My first job: 'Survival spurred me on'

Jane Raphaely launched and edited some of the country's most popular women's magazine titles, went on to start her own publishing company and in the process built an empire, making her the undisputed doyenne of the industry in SA. The chairman of Associated Magazines released her autobiography, Jane Raphaely: Unedited in June. She tells Adele Shevel about her first job

What was your first job and how did you get it?

The first money I earned came from babysitting, which I did from the age of eight or nine. I also sold goods from a catalogue to neighbours in the Stockport housing estate where we lived in the north of England. The catalogue company had no idea that one of their most successful agents was 10 years old. I lied about my age to get a job selling shoes on a Saturday.

My part-time money-making continued until I went to the London School of Economics. My real first job was doffing cotton-spinning machines in cotton mills in and around Stockport during my university vacations. A Rotary Foundation Fellowship took me to Columbia University in New York, which put me in the right place at the right time to be chosen to compete in a TV quiz show, which won me $12000 in prize money.

What were some of the most important lessons you learnt?

I have always been interested in the meaning of the things that surround me. Because survival was what spurred me on, and still does, I became skilled at turning anything into a way forward, whether it was cleaning a floor or coaxing a customer into spending more. My first lessons in what made magazines tick were learned on the couches of my baby-sitting clients in 1947. They loved Woman, Woman's Own and Picture Post. These were superb magazines and taught me a lot.

How much did you earn?

Less than I was worth.

Did you have a career plan?

No, initially I just wanted to get out of the grubby little town I grew up in, then I wanted to get away from the British class system, and now I want to help preserve the written word and make sure that every child can read.

What advice would you give first-time job seekers?

Read everything you can get your hands on, keep notes. Become an expert on the subject that might become your living. Predict the questions you may be asked and prepare and rehearse your answers to them. Take whatever they want to pay you to get in. But do your detective work about the salary structures so that you know what it is you are aspiring to.

Start volunteering at school and stay within your chosen causes. Employers respect that. Above all, make sure your CV is word-perfect. And as the wonderful Emily Blunt says, "In most things, a lack of desperation helps."

What was your first boss like?

Dick Barfield was the chief copywriter at Van Zyl and Robinson and took me on when I moved to Cape Town. He was a quiet man with a well-concealed sense of humour. I set out to make him laugh out loud. I always knew I was nearly there when his moustache started twitching.

He taught me a successful campaign is the one the client likes, not the one that you are in love with. Of course, the most successful campaigns are those that the shoppers like.

Is there anything you wish you had done during your career to improve your skills?

I wish I had gone to journalism school or business school while I was at Columbia. I should have learnt more from some of my male colleagues about negotiating salaries, raises, and alternative compensation.

I will always regret not taking up the invitation to apply for a Nieman Fellowship to Harvard. I would like to see a local university put together a practical personal course in starting and succeeding in business taught by Santie Botha, Carrol Boyes and Cyril Ramaphosa. I would be their first applicant.