"Getting out of the business" resource thread

Overseas, not so much on that "last rights" stuff.

I could go work right now in Dubai or China if I wanted to. I don't want to.

 

It depends. Some places (Japan, for instance) are holding steady while others are similarly feeling the pinch. One former overseas employer of mine has scrapped its physical edition and is now online only, while another (Abu Dhabi) got sold and switched from government to private ownership, resulting in widespread cuts. The paper in question was recently purchased by Jack Ma and Alibaba so it won't be running out of money anytime soon, but even the most Party-friendly outlets in China have to have some semblance of a business plan.

 

Heh. Trade being a wandering journalist for the lucrative life of an adjunct professor? Not sure how much of an upgrade in job security that represents....

You're not wrong as regards the trajectory of the newspaper industry. I've managed to spend 10 years working abroad thanks to being relatively young, adaptable, and unencumbered by family or possessions, but while there are still growth markets in some parts of the world, that's not a race I care to run for much longer. I still hold out a (vain?) hope of settling somewhere and maybe even starting a family, which doesn't mesh well with the whole 'leaf on the wind' routine.

 

Every time you think things have settled down and we’ve hit absolutely rock bottom, you find out that isn’t the case. Forgive the vague post, but gotta try to stay private.

 

So I’ve made a move. I’m still freelancing on the side, but I’ve also gotten insurance licenses and have began working in that field. It might be too early to tell if it’s a good move or not, but the licensing process was fairly simple and inexpensive. It also seems to put some of the ol’ journalism skills to decent use, particularly when it comes to marketing.

If anybody is in the market for life insurance or retirement plans (and you all should be ), hit me up.

 

Through some Googling, you learn the name of the reporting manager for a specific opening (non-journalism). This person's name was not listed on the job posting, but their title was. You also find this person's LinkedIn page. Is it poor form to inbox this person on LinkedIn?

 

I would not do it via LinkedIn unless the job was posted there -- and would therefore have a hiring manager provided. But I would e-mail that person directly via a work address you also found during your search. That could be on the LinkedIn profile, or because most companies use the same convention for everyone.

That said, I'm old school that way... and acknowledge many people used a spam e-mail account for LinkedIn back in the day.

 

Quick update: I opted for grad school over getting back into the business. I'm not exactly looking forward to another two years living on ramen, vegetables, and PB&J or basking in 80 percent humidity every day, but the hope is the trade-off will be worth it in the long run. Plus, there is abundant durian, which makes everything better.

 

Good luck.

I keep saying I’ll get out ... but then find the job application process challenging and discouraging.

 

Check the "What's your Plan B" Facebook group for job-searching journos.

 

Personal update: up for a promotion in my new job (going on 3 years in a big box warehouse). If I take it, will be making $17.80 an hour ... more than $7 an hour I was making in August 2015 as a 15-year sports writer at a small town daily.

Will also get 40 more vacation hours in August 2019, giving me 184 vacation hours for the year. With the exception of Thanksgiving through New Year, I can use vacation hours relatively easy with just 24 hours notice.

Because of the small staff and expectations, that wasn't available at my sports writing gig.

Also going on three years as a stringer for the state's largest newspaper.

I did the math. Between the stringing and raises, I will be making more than $10K a year than I was as a fulltime sports writer.

I posted this now because my former paper just went through its biggest newsroom layoffs ever. ... Three years (this week, was Sept. 1, 2015) after it terminated me.

I'll be bitter for quite a while for how it ended and how my reputation was harmed locally.

But I am better off.

 

I'm with ya on that.

I finally decided enough was enough in October. I weighed some options and turned in my resignation. I didn't have anything lined up but it was clear that conditions at the paper were ones I could no longer deal with. They asked me to stay on until they found a replacement, which I figured I'd take advantage of to buy some time.

The first week of December, I reminded them I didn't promise to stay forever. They had a guy lined up but weird shit happened. Not my problem. I left on December 19 and went to visit my parents for a couple of weeks. I normally would have taken the rest of the year off to see them anyway because I had beaucoup vacation time and nothing happens in Kansas between the 20th and the new year (there's a period of time that it's mandatory in Kansas that no team can do so much as practice during the break). By leaving the 19th, I got about 24 days in vacation pay.

A friend of mine in the Wichita area has offered me a place to stay until I can figure out what the new version of me will be. I hate applying for jobs and I think I hate it more now that most places want you to do it online. I'd almost rather walk in, fill out an application and attach a resume.

Gotta sell a crappy house in a market that's crappy, too. I may be overloading myself with stress but I think if I had stayed at the paper, the stress would have caused me to flip out and burn all my bridges.

My friends have all told me, "It's about time!" My mother told me that she was happy because maybe I'll stop saying things like, "It could be worse," "At least it's a job," and "But what else am I gonna do?" I kinda thought the community I was leaving was going to be upset but most people have been supportive.

I don't ever want to work full-time in the media ever again although I think in time, I could see myself doing some stringing.

But I know one thing: I'll never be the interim managing editor ever again.