Getting out ... just to get out

I'm still in, but I have a question for those who voluntarily left (not layoffs).

Many of you express how much happier you are. But go back to the last few days, weeks, maybe months in journalism. How scared were you to make the jump, and how long did it take you from the time you wanted to do it to when you dinally did? Did you have something already kind of "on the table," or did you make a jump blind and hope for the best?

I think a big fear of some people still in is to make that choice not knowing what could happen afterward, the possibility you don't find anything. There is "a chance" it becomes a poor decision and the next few years are filled with struggle and hardship because you can't quite get your foot in the door elsewhere.

 

Well, I wouldn't ever advise anyone to "make the leap" without having somewhere to land. As they say, it's a lot easier to find a job when you have a job.

Had my eyes and ears open for a few years before I jumped. I survived six rounds of layoffs in four years at two papers, so I knew it was only a matter of time.

Then I got a great job offer out of the business, so I took it.

 

I totally took a leap of faith. I had a few "ideas" so to speak when I did it, but nothing solid. I was fortunate that my wife has a solid job with enough pay that we could have survived with me being out of work for a while if we had to. I left with her full support and encouragement. When I hit my "had enough" point, I was kind of hesitant just to go without a plan, but she said do it and don't look back. I haven't. I was out of work for about a month to get some paperwork lined up, but landed quite nicely.

 

I was nervous, but knew it was the right move for me. This was cemented when I would read threads here, and all the right people were on either side of the "whether to get out" divide.

I started planning the jump about two years before I made it. I didn't wait because of fear. I waited because I was laying the groundwork and seeking to complete my newspaper career.

 

Not nervous at all. Excited, actually. I planned my escape for 2 years. Moved away to finish college, figured it'd take 2 years to do so, and planned on leaving immediately after being handed my diploma. Graduated first week of December, was moved back to Va. and working at my new (and current) job six weeks later. First missed deadline in a while.

But yeah, have something in line before making the leap.

 

It took me about four months, and while I wouldn't call it fear, there was a lot of unease about leaving something that had, at one time, been so personally fulfilling. I had something else in the works, but I had a hard time pulling the trigger on that because of that uneasiness. Turns out to have been silly (in my case); I was perfectly content in my new gig, and I certainly enjoyed the money and the schedule a helluva lot.

 

Plus, you can only take the GRE five times in a 12-month period. (I kid, I kid)

 

I plotted it out pretty anally and meticulously, to the point that it wasn't going to become a poor decision.

That said, it was a difficult process, emotionally. Not because I was leaving the business. I was ready for that - even as a journalist, I wanted to move onto new challenges. It was difficult emotionally because pretty much everyone I knew questiond it, some pretty severely. I had to rationalize it over and over and over again to people, because "sports writer" had been my identity since age 15.

 

I think many are ready to take a leap. The problem is what do you leap to? When you've spent your life talking to naked athletes in locker rooms or re-writing press releases or editing very raw copy for years, what are your really qualified for in this new society?

 

Did you really ask that question?

Let me throw a few ideas out for you:

* Public relations
* Technical writing/editing
* Any job requiring research skills
* Any job requiring a sense of urgency and ability to do precise work on a deadline
* Teaching
* Sales (the core skills of a reporter and the core skills of a salesperson are really quite similar -- the ability to persuade another person to provide something (information/money) that the other person might not be immediately motivated to provide)
* Many technological jobs (sports deskers are usually the most tech-savvy people in the entire newsroom, often without even knowing it. The tech savvy required to quickly assemble an agate page should not be underestimated.)

Journalists are among the smartest people I know. A well-educated, inquisitive generalist can succeed at just about anything. All he or she has to do is believe that's possible, rather than underselling himself or herself as "someone who's spent my life talking to naked athletes."

 

The most important thing about making a change from newspaper work successfully is to recognize that you're not going to find a new job or profession that will offer the same highs and learn to accept that. There are compensations, most of which have been cited on this thread. But there's nothing that compares (for me) to the rush of making deadline with work you're proud of or at least happy with.

 

hahahaha. I laughed out loud, and appreciated this remark in the spirit in which it was given.

Excellent stuff, sir.

This is quite incorrect.