"Getting out of the business" resource thread

I'm pretty glad no newspaper I applied to (countless amount) would give me even a low paying desk job. I am glad because I landed a job at a college as a sports information intern and it seems that my future is much brighter in this field.

 

You know, I hope people don't forget about this thread. Lots of good resources linked to, or discussed, that will benefit everyone.

For example, the Facebook page Michelle Hiskey linked to has some good resources in on its discussion board.

My offer to participate in the Bolles book discussion still stands, although I'm sure sportschick is busy as is.

 

this was sent to me. has me wondering: http://blogs.wSportsJournalists.com/law/2007/09/24/the-dark-side-of-legal-job-market/

 

It's certainly true that law school isn't some sort of magic ticket to print money. Anyone who thinks that hasn't done the research.

My initial post was only intended to express how nice it was to hear somebody be very, very positive about job prospects after years of being beaten down in journalism.

Now, as to law school, first, let me say this: Don't consider law school if it's just about the money. Even after a week it's very obvious that it's too damn hard for anyone to make it if they don't actually like, or even love, the law. You're just not going to be able to get through the reading if you're just in it for the money.

Now, as for earning ... the amount you'll make depends on a variety of factors. Are you going to a "t14" school? (Historically, the top 14 schools in the US News rankings)? If so, you're almost certainly going to make six figures. Do you want to be a prosecutor or work in government law? If so, yes, you're going to start below 50K in most cases, although there may be a payoff down the road.

And, yes, there is a wide, wide disparity between what you make if you're in the top 10 percent, top 30 percent, top 50 percent and below 50 percent make in class ranking make. Class ranking REALLY matters in law school. At a low tier 2 school, high tier 3, you'd better be in the top 20 percent if you want a shot at making 150k a year.

But many people in law school aren't interested in that 150k job, because it means you're going to have to work 60-plus hours a week.

And, yeah, some people start at 40k a year out of law school. Is that really some sort of tragedy considering many people start at 20k in journalism? The key word there is start - if you're good at it - again, unlike journalism these - you're going to quickly make a lot more. Now, would it be wise to take out 120k in student loans to make 40k a year? Obviously not.

 

bookmark.

 

If someone has worked in sports for their entire newspaper career, how do they convince someone in, say, public relations to hire them for a job in which they won't be dealing at all with sports? If one's resume has "Sports Editor" and "Sports Writer" all over it, how can that person get an interview for a job as Communications Director at a college, for example?

 

Same way a career sports reporter gets a job in news: Focus on the second word in that job title, rather than the first.

What you do as a writer or reporter or editor or designer does not change because of the subject you cover. You still know how to write, report, edit or design -- those skills are all transferable. I didn't have a problem moving over to news for my current job because I focused on my skills as a journalist, not my skills as a sports journalist.

So if you're interested in a communications director position, highlight your communications skills and your management skills that you applied as a sports editor. Those skills aren't sports-specific, and neither are you.

 

Hey, long time lurker who's come out of hiding.

I'm a former cityside guy who left the newsroom 10 years ago. First tried newsletter editing and flamed out; then landed into this thing called business proposal development back in 2000. It's akin to helping to assemble a company's resume' when it bids on on government or private contracts. It's essentially a sales document designed to convince procurement officials that you have the best solution to their problem for the best price. You've probably read through a few if you've covered government agencies in the past.

The process is deadline-driven and requires many of the same skill sets as reporting, the most crucial of which is being able to read a document called a Request for Proposals and boiling it down to the submittal requirements it requests. You must help ensure the company's response complies with RFP requirements, so attention to detail is one critical part of the job.

Many government contractors have proposal departments comprised of proposal managers (usually folks with many years experience in their given fields), proposal coordinators/specialists and desktop publishers. If you're fresh from the newsroom, you'd probably start out as a proposal coordinator, performing a lot of the administrative tasks, such as setting up proposal kickoff and review meetings, researching past performance, editing personnel resumes and doing the first edit on the overall proposal document. You will also likely help with production, e.g., printing and assembling the books.

However, as you come up to speed on what the company does (whether it's IT, pharmaceuticals, or defense-related), you might get the chance to write management plans, descriptions of past contracts or even executive summaries, all sections that appear in the typical proposal. You might even interview a subject matter expert with your firm and write part of the firm's planned technical approach to the job.

Proposal development doesn't provide as much of a psychic reward as reporting, but the paychecks tend to be bigger and the hours more regular (except, of course, when you're working an occasional weekend or all-nighter to meet a deadline). Also, most of the government contracting/proposal opps, as you may have guessed, tend to be in the Washington, DC area, where I'm located, but jobs are available nationwide.

You can try seeking proposal related jobs on Monster or Career Builder and other job boards. One I like is www.indeed.com, which aggregates listings of most of the job boards. Type the search term, like "proposals" or "proposal coordinator" in the search box and type your zip code in the other and see what pops up.

One more resource is the Association of Proposal Management Professionals at www.apmp.org.

Hope this helps.

 

Is this the same as grant writing?

 

Agreed. I would also add that when writing your application materials and presenting yourself in an interview, focus less on the tasks you did at your journalism jobs and more on the skills you used to perform those tasks.

 

Yes it is. As you know, grant writing tends to be associated with non-profit organizations seeking funds for some sort of social mission. Proposals are written by companies for the purpose of straight-up profit.

 

I read something interesting about layoffs in Montana that raised a question for me:

For those of you who were involuntarily terminated, were you told by management not to discuss it with anyone? Legally, can they hold you to that?