Significant Career Lesson From A TV News Anchor At ABC7 News
Kristen from ABC7 News KGO-TV emphasizes the necessity of active networking and self-promotion, particularly for women who might assume that good work speaks for itself; instead, one must "tell them and show them" accomplishments, like high story clicks or being first to a story, and "create opportunities" by directly pursuing coveted assignments, like maneuvering to cover a breaking news story in New York. In addition, she stresses knowing one's worth, negotiating fair compensation, and establishing a valuable niche, such as becoming the go-to person for political insights, to avoid settling for less than one's peers.
Networking, Career Development, Negotiation, Achieving Goals, Overcoming Challenges
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Kristen Sze
TV News Anchor
ABC7 News KGO-TV
UC Berkeley
Political Science, American Studies
Arts, Entertainment & Media
Communication and Marketing
Immigrant
Video Highlights
1. Networking and self-promotion are crucial: Don't assume your hard work will be noticed. Proactively highlight your achievements to your boss and others.
2. Create your own opportunities: Be assertive and take initiative to pursue desired assignments and experiences.
3. Know your worth and don't settle: Understand your value, negotiate for fair compensation, and develop a niche to become more valuable to an organization.
Transcript
What is one lesson that you've learned that has proven significant in your career?
What's a lesson that's proven significant in my career? I think you absolutely have to network and market yourself, both in your current job and your next job. A lot of us, especially women, have this tendency where we feel like if I just do a good job, somebody will notice.
Well, guess what? They won't. Your boss is not going to notice. You are going to have to tell them and show them, and don't be shy about it. We can also be humble in such a way where we feel like we shouldn't toot our own horn, but we need to. That's an absolute necessity.
Otherwise, people won't notice the good work that you've done. So go say, "Hey, look, the story that I did, we got a hundred thousand clicks on it." And look, the LA Times did my exact story two weeks after me. So you've got to make sure people know that.
Don't settle for good enough, right? Whether that's in terms of the assignments you get or the compensation you get, don't settle for less than your peers. For example, early in my career, there was one guy who always got all the big stories, the juicy ones that all the reporters wanted.
For a long time, I was just like, "Oh my gosh, how do I break into that?" My chance came when there was a big breaking news story in New York, sadly a plane crash. I was in New York, and I knew they were going to send him because they always do. So I called up and I said, "Hey, guess what? I'm already on my way. I'm almost there. So there's no reason to send anybody else."
I wasn't quite almost there, but I was ready to go and was probably going to get there quicker than him. You just have to create opportunities. In terms of compensation, I think women are sometimes more willing to accept something that isn't optimal. Know your worth, know what value you bring.
Create more value by having a niche, for example. I think people with a specialty or a niche can be more valuable to an organization. If I've established myself as the one who's most plugged into politics, or the one who does the most insightful interviews, that adds to your worth. Then you also need to make sure that translates into your compensation and your career. So yeah, don't settle for less.