"Getting out of the business" resource thread

I'm in my late 50s -- definitely at the high end of the range. Then again, a former co-worker who was laid off at age 63 rebounded by landing a teaching position at a local community college and was hired in large part based on his 40 years of experience as a reporter and editor. He's my role model.

 

Well, it's my turn.

Rather than start a whole new thread, I figured I'd post this here. We had a bunch of changes at MLive today, and I was one of them. So my 25 years in the business is interrupted. I refuse to say the word over.

I have a few people looking out for me in terms of new jobs, and I might have something already lined up from a previous interview in April. It's 70-75 percent certain, but I don't want to say anything and jinx the whole process.

 

Good luck, Steve. May you land on your feet soon.

Question on references: if you can't get a current supervisor to give one, where would you go next? I have some from my last job, but that was a bit ago now.

 

Current coworker? (If your company's rules don't prohibit it, of course.) Friend who is in the field of interest, and may have been a past coworker?

 

Current and past co-workers are good options. As for past supervisors, my statute of limitations is whether I've worked for them in the past 10 years or so.

 

Sorry to hear the news, Steve. Hope you land on your feet soon.

 

I can no longer afford to work nights, but I'm fairly intimidated by the prospect of trying to find work outside of newspapers. One big hurdle is that I really have no idea where to look other than the primary jobs sites.

Also, I need to put together a resume that is not a chronological greatest hits of my newspaper career.

Any advice?

 

I start teaching seventh grade English tomorrow morning. Wish me luck

 

You deserve a double dose of good luck for 1. Getting into teaching and 2. teaching seventh graders.

 

Recently, I went on an interview for a civil service job, working at a government employment agency. I had thought that I had tailored my resume to the job, but during the interview, one of the interviewers said that she had been required by civil service law to interview me, but looking at my newspaper-heavy resume, she couldn't figure out how I would be a fit.

So she asked me a few questions, and I answered how I would always help others as a team player, that I was used to interviewing people to get info; including some people who could be difficult, and that I could gather information quickly, multitask in doing several things at once, and I sure as heck didn't fear a deadline.

She showed me my resume, and said that I needed to emphasize those skills first on my resume, then put my greatest hits. She said those were skills that she liked, but in looking at my resume, she never would have known.

Turned out, I must have done something right in the interview, as I had made it to the next round in the process, but I didn't get the job. Another job at the agency just opened up, so I really reworked the resume, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed they call me again for another interview.

So, echoing the interviewer's advice, emphasize the skills that you've accumulated. Multitasking. Deadline driven (I actually went on one non-paper interview where they said they were very casual about deadlines, which shocked me.) Good time management skills. Flexibility in being able to switch gears instantly (shit, I forgot that one). Things like that.

As far as job sites go, look all over, including different company sites, which may only post there. Also, if you're not on, get on LinkedIn. They post jobs that match your profile. You never know.

 

If you don't mind my asking, are you a reporter or copy editor?

I've always maintained it's easier if you were a reporter because you've been out there, your byline has been out there and you have a network outside the newsroom (kind of the old "it's not what you know, it's who you know" angle). You can leverage those connections, and it doesn't necessarily have to be PR or advertising. Heck, I know of a former co-worker who's making much more than he ever made in newspapers as a financial planner, and he got his start by selling life insurance policies to high school coaches he'd gotten to know over the years.

Harder if you're a copy editor without that outside network, and it's why I'd probably gravitate toward something like teaching as an alternative. You know and I know copy editors have many qualities that translate well into the real world, but it's hell trying to get hiring managers to realize it.

 

Welcome to the club.