I was ecstatic to receive a promotion after only 10 months at my first ‘real’ job. Finally, a little acknowledgement for the long hours I had put in and the initiative I had shown. Hard work really does pay off, I thought as our human resources director handed me my fancy new job title.
Yes, I was a big girl now. Not only could I save more money, I could afford to make more investments—in my closet that is. I was living large and in charge, until I made one seemingly fatal mistake.
Before I knew it, it was time to send out a news release. I was so excited to see my name as the contact I just couldn’t contain myself. I proofread it over and over again to make sure there weren’t any mistakes and sent it off to every media outlet in the region.
As I was checking out the pick-up on the release the next morning, I noticed an email from one of my co-workers with a link from our Google alert. Upon clicking on it I was directed to a sports marketing webpage containing my release. Someone had picked it up! Oh yeah, I was big time now.
- (Photo from ‘Ron (Crawfishpie) Dauphin’ via Flickr)
Later in the day I received an email from my boss asking what I thought read, “Are you really the ‘Manager’ of Media Relations?” Shocked she doubted the accuracy of my new title, one she herself had given to me, I promptly, and defensively, replied back, “That is what it says on my job description.”
That’ll show her.
A few hours later, I walked into her office to find her grinning at me from ear to ear. When I asked her what she was smiling about, she explained to me that I had spelled something incorrectly in the release I had sent out the previous afternoon. Impossible! I thought. I read that thing at least 20 times and even had her proof read it for me.
She pointed to the bottom of the release to where my shining new title lay, reading:
Manger, Media Relations and Communications
I was mortified: ‘Manger’ of Media Relations and Communications?! People were probably laughing me out of newsrooms across the region!
It was all coming together now: The Google alert email from my co-worker wasn’t to pat me on the back or say good job, it was to make me aware of my mistake—as a lighthearted joke, that is. And my boss wasn’t questioning my new title she was simply doing the same—bringing to light my comical error.
Looks like I need to learn to read things a bit more closely and keep in mind that though a manger was what Jesus slept in as an infant, it is not interchangeable with my new job title. Who knew?
Thankfully, no one was hurt during this ordeal—if you don’t count my ego that is.
