Kaitlyn Baker: Weaving a Web

By: Alia Boyle, Dan Pepper, Ben Vander Boon

Background

As an elementary school student, Kaitlyn Baker had a dream similar to those of many girls her age. “Of course, I wanted to be a teacher,” she says. However, as is the case with many of us, Katie’s dreams evolved. When she entered high school her dream evolved from a teacher to being a news anchor. Eventually, during her sophomore year in college, she narrowed her interests down to writing and public relations, today Kaitlyn is in the early stages of what she hopes will be a long and successful career.

Right Place , Right Time

About a year ago, a west Michigan manufacturing company began brainstorming ideas for a company intranet site called UPDATE. A few months later, just as Kaitlyn was graduating from GVSU with a degree in communications, the company began looking for qualified workers who could focus primarily on writing for UPDATE. That’s where Kaitlyn came in. “They saw that I had plenty of experience doing the type of writing that they needed. I was a perfect fit,” she says. “I wanted to work in a corporate setting, and I knew that web writing was a booming job segment, so this job caught my eye right away.” And, according to Katie, the valuable experience that helped her land the job came in the form of college internships.

Key Internships

During her stay at GVSU, Kaitlyn took part in three internships.

Prein & Newhof
The first was an internship with Prein & Newhof, where she did administrative writing for one of the company’s engineers. “Everything was an unknown going into that internship,” says Kaitlyn, “but I knew very quickly that this was something I could make a career out of.”

Local Non-profit Organization
Her second internship involved writing press releases and brochures for a local non-profit organization.

GVSU
Finally, she had a third internship with GVSU itself. Her tasks included creating web pages and writing e-newsletters. “I have no doubt that getting this job at this company was a direct result of the internships. Companies want to see that students can apply their knowledge in a real-world situation.”

Job Life

So what can a new graduate expect from a job like Kaitlyn’s? “Each day is different,” she explains. “Some days I am away from my desk all day trying to find information and interviewing the necessary people. Other days I sit at my desk and write all day. There is certainly enough variety to keep things interesting.” A typical assignment might include brainstorming ideas with the writing team, divvying out stories, and contacting people within the company for interviews (this can be a long process – the first person she contacts might not have the information she needs.) Once she has the facts, she must decide which are the most important. “We try to keep web-based writing short – around three paragraphs,” she explains. “No one wants to read a novel on the computer screen.” Once she has written an article, she passes it on to the graphic designer, who arranges any necessary photos and graphics. Finally, the end result is posted to the UPDATE site.

Away from Work

At 23 years old, maintaining a social life is important to Katie, and her job’s hours allow her to do that. “The hours are generally 8 am to 5:30 pm,” she says. “Sometimes I work late, but I usually have plenty of free time after work.” She likes to use her free time to, among other things, read, work out, and socialize with her friends. And, despite doing quite a bit of writing on the job, she still finds time to write for pleasure in the form of poetry. “So there’s hope for you writers out there,” she says. “You can write for a living and still find time to write for fun.”
Looking to the future, Kaitlyn sees herself as a work in progress, not a finished product. “I want to move up,” she says. “I would like to be the spokesperson of a major company someday.” For now, though, she is happy where she is. She has an important job in a growing job segment – not bad for a new college graduate.