Tesar-Reynes

I visited my PRSSA chapter for my last official meeting Monday. Afterwards, me and other members of the executive board went out to grab a bite. We chatted about how our marketing and public relations internships were going.

As we opened up, we got into an interesting conversation about our fears. The added pressure of hiring freezes and the competition that brings for jobs can make the workday stressful.

We of course would always perform our duties to the best of our abilities. We had to admit, however, lurking deep in the back of our heads existed legitimate, insecurity driven fears. Here are four of the fears we discussed. I hope this post helps our readers better understand their newest workers.

1. Fear of Asking Questions

Sure, your teachers tell you, “There is no such thing as a stupid question.” If only that we’re true. We’ve all been party to a boneheaded question in a meeting. It immediately lowers the value of the person asking.

Over lunch, I candidly talked about interns posing questions with a couple higher-ups from an internal communications outfit. They both agreed they didn’t mine questions, so long as they were thoughtful and the intern exhausted all other resources.

2. Fear of Showing Up Superiors

On the surface, this may sound like an arrogant fear to have. But on the level, as an entry-level marketer, some of us have a fear of over-stepping our role.

What if, for example, you’re given a media pitch to do, but you go outside of the media list you’re given and land a piece in a different, high-profile publication. This happened to a friend of mine. Smartly, perhaps, she gave credit to her boss, who in return, gave the credit back to her.

She admitted to me, for a moment, that she felt a fear her boss would view her as some kind of rogue that would be hard to control.

3. Fear of Your Superiors Not Liking You

Others know this as the doghouse. Bottom line – if your boss doesn’t like you, they’re not likely to hire you.

Sometimes, you just don’t get along with your boss. Insecurity-driven behavior, however, can get you to act out of character, further muddling you and your employer’s relationship.

I think it helps to show some backbone in this type of situation. If your employer doesn’t like you, fine. But some backbone will at least get your employer to respect you.

4. Fear of Working Hard and It Not Paying Off

This is the ultimate fear. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m thrilled to be working at a job doing what I love to do. In this economy, any job is a blessing. Of course, it would be nice for the hard work to pay off with a position.

If you’ve noticed in other posts, we stress the importance of Net Geners putting in more than the usual nine to five. A friend of mine who supervises at a bank joked with me, “That’s what we in the management world call – foolish.”

I think it’s dangerous to expect a payoff nowadays. Most of us had the hope that hard work and some talent was all it would take. I’m beginning to realize, a little luck and timing pays off as well.