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Anna Groff

GC graduation year: 2006
Major: Communication
Focus area: Print journalism
Current employer: The Mennonite
Title: Assistant Editor
Worked in Career Services: summer and fall of 2003

Anna Groff

What organization do you work for now? What do you do?

I am the assistant editor for The Mennonite magazine. The magazine is headquartered in Goshen, Ind., but we have dispersed staff. My office is at the Union Project—a community building in Pittsburgh, Pa.

My main responsibilities are news and feature writing, page layout and Web site maintenance. I worked with a web developer to create a new Web site for the magazine, www.themennonite.org. It launched in May 2007. I am also the editor of TMail, an ezine for the magazine that accompanies the new site.

How did you find your position?

While a student in Duane Stoltzfus’ writing courses, we were required to submit news stories to publications. I submitted some to the Mennonite Weekly Review, so the editor of The Mennonite was familiar with my name and work since my junior year of college. (Don’t be afraid to get involved early!)

Also during that year, Goshen College public relations asked me to write a personal reflection piece on my calling for The Mennonite’s education issue. I was published in the magazine I now work for.

I also edited The Record my senior year which gave me exposure to the Goshen College and Mennonite Church USA broader community. Since The Mennonite is headquartered on campus, my current editor read The Record regularly.

After I graduated in May, I received an e-mail from the editor of The Mennonite who told me about this new position of assistant editor and explained how he knew my writing. Then I applied for the job!

What advice would you offer students as they begin to look for employment?

• Attend events where you might run into people you would like to work for.
• Pursue internships. They can lead to jobs and offer great experience.
• Make a list of “post-grad” priorities that include where you want to live, job goals, relationships, family, service, church, etc. Talk these over with your friends.
• Ask your academic advisor if he or she has any ideas or suggestions for employment.
• Check Career Services job bank and other job banks online regularly

What were some of the benefits of working in career services?

Working in Career Services was my first campus job. I learned how to relate to my employers in a college setting (which was different than relating to professors) and I made valuable contacts with Student Life, administration, professors, and alumni.

Is there anything else you think would be helpful for to students to know about you and the world of work?

Jobs can grow! My job started as half time but became full time after several months. I also had amazing travel opportunities to go to the Congo and Jordan and travel around the U.S. These were not things I knew about before I took the job.