Tuesday, 22 September 2015

First day as a Khaleej Times employee

I started working at Khaleej Times in September of 2014. Here's what my first day there was like...


Surprised? Unnerved? Excited? What should I have been on my first day as a web journalist for 
Khaleej Times? I am in the league of the big cats now, that’s all that ran through my mind. One step awry could mean deportation, or a promotion.

It feels good to be back in a newspaper office. Soul-satisfying. Different people, even more diverse thoughts and opinions; this is where I should’ve been all along. And finally I am.

Through the meet and greet in the department, everyone seems willingly helpful. An information overload on the first day, by that I mean new colleagues’ names, software names, usernames and anything else that could have a name. Followed by the dos and don’ts instructed to me, to the hows and whys asked by me, I’m sure this game of ping pong will continue.

What I like most is that people here talk, unlike writing elaborate emails for the smallest of reasons. Unless necessary.

So I’ve started with what I came here to do. It is taking me a little while to learn my way around, but sure looks like I’m getting there. Handling such a big platform, in the UAE as an expat can be a little intimidating. But then I look around and almost everyone’s an expat, which leads to sigh of relief. Something on the lines of “Don’t fear, we’re all expats here!”

Looking back at my first day, I spent half of it with a new employee like me. She is the first person I know from Jammu & Kashmir. The other half nudging my colleagues and editor with possibly stupid questions, but they took heed, which has made the second day look a little less confusing.

I’m convinced that it is one of the few jobs in the world that can make every day interesting.

This post first appeared on khaleejtimes.com

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