"Getting out of the business" resource thread

Neither. I'm a designer. Unfortunately, newspaper design really only applies to newspapers. Your last sentence sums it up.

I've always written but never as a full-time gig. People will tell me, "Get a writing job; that's what you love to do."

Sure, but that's not the way the professional world works.

"Trust me" isn't going to land me a job.

 

With your design skills, might be worth looking into advertising/marketing agencies. One of the young designers at my current shop (she did not edit copy) left for an art/design position with an ad agency a few years back. She's still there and happy. She didn't increase her pay at first when she made the move, but she did get (and still gets) nights and weekends off. And unlike her former co-workers, she's getting annual raises and seeing some financial rewards.

 

The obvious fit for designers is a marketing job where you have to put together a newsletter/magazine on a regular basis. Unfortunately (for me, anyway) many of those jobs are stressing the social media side of things, and unless you're at a very large newspaper, your shop will be far behind what they're doing in the "real world."

I echo Baron's advice about getting a LinkedIn profile, QYFW. It helped me — as someone who hasn't seriously looked for work since 2009 — get a resume online and begin to adapt to the online world of job opportunities and applying.

Good luck.

 

Met my students today, including one little boy who doesn't speak English. Looks like I got my hands full

 

It's not newspapers, but I would look up actual printers/print shops. There are more than you'd think still around. Indeed, competition among them is fierce, and they fight like cats and dogs for the business in their areas -- and they need designers and people familiar with various graphics-related programs for the ads and marketing projects they do for clients.

If you're on the west coast, my uncle and cousins just sold their good-sized but not gargantuan, although reputable printing company (for millions) to another owner who plans to, basically, take over the area, and already appears on the way to doing it. My cousins still work there (one as press foreman, one as camera room supervisor and one as the business director). My nephew, who was good at graphics-related stuff and is good with computers, also worked there for three years as a graphic designer and occasional IT person before getting his degree in biomedical engineering last year. I could get you the contact information.

Otherwise, if you've got some actual writing clips, try for reporting/writing jobs at smaller or medium-sized newspapers. There are still many positions out there. You've just got to take the ego of the major-metro out of the equation. At smaller papers, as long as you've got some good clips and can show that you can write, it could be enough to get you hired. And your design skills, then, would only be seen as a major plus in your favor.

 

I thought I'd die with printers' ink under my nails. Didn't think any other way for most of 40 years.

Today, I can't think of anything that would pull me back in. There's a lot more world out there than a newsroom.

 

You guys know how newspapering can get in your blood and how you just keep doing it no matter how much you get abused. Working 65 hours, paid for 40 and all that. My question is ... if you are chained to this profession, do you think it would help to get professional help in order to deprogram one's mind that there is a life outside of this wretched profession? If they are not going to lay us off (it's coming obviously we just don't know when) do you suggest getting professional help to help some of us get out of the business? Or is professional help a waste of money? It's hard for many to up and quit and move on.

 

I think you think too much. If you have the job and you're making ends meet for your family, don't spend all your time mumbling under your breath about real and perceived slights. If you think you'd be happier doing something else ... for god's sake, do it.

It's hard for many to up and quite and move on, huh? Well, a lot of us had to do it. In the long run, I think the healthiest thing would be to do it when you want to do it.

 

I interviewed for a corporate communications position a few weeks ago and was asked "You seem like you have a cool job writing about sports. Why would you want to work here?" The hiring manager was a sports fans and that's probably why he asked the question. I really didn't know how to answer it. I said I was looking for a new challenge, had been interested in corporate communications and said the future of the journalism industry worries me. I ended up not getting the job and I'm thinking the hiring manager may have thought I have such a "cool job" that I would not enjoy working there. I'm curious, has anyone else been asked this or similar to this and what response did you give?

 

My last day as a full-time journalist was Sept. 1, 2015.

I applied at several places, including a bank, a hospital and the local Academy Sports. Got sit-down interviews with the bank (teller) and hospital (clerk), but they both hired 20-something women with experience in the positions.

Academy called me, but had already accepted a position with the place I am at now.

Nearing two years into my current job (not related to journalism at all) , I still answer questions about why I'm here.

And here is what I say: You pay a LOT more. Weekends off. No random schedules. No supervisors going off the deep end because one person (biased parent) complained WITHOUT due diligence. Way better benefits (I was diagnosed with type I diabetes more than a decade ago). Way more chances for raises and promotions. Plus, HUGE employee discounts.

And I'm still able to stay involved in journalism. I freelance preps for the state's largest paper. I make appearances on local ESPN radio station. I run a blog which breaks local news (because my former paper hired people who do NOT know or understand the area they are now in). I freelance for other outlets when I have a chance.

Not to mention, but I have so much more free time now. Less than 2 years with a company and I have 144 paid time hours to use any way I see fit. Since I've been with my new company, I have been on trips to Atlanta, Columbus, Branson, Smokies, Memphis and Tampa. Going to Disney World in three weeks. Much easier to get/take time off when you work with more people (which means your work load can be covered easier).

That all being said, I'll be bitter for a while for how my former career ended (fired by publisher and spineless editor but Sports editor did NOT sign off on my dismissal) ... but I am in a happier place all things considered.

 

Is making $32K at a job where you get reprimanded for mentioning you're selling eclipse glasses a good job? Seems like you should be able to aim higher with a degree and an ability to write. Some of these posts about getting out of the business make me sad.