intros. By 2 p.m. the main part of my work is done and I have lunch break.
In the afternoon my small team is preparing 2-3 pages for an economics daily in Switzerland.

Which qualities do you need to perform your job : stress resistancy, taking quick decisions (about which topic is important etc), doing several tasks at the same time, being a team player, having excellent networking skills

Which aspect of your job do you like best : always being up to date because I "make" the news. After some years on the job you notice that you learnt a lot - in my case about economics - without noticing it and without having studied this subject.

what don't you like about your job : after a while even the most interesting job becomes routine. And I would like to do interviews and write articles myself again. That is why I am not working full time in my main job now but 3 days a week. The rest I can use for freelance work now - if I like. And if I don't feel like working I have the luxurious position to say "no" and can always refrain from my freelance work. I really appreciate this mixture of having a fixed income that pays my rent and having the liberty to decide whether to earn money or have spare time.