She's a Production Coordinator for a glossy women's magazine, and she gave us sneak peek into her career so we could learn more about her career in media.

Cara is a Production Coordinator for a glossy Afrikaans women’s magazine based in Cape Town. She works in the production department of the magazine, and in this article, she tells us about her career in media.

Although Cara studied to be a chef, she landed her first gig as a Food Assistant for Sarie and Sarie Kos Magazine in 2012. A year later, Cara says she joined the magazine’s marketing department. “I was poached by the Brand Manager to join the marketing team,” Cara says, adding that, “it was during this time that I realised that working more on the business side of the magazine rather than the creative side was what really excited me, as the pressure is higher.” A year later, Cara was given a spot in the company’s production department.

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Production coordinators are generally responsible for supporting production managers in organising the business and finance issues of a product. Their work is varied and each project that they work on may be different. However, in every project production coordinators need to make sure that everything is running smoothly during production, and that the project stays within budget and on schedule. As part of a publishing company, Cara is also responsible for working with editorial deadlines, budgets, events and photo productions, which includes sourcing images and production shoots.

“My job allows me to work on all the Sarie brand extensions, including Sarie, Sarie Kos, Sarie Bruid, Sarie Woon and Sarie.com. It really keeps things exciting.”

Cara says she loves the adrenaline that results from working with deadlines. “I love being thrown in the deep end, and knowing that if there is a big mess, it is my responsibility to resolve it!

“Being able to work in the creative environment with amazingly creative people is also a huge plus because every day is different with new, exciting challenges,” she adds.

She suggests that aspiring production coordinators should embrace the challenges that come with the job. “Every day presents different challenges and you should embrace them and know there is always a solution.”

“It is during those hectic times when you will learn so much more about yourself and develop new business skills.”

If you’d like to be featured in this Instagram series, send a mail to editor@careers24.com, telling us about yourself and your awesome job, and we’ll be in touch!