I've been given the chance to move from the morning show - overnight shift to two of the evening shows. Any other producer would have jumped at the opportunity to make that climb up the corporate ladder. Want to know something? My first instinct was to turn it down.
I know, I know. What person in their right mind would instinctively want to keep working the crazy schedule I've been working the past six months?
Well, let me assure you, I'm not crazy. I just genuinely like the morning show, and to be honest the hours really aren't that bad once you get used to them. There's also the fact that we recently reformatted the entire show, so everything is still relatively new in that respect. It's also very hands-on when it comes to producing. True, the material isn't "fresh" anymore, but you get to rework it so that it appears as if the viewer is just hearing it for the first time. And I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I absolutely loveLOVElove to edit. There's a lot of that with the morning show. I also really like the people I work with on a daily basis, which is a major plus.
All of that is great, but let's be honest here. The morning show - overnight shift isn't where you want to spend your entire career in the news business. With that being said, I've gotten used to the wonky hours and have settled into a pretty comfortable lifestyle. I sleep through the heat of the day and have every Friday afternoon off. How could that be considered a bad thing? Accepting a position that would shift my schedule to 2:00-11:00 p.m. would force me to do a 180 when it comes to how I live, and at first that concept is pretty scary.
Ultimately deciding to accept the position resulted in me sitting down and really examining the changes I would be making, both in my career and in my personal life.
As a career move, acceptance is a really good move. The 6:00 and 10:00 newscasts are primetime shows and should I decide I want to advance and move somewhere else they would look really great on my resume. No one goes to work in a corporation without the thought that they're eventually going to climb that corporate ladder higher into the company. That would be completely irresponsible.
Did the opportunity to advance come earlier than I was prepared for? Definitely. Which goes a long way in explaining my reluctance to immediately accept the offer. However, I know better than to look a gift horse in the mouth. If I had turned the offer down flat, who's to say when or even if I would get the opportunity for advancement in the future. As I mentioned before, no one wants to stay on this shift forever, and the evening shows aren't all bad.
Speaking strictly as a producer, the evening shows have a lot of elements that are desirable. I'll be working with fresh news, dealing with live elements and have reporters I can send out to get stuff should the need arise. The shows are also only 30 minutes compared to the morning show's two hour-long blocks. Things will be faster paced and there will be less down time, which is honestly a big plus. The biggest draw is getting to work with people for the entirety of my shift, even though there will undoubtedly be more drama than I like to deal with.
And did I mention I'll be sleeping at night? I know I said earlier that sleeping during the day really isn't all that bad, and it isn't. But when you get down to it, as a rule people generally function better if they're sleeping when it's dark outside. I don't care how many hours during the day I sleep, as soon as the sun goes down my body automatically starts to shut back down. It's normal to sleep at night.
When all is said and done, the benefits of accepting the "promotion" far outweigh the cons I could think of. Do I regret taking time to really think about my decision? Not at all. My news director wasn't just offering me a promotion. She was offering me a new lifestyle. That's not a decision anyone should take lightly.
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