Hi! I’m Jess and I am currently taking EMPR 240!
My first real job was last year when I was a Publications Staff for a media company. In this position, I was responsible for creating publications content such as yearbook pages, handbooks, custom CVs and many more. Graphic design was a large part of this role and I loved every second of this job so much that I applied to be the Publications Manager for the following school year (which I got) and so now I am about halfway through my contract as Publications Manager. This has been an absolute incredible experience as it has provided me with the ability to work for a team as well as manage my own team of staff. My position has allowed me to learn how to manage a team, keep up with deadlines, deal with Human Resource issues, and well as issues pertaining to Public Relations. I look forward to continuing my position until my contract is over, and hopefully continue to work my way up within the company for the following school year (as the company I work for function on a yearly “up or out” turnover).
I am particularly looking forward to Module 3 of this course (Combatting Inequality & Unfairness: Wage Regulation in Canada) as I would like to develop a greater understanding of how employees and their work are assessed for proper compensation.
*I added the course past the January 10 deadline which is why I am only posting my Introductory post now
Jessica Brender's Blog 
Hi Jess,
I enjoyed reading your blog entry.
It sounds like you have found a position you are passionate about and an organization that is giving you opportunities to grow. Based on my experience, managing people can be challenging but provides excellent learning opportunities. How many people are on your team?
There are a lot of exciting topics in this course. I am looking forward to finding out more about the unionization process and bargaining relationships.
I hope you have a great experience in this course.
Cheers,
Julie
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Hi Julie,
You are absolutely right, managing people is extremely challenging but has been an incredible learning opportunity. I manage a team of 9 staff and volunteers, but as a whole, my company has about 70 employees!
The unionization process and bargaining relationships topic is not one that I am at all familiar with, so I am also looking forward to learning more.
Thank you for your reply!
Best,
Jess
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Hi Jess,
You seem very active and involved in the community. It sounds like you got a great gig and congrats for being able to do what you love! I am actually a firm believer of the bulk of your experiences and knowledge will come from outside of classrooms and it’s through your interaction and involvement with organizations.
As you are in a management position, it is good that you are eager to learn more about the organization and the actual policies and laws surrounding this area. We may be students now, but having the right tools and knowledge will certainly help us once we step out of the university and explore the real world. I am curious though as your job seems to have a very big creative component to it, where do you get your inspirations from when you handle creative components?
Looking forward to your response.
Christian Soriano
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Hi Christian,
Thank you for your reply!
I am also such a firm believer that so much of our knowledge comes from actual working experience than from the classroom. When issues arise in the workplace, it is so important to know the correct resources to deal with the problems and how to properly resolve them.
I am so grateful that my job has so many creative components to it, since starting university, I felt as though I had lost my creative outlet, so now I finally have one again! I get a lot of inspiration from searching on websites such as Pinterest, but also since I work with such a creative team, I have the opportunity to brainstorm with them and they always provide me with such great direction!
I hope you enjoy the rest of the course!
Jess
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