On June 1, I started my first real-adult-salaried-full-time-post-college job-job as a social media coordinator for Crossway. What a blessing! God opened the door to work at the same publisher that has helped me understand the gospel, dive into the Bible, and know and love him more.
My role is to help Crossway bless and serve more people by letting them know about the wonderful biblical resources available. One month in, I’m still so excited and often walk through the parking lot with a big grin on my face. Today, I’ll share five of the biggest surprises I found in my new job, four hidden gems, and three misadventures.
#1: The building is beautiful.
My first impression when I stepped into the office was that it was absolutely beautiful. The towering bookcases were filled with a stunning array of books and Bibles, seen by the natural light that flooded in from skylights and windows. Looking out, one could watch two massive outdoor water fountains sparkle in the Chicago summer sun.
The building bears witness to Crossway’s brand values: truth, beauty, excellence.
While I expected that my cubicle would be in a dark corner somewhere, I was excited to find skylight windows overhead. I brought all my plants to my desk, and they have been very happy.
#2: I have an open cubicle.
During my internship at Tyndale last summer, I found delight and comfort in my first-ever cubicle. It was a great place to charge my introvert battery between meetings.
I expected to find the same kind of cubicle at Crossway, but lo and behold, I discovered that my cubicle was open. There is no sense of privacy. My desk is in the corner of a square, with three coworkers seated in the three other corners. People can look over my shoulder at any time.
My introvert battery was shot on my first day. So many people to meet, nowhere to escape. I worried that this would be the new norm, and that I would need to find other places around the building where I could focus.
However, the second surprise was that I adapted in just a few days. I feel very comfortable working there now. My favorite part is that my desk comes with three built-in friends. =)
#3: Snacks! And books!
I have to say, Crossway has Tyndale beat in this area. I never imagined that I would work somewhere with an unlimited supply of snacks. The marketing department is known for the best snacks and coffee supply. However, I will wander over to the production department occasionally, because they have the best tea assortment. (Mmm hot cinnamon.) If I feel like having honey with my tea, I will finish my tour at the sales department.
Other perks include a free Bible,* free copies of most of our new releases every month, an employee discount, a special Christmas discount, and on top of that, I can order any books I would like to keep at my desk, and I can read on slow days. What better place is there to work?! 👀
*I wasn’t in a rush, so I chose this expensive and beautiful “Tuskan Green” personal size reference Bible that is coming out in February. In the meantime, I’m probably going to utilize my employee discount and collect an artist series lion Bible and a children’s Bible (look how beautiful this is?!).
#4: Less creative work, more operations.
When I started my job, there were at least two times that someone asked me what my role involved, and I looked over to my boss to answer the question for me. 😂 A few weeks in, I have a much better grasp of my role.
The biggest surprise in regard to my role was that the design does a lot of my work for me. The only time that I get to use Canva is to create quote reels (like this one). All the photography, videos, verse graphics, blog headers, etc., are prepared by Design. This came as a big relief since Crossway’s visuals are held to a very high standard. My biggest aesthetic responsibility is to manage the Instagram grid by planning a posting sequence with cohesive colors.
I don’t have to do too much writing either. I schedule and format the Daily Devotional emails, but the content is written by our authors and pulled together by our content marketing team. When I make product posts, I can play around with the captions, but there’s also some great copy that I already have from the copywriting team.
At the same time, it’s been fun to put on my editor hat and focus on the details. I try to catch typos and broken links before our proofreaders have to. I also had a lot of fun analyzing metrics and making a pretty spreadsheet recently. I appreciate that my typical workday allows me to have leftover creative energy for my own projects in the evening.
#5: The people are fun.
I didn’t expect Crossway to have a fun work culture.
Their brand image was always so serious to me. Their Bibles and books came highly recommended, and their online presence was polished and reverent. I expected that the people who work there would be very serious too.
Then I came and confirmed that they are serious about delivering excellent work. But these people have fun too. They enjoy their work and enjoy working with each other.
On my first day of work, my team invited me to play a series of really random games (like Faces and Birdle) with them. Later that week, the world’s largest operating steam locomotive happened to be rolling through our front yard, and almost the entire company went out to watch.
I enjoy the spontaneous little things, whether my team decides to work at a coffee shop one morning, go on a walk for someone’s birthday, or have a really random discussion about eating rats.
I’m someone who takes myself a little too seriously. That’s how I ended up here. I love what I do and why I do it, I set high standards for myself, and I give 110% to all my efforts. With these traits comes the tendency to idolize my work, embrace a prideful independence, and entirely forget to enjoy God’s gifts.
My team helps me find balance. We have some good laughs together. That’s my favorite part of my job, and I didn’t see it coming.
4 Crossway Resources to Check Out:
Here are all the hidden gems that I didn’t know about until very recently:
- The Daily Devotional email list is a great way to get free sample readings every single day. They come from many of Crossway’s authors and devotional resources (Paul David Tripp, John Piper, Kristyn Getty, etc.), and always tie directly to a Bible passage.
- Crossway also posts articles from their authors on their website every single day. So much good stuff here.
- Crossway has a YouTube channel with 2–4 minute author Q&As every week, and an incredible podcast too.
- I manage four social media channels if you would like to follow any of them for Bible verses, quotes, article links, and new book and Bible alerts: Instagram, Facebook, Threads, X.
3 Mistakes and Misadventures
Trial and error is the name of the game… It’s great to be new and make mistakes, because it makes for some fun stories.
#1: I didn’t check the weather.
It was a pleasant and sunny evening. “Yes, please!” I exclaimed, as the waiter offered to seat me and my friend under a tented area outside.
As we were finishing up, it began to pour. And I mean pour.
I practically had to swim to get to my car. Took off my glasses because they were no use. Couldn’t see anything. Ducked by someone’s garage to pull my phone out of my sopping wet pockets. Looked at directions to where I had parked. Found my car … and then remembered that I had cracked my windows because it was so warm earlier. I got a free car wash on the inside and outside!
Driving an hour through the storm warning and flooded roads was perhaps the scariest thing I’ve ever done. But I lived to tell the tale. 😎 All by the grace of God and a whole lotta prayer.
#2: I drove an hour in the wrong direction.
When I signed a lease, I had a very sad realization that I have gone four years without a pet of my own, and I will have to go another year without. My mom responded with the brilliant idea that I should offer free dogsitting to my coworkers. This resulted in four offers, and I could only accept two of them!
On Saturday, I started driving out for a meet-and-greet with Rusty, a beautiful husky mix. As I started getting closer to the city, my Maps app started glitching out and closing. Eventually, I managed to open it back up. I tapped on the first address I saw, because of course Apple would default to the last address I plugged in, right?
Then I saw a familiar landmark. “Huh, I wonder if there are two skyscrapers that look exactly like that.” Then I pulled into a cute little neighborhood. Then I saw a local coffee shop. “Oh, my coworker’s suburb has the same coffee shop!” Then I realized … I had gone to the same suburb I work in. I was an hour away from where I was supposed to be.
So thankful for my coworker’s patience and flexibility!
#3: Name plaques are complicated.
It was an exciting day when I was handed my official name plaque to put up on my cubicle wall.
My name was engraved on a tiny piece of wood, which came with a little metal piece with a sticker on the back. Seemed straightforward enough. I put the wood piece on the sticker.
As I struggled to put the configured name plaque on my cubicle wall, my coworkers informed me that the sticker was supposed to stick to the wall. The wood part was supposed to slide into the metal piece. Oops.
Everyone scrambled around for something I could use to pry my nametag off of the metal insert. I was offered a metal ruler, which was perfect, except that I cut myself a little in the process. One coworker came to my rescue with a band-aid, while another successfully pried my nametag off with a knife.
That was the day that I learned I should ask more questions when someone hands me a seemingly-straightforward name plaque!
I’m also just becoming more and more OK with the fact that I’m the clumsy new employee. As I said, it makes for some fun stories.
Your Turn!
What surprised you when you started your first job? What mistakes did you make?
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