It’s exciting when you get your first job, though I’m not talking about that high school job making pizzas or the landscaping or call center jobs that helped you get through college. I’m talking about that first real job offer after walking the quad and being handed that expensive diploma for college graduation. A job in your field of study, too!

Actually, I think my folks were more excited than I was to push me into the workforce. I was happy but hesitant. Working toward my communications degree, I took a sportswriting job at the local newspaper to earn experience in my field. Writing wasn’t my focus, as I was more interested in a broadcasting career. Something behind the microphone or in front of the camera. Still, it was a paying job and I was gaining real-world experience.

To my surprise, after graduation the paper offered me a full-time job. Now I hadn’t set out to be a writer, which is where the hesitation came in. Plus the salary was less than exciting. Very modest paycheck, but it was a paycheck. That’s what my dad kept telling me. He said, “Take the job and see how it goes. You have a job offer in your field of study. If you don’t like it, you can always regroup and look for other opportunities.”

So off I went to be a sportswriter, reporting on local high schools, colleges, New York Penn League Baseball, the Little League World Series, and local bowling and tennis leagues. It wasn’t glamorous, but it was a start. It was also very nerve-racking.

Staring at a blank computer screen and needing to write 18 inches of copy (roughly 600 words) on the Friday night high school football game I just witnessed was tough. This was before the Internet, so I had to drive back to a chaotic newsroom to write. It was a large open space, with desks butted together, phones ringing and people talking and yelling across the room while I was trying to compose my thoughts. On average, I had about 45 minutes to work with by the time I started typing. The real panic always set in when my sports editor yelled, “You’ve got 15 minutes,” at which point he needed whatever I’d written.

Some stories were better than others. They certainly weren’t all award-winners, but I learned real fast to block out the noise, concentrate on my task and meet my deadline. Every night was a game of beat the clock, but those early days prepared me well. They taught me to be cool under pressure, which has come in handy as every job after has had its share of difficult deadlines in one form or another.

After a few weeks as a paid writer, I had the opportunity to stop by campus and talk with Professor Smith, one of my communications advisers. He was happy for me that I found a job, but I confided in him my disappointment with the salary. Surely my expensive degree should translate to better compensation.

Then he did something I’ve never forgotten. He opened his desk drawer, reached in and pulled out a handful of pencils and slapped them down on the desk. He proceeded to pick up one pencil off the pile and said, “You’re just a pencil to them,” as he set the pencil down on the desk to form a new pile. Then he grabbed another pencil from the stack and said, “The job pays X amount, and if you won’t do the job for that amount, then they’ll find someone else to do it,” as he added the second pencil to the newly formed stack of two.

Point taken. Thanks for the advice, Professor Smith. He wasn’t being callous. He was simply being honest. Oftentimes your paycheck isn’t reflective of you, it’s simply reflective of the position and the budget constraints of the business where you work.

Looking back now, that first job taught me so much about the art of storytelling and how to write quickly and effectively in stressful situations. Not many environments will create that kind of crash course for your career growth. The lessons learned in my two years at that first real job proved to be so much more valuable than the paycheck.

To get ahead, you’ll have to outwork your colleagues for better opportunities. Or more than likely, you’ll have to move to greener pastures to find a better formula to boost your earnings. No matter where you are in your professional journey, every day must be earned. Every day you should strive to be the sharpest pencil in the pile.