How to leave sportswriting and never regret a second

On Thursday, I'm starting a job driving for a company that services rental cars.

It's a little disheartening to think that's the best I can do, but with no transferable skills, at least nothing sets me apart from anyone else, maybe it really is the best I can do.

 

Great piece. I liked his line about 'when they get fired.' Not 'if.' Let's face it, Fredrick has said it before, but our business is not employee-friendly.

 

Don't be disheartened, Smallpotatoes. Just go in open-minded and open-hearted, and see what happens. Especially at first, look at it almost like a break, if that's what you have to do. It might, surprisingly, turn out to be a nice change of pace. When I first started in retail, I certainly wasn't thrilled, but I found that the fact that it was so different was actually helpful. It allowed me/forced me to move on, more easily and more healthfully.

It made it so I didn't ruminate quite so much about the negative end to my all-consuming newspaper career, because there just wasn't time, and because it was so different that my two lives just couldn't be compared, and so, they weren't. And they still aren't.

As with anything in life, it also doesn't necessarily have to be forever. If you hate it, or it doesn't work out for whatever reason, remember that, and try something else.

 

This is the most ironic job ever.

 

I can identify with this as well. Been working at a grocery store for the last two years (but keep my thumbs in the business by doing a little stringing for the local paper and helping moderate a baseball group on Facebook - not to forget this place, of course). It's liberating knowing, no matter how busy it is, when the schedule says your shift is up, you go home. Pay isn't as much, but the health plan is equal to or beats what I've had in most places, and nothing has prepared me for the BS from some customers like "You always cover Podunk East but never cover Podunk West."

 

I'm still doing some stringing and wanted to do an overnight shift so I could keep doing that if possible. The shift schedule wasn't quite what I expected, with it starting at 8 p.m. and ending at 6:30 a.m., 4 days a week. There is no paid sick, holiday or vacation time and I have to wait six months before being eligible for health insurance. I also pays less than the job that I got laid off from almost three months ago.

On the other hand, with the summer coming up and the lack of high school sports, there won't be much stringer work. I'll need something. I may as well do it and give it my best shot.

 

That was barfingly disingenuous. Too proud to take unemployment? Catch me, I'm falling!

 

You have transferable skills, man. You've interviewed strangers on the fly, know how to write, edit, maybe do layout. Look into communications jobs. They love former journalists.

 

The hiring managers, or more likely the computer programs reading my resume, have a somewhat different perspective.

I feel like I'm being pigeonholed into sportswriting because maybe the subject matter that I've dealt with for the last two decades matters more than the skills.

I think I've also come to realize that the transferable skills that I thought I could sell and a dollar could buy me something at the Dollar Tree. They're the bare-minimum things that it's assumed that everyone applying for those jobs have and not something that sets me apart from anyone else.

 

Ever think about going back to school to learn something about else? There are programs and scholarships out there that assist with the financial aspect. Good luck.

 

Yes. I think at some point that may be the thing to do.

 

Hey @Smallpotatoes hit up every marketing gig you can find. Every company and brand is looking for content producers now. They want bloggers, videographers, podcasters, etc who can tell stories to attract consumers to their sites - that falls right into the journalism wheelhouse.