Paul Lupinacci, an editor working for the Wall Street Journal, visited Bucks County Community College on Oct. 17 to impart wisdom gained throughout his career, outlining various techniques other people can employ to get the most out of their career choices.

Lupinacci spoke of how his career path was nontraditional; he did not know what to do with his life for the longest time. He had begun working for a local paper and wrote obituaries, which was the beginning of him learning the job and communicating with others. He worked in the business for a while and eventually decided to return to working on newspapers, which he has done ever since joining the Wall Street Journal as an editor. With over 18 years of experience at the WJS, Lupinacci learned valuable lessons that can apply to many fields of work.

According to Lupinacci, a part of the satisfaction of being an editor is being a part of the paper’s success. Editing is his passion, and seeing the work of others do well is a great experience for him. Fine-tuning, although not being the main driving force of the paper, is still a critical role in ensuring its success.

He is a part of the digital platforms team, meaning he focuses on the Wall Street Journal’s mobile app and website, where he concentrates on stock market stories and other marketing topic stories. His job as an editor for this branch of the paper means he can edit stories on the fly, helping them to gain more traffic. He mentions that the industry is very different from the way it used to be, now being able to change stories on a whim if they aren’t performing as well as his team would’ve hoped, thanks to analytics that modern technology provides. This flexibility and fluidity mean that the WJS continues to maintain its footing in current times, showing just how important it is to have this structure.

This advice can carry over to other fields of work as well. The future of jobs and careers is forever changing and new technologies will always emerge. Being able to adapt when such technologies emerge is crucial for keeping up with the times. This quality can be snowballed into any career that needs to keep up with modern technology.

Lupinacci says the Wall Street Journal has taught him how to communicate with people in a face-to-face manner, which is incredibly useful. Communication with people in person helps build rapport, an essential for networking. Being able to communicate with people and building relationships is valuable because it allows for future collaboration and opportunities to arise.

For writing in specific, he talks about writing in a tight manner; that is to say, being efficient with your choice of words to convey messages in a brief yet effective matter. Average view times for these articles fall under a minute, and it is critical to talk about what needs to be mentioned before it is passed over by a disinterested reader. Condensing complex ideas into a few words is critical in all fields of work. He mentions poets as being able to do this especially well, packing so much meaning into a couple of well-used words.

When looking for candidates at work, Lupinacci says people want smart, aggressive and diligent new hires, people hungry for growth and self-improvement. Companies and businesses are willing to invest their time and resources into people if they are willing to give back by providing their time and energy. If you thrive, businesses likewise thrive, so often it is in their best interest to help people become the best versions of themselves. They are willing to teach people who are willing to learn new things and change their lives. Lupinacci also recommends taking internships to gain actual job experience while making sure your employers learn about you as a person too, building relationships so they can help you find job opportunities in the future.

The main takeaways are that people should be willing to try out new things, branch out and meet new people, and have new experiences. This flexibility and networking are essential for getting stable footing before starting a good career path, no matter where that path will eventually take you. Do not be afraid to take the next steps and progress!