"Getting out of the business" resource thread

Rico,

Look at what you wrote. It's time to go and you know it. You are making yourself sick. Agreed with the suggestion that you stop trying to still do everything you used to do with fewere people.

You are not selling out if you take a PR job. You are taking care of yourself and your family.

But PR doesn't have to be your primary option if you feel that's not your thing. There are lots of communication jobs in lots of industries. Maybe expand your search a bit.

I would not rule out local government jobs that are open. Most newspapers write stories that local politicians don't want to see, and reportes still get hired. Not sure it's a dealbreaker.

Maybe there are SID type jobs or charities that need a spokesperson?

Networking is a big, big key, so keep after that.

Good luck!

 

Thanks to everyone who has responded so far.

No doubt - I want out yesterday. My problem is that I'm not getting bites on the resumes I'm sending out, which a year later, after more cuts and more people leaving at my current job, leaves me that much more depressed and hopeless. I want desperately to move on and have no illusions that there is any hope for me in this industry.

Certainly the amount of time devoted to just getting a paper out (plus special sections etc.) eats into my job search time. I am working on pulling back - but being down a staffer is hurting me there.

I'm wondering if A) my resume is lacking or B) that I'm looking in the wrong places (indeed, LinkedIn etc) and what else besides PR folks have left newspapers for. Any thoughts or suggestions there? I recently got a suggestion to check into some agencies that place writers in corporations on a temp/contract basis with some turning into full-time gigs. I guess they're like headhunters/temp agencies and that's something I am going to look into this week.

 

In my experience, 99 percent of the time you blindly send out a resume electronically, you are not going to get a job out of it. If you get through whatever HR screening software, you are doing good.

Make sure your resume highlights your skill set (not just a list of stuff you do) and tailor it to each opening. You can message me your resume if you want me to take a look.

The job I actually finally got was after I had been rejected by the HR software but met the people doing the hiring.

The ideal is to know the person doing the hiring. Second is to know someone that person knows or who works there who can flag your resume. Next is to work to find out who the hiring manager is and reach out when you apply.

Good luck.

 

Tech writing. A lot of the same skills apply. You basically interview subject mater experts about the software and turn their tech-y jargon speak into something your readers will understand. Same skills as interviewing a coach and turning their coachspeak jargon into something your readers will understand (they even have their own cliches. Everything here is "robust").

 

Got back into the workforce today after a five-month wait that was, frankly, a little uncomfortable. LOL.

I'm going to be a Clerk Typist 2 for the Pennsylvania State Nursing Board. I'm pretty happy to land there. It's a job that will pave the way to retirement, a solid 8-to-4:30 position that will give me my nights and weekends to myself, and the necessary skills line up really well with my journalism skills.

I pretty much gave up on staying in newspapers a few weeks after our production department was outsourced in June. One, print jobs just aren't that plentiful anymore. Two, I never guessed I would miss putting out a newspaper so little. At this point in my life, I'd really rather work in an office and be able to live a normal life outside it.

I'd suggest a look at state civil-service jobs, especially clerical, to any of my fellow displaced journalists. The jobs are out there, the benefits are good and the opportunities for advancement are plentiful.

 

I've taken some state civil service tests, and I usually pass them; but I rarely score high enough to get in the top percentage to get interviews.

The other issue is that, in my state, you can check to see where you are on the list. There are lists that have hundreds of people on them and only a handful of the top scorers end up getting jobs. I've gotten to the point where if I see a test announcement, I check the list to see what percentage of people on there end up hired. Too low a percentage, and I figure it's a waste of my money to pay to take the test.

I had better luck with local county tests, where I did get a couple of interviews; but no offers.

Good for you, though. Good luck.

 

I had a good day on the clerk typist test -- 90 wpm, no errors. 95 score put me No. 1 in three surrounding counties. This afternoon, I had my 19th interview. And I've actually enjoyed the interviews, strangely enough.

 

Pay raise or pay cut?

 

Congratulations, Shottie!!

 

Oh, huge pay cut from what I left. Here's the thing. When you get in the later years of your career, the benefits (especially medical) are everything.

Our 401(k) is in good shape, especially after adding a pretty substantial sum from a pension lump payment, and all we need right now is to be able to leave that to grow and live day-to-day off what my wife and I make. And we'll be able to do that.

 

I'm with you. I don't miss it at all. Maybe if I would have been paid better in newspapers, I might have a twinge of missing the games. But I don't miss the late nights. I don't miss constantly being tethered to my phone, wondering when the next police report would come in on my day off. I thought I would miss it when I watched games, but I just don't.

 

I wasn't able to take classes in the fall because I missed the deadline for establishing residence by a day (meaning I moved to the state a day too late).

I went in yesterday for my advisement and to develop an academic plan. I felt bad for the adviser when she saw my ridiculous transcript, but she worked through it and we came up with a workable plan. I should be able to get out of this in 7 semesters including summers, *maybe* six, with a bachelor's in computer science and an employable skill set in software development. I was hoping for more like 5 or 6, but the biggest impediment is the chain of math classes I have to take that are all prerequisites for each other.

Also it turns out that being poor means I qualify for a tuition waiver from the state for anything I take at the community college level. So fuck it, might as well take some fun shit too. I've got the time and it could goose my GPA for grad school. Most of the good stuff is full for the spring, but I got into soccer.