by Zack PyleThree Things I’ve Learned in Three Years at N6A
Getting a job is challenging, but keeping one is easy when you’re allowed to cut your own path to job success. While every career is different, everyone’s personal experiences can help others in the grand scheme of things. At N6A we’ve always gone by the company culture mantra: “embrace the pace.” My three years at the agency so far have definitely lived up to that motto in some fascinating ways.
I’ve had the opportunity to define my experiences by working with clients across many different industries and flourish over the past three years by being a member of some incredible and extremely collaborative teams. Through it all, I’ve learned some critical lessons too.
Here’s three key learning points that have been pivotal during my time at N6A:
1. Real collaboration is the key to professional development
Having a supportive community of coworkers is the key to career growth. While I’m well aware of my work responsibilities and work extremely hard to complete them to the best of my ability, I’m nothing without a supportive team behind me. My career growth at N6A over the past three years wasn’t alone, and I can name several people at the agency who are absolutely to thank for my continued development.
Without a strong team behind you, it’s very difficult to succeed — especially in an industry as complex as public relations. In my experience, it’s very important to build quality relationships in a working environment and ensure you also work to surround yourself with people who are rooting for both your professional success, as well as the company’s. It’s a team sport, and you’re not going to get the win on the board without you and your teammates operating at the best of your abilities, together.
We all have one common goal of providing amazing work for our clients, and when we’re working together towards it, we can accomplish so much more.
2. Personal time is as important as working hours
There have been countless stories written about how to maintain a work-life balance, and I don’t think any one person has the complete recipe for success on this. We all have different life priorities, work responsibilities, goals, and objectives. But if I’ve learned one thing from four and a half years in PR, you need to make time for yourself. Putting yourself first will allow you to effectively accomplish the daily grind and continue to do impactful work. N6A’s non-standard time-off policies in particular have given me so many opportunities to put myself first – even encouraging me to do so.
At N6A, employees are rewarded with month-long sabbaticals each year if we hit performance goals, and I’ve had the chance to take not one, but two sabbaticals in three years.With this time off, I was able to travel to Croatia, Spain, France, Disney World and more!
Sometimes the PR industry can be more intense and demanding than others, and it’s important to put yourself first in order to deliver the highest quality work and service for your clients. If you’re in a good place, your work will be too. In turn, it provides a boost to the team’s overall productivity as well.
I’m really thankful to work for an agency that really understands the meaning of a work-life balance, and supports employees to prioritize it.
3. Always stay on your toes
Telling someone to remain alert and ready for anything that might happen is a bit simplistic, especially in our current on-the-go society. But an essential function of my career has been being able to adapt to the working styles and personalities of many industries and people.
I previously worked for an agency that was super laser-focused on one specific sector, which caused me to only stay laser-focused on a singular topic, but N6A has given me the opportunity to spread my wings and learn the ins-and-outs of a broad range of businesses, character traits, and strategy methods.
Every client has different preferences, expectations, and methods for day-to-day communications. The main priority here is ensuring that you’re able to work with client personalities across the board to better understand what’s important to them, but also still ensuring you’re able to deliver quality service and provide a thoughtful and strategic perspective.
New challenges encourage you to think outside of your normal swim lanes and lean into the support of your team – and gets you comfortable with the uncomfortable. I have worked across over two dozen industries during my time at N6A, and I collaborate with several different teams every day. Being adaptable has probably been the essential function to my career.