Scoring that dream job

The phone rings and you pick up. When you realize it’s the hiring manager from an interview you attended a few weeks ago, your heart leaps.

You know it will go one of two ways.

This was the situation that 24-year-old Heide Pearson found herself facing just a few months ago. That was the moment when her career-path officially turned from teaching to journalism.

The call was from Global, a national television network in Halifax.

“At the time, it was kind of like ‘I’m applying for everything!’” Pearson said.

Pearson, a Newfoundlander, completed an undergrad in English and communications at Memorial University.

She says she always assumed she would become a teacher. Journalism seemed interesting to her, but she didn’t think it was an option. Newfoundland had only just introduced a journalism education program over the past year.

“I feel like I kind of went through my first few years of school with blinders on. Then I met another Newfoundlander and King’s grad who was like ‘I did this, why can’t you?’” she said.

In May of 2015, she graduated from the University of King’s College one-year journalism program in Halifax.

After the seven months of school at King’s, Pearson was chosen as one of two students to complete an internship at Global.

She grew to love the company. But at the end of April, her internship ended. She didn’t know that there would soon be a job opening that she would be fighting to get.

When she saw the job listing for Global’s web producer, she knew she had to apply.

“I kind of expected they would get a lot more people applying who had more qualifications than me,” she said.

Days went by and Pearson hadn’t heard anything back. She figured they had found someone else to fill the position.

Then, the phone rang. She was hired.

“I literally jumped up and down,” she said. “Honestly I was kind of surprised.”

Pearson has been working at Global for almost two months. She was hired one year after she started her journey at King’s.

She loves it.

When comparing her life as a student to working in the professional field, Pearson says she doesn’t feel a major difference.

“I would often refer to school as ‘work’ because it was essentially working the same as you would in the real world,” she said.

She feels that her hard work and dedication is what got her to where she is today. She says students have to keep working, all the time.

But working  as a web producer isn’t what Pearson always pictured herself doing. She says she was focused on radio broadcasting.

Still, she wanted to be open to different opportunities.

So, when opportunity called that day, she knew what to do.