Hannah Seligson and I are both members of Damsels in Success, a new professional networking site for women. I asked Hannah to tell us about her first book entitled New Girl On the Job.
Urban Muse: At what point did you decide to become a freelance journalist? Or did you always know it was what you wanted to do?
Hannah: I decided I wanted to be a freelance journalist when I was working on the book proposal for my book, New Girl on the Job, a career guide for young women based on over a hundred interviews I synthesized. I was writing for The Villager, a local New York City newspaper. I was covering all sorts of glamorous events, like dog parades. But that was the thing. I saw that there was a story in everything and it didn’t matter whether I was writing about dogs or democracy, it was just the concept of writing a story that captivated me.
UM: How do you juggle bigger projects like writing a book with shorter assignments for magazines or newspapers?
H: Well, you have to juggle. Today, no one is just an author. They wear multiple hats – speaker, journalist, consultant, etc. For me, it’s about prioritizing and figuring what needs the most attention at a certain time. There is also that practical concern of what projects will pay my bills that month!
UM: What was the most surprising thing you discovered while researching New Girl on the Job?
H: There has been a lot of chatter about young women wanting to opt-out of the workforce. To the contrary, I found that young women are very committed to their careers; they just want to peruse them outside the confines of corporate America. My prediction is that you’ll see a lot of young women opt-out of the traditional workforce and start their own businesses, a trend that we already seeing and will probably be sustained by Gen Y women.
UM: Since you write a lot about careers, what is the most unusual job you’ve ever held?
H: I drove a tractor on a Kibbutz in Israel.
UM: Could you tell us about your upcoming projects?
H: I’m working on my second book about long-term relationships.
Thanks, Hannah! For more info, check out Hannah's website.