Missing It

From journalist to software engineer? Nice transition. Congratulations! And great post Bamadog. Great thread for that matter.

 

I don't miss the low wages, the crazy hours, and the lack of social life.

I am in a much better place now, but I miss being an authority and knowing what I was doing. The transition to marketing has been tough at times. Sometimes I feel pretty silly when it comes to using Google Analytics, using SEO tools, etc.

I miss knowing that I was fairly good at reporting and writing, etc.

 

It's all about perspective. If you say it's going to suck, it probably sucked.

No job in any industry is perfect. It's about finding what works best for you. Some people find enjoyment in covering a preps beat or manning the desk shift. Don't look down on people for making this decision and telling them they're making a mistake by going into the industry. I believe that attitude is part of what has turned the industry into what it is today.

 

In other words, CIA agent

 

SSSSHHHHHHH!!! Dammit, you'll blow his cover!

 

We're trying to spare them misery. Furloughs, no raises, and ultimately layoffs. It's just not a smart call unless you are willing to make about 20-30,000 a year until the day you are let go. My guess is it'll be a part time job for most in the future. Whether it pays at all is anybody's guess. It might be a "look how much fun you can have" type of volunteer job where you don't get paid at all.

 

Ha ha nope - that would require a hellish commute!

 

I accepted a job yesterday with a subscription-based newsletter (yes, you can subscribe to my newsletter!) that will pay about $10K more, close to home, no evening or weekend work, etc. Then last night I covered a three-hour budget meeting. It really drove home how much I won't miss newspaper life. I can't wait to get out, especially after another three-hour budget meeting tomorrow night. I've been wanting to get out of the field for a few years now. Probably in the last year or so I've been thinking how nice it would be to have an 8-5 job. I knew I would have to leave journalism for that to happen, plus I almost felt guilty hoping for that because I know of so many that don't have that luxury of a sane schedule, like my brother. Then this opportunity within journalism came up.
I never really set a goal for myself in terms of what size of paper I had to eventually be at or what I had to cover to consider my career "successful." I recall briefly wanting to cover NASCAR when I started in the biz, but the deaths in 2000 and 2001 squashed that. I have been fortunate enough to cover some events that I didn't even realize were on my bucket list, and one of my favorite posters here hooked me up with a great opportunity. But I didn't need to do those on a regular basis; just saying I did them was good enough for me.
Aside from a recent week when my co-worker was out of town, I haven't covered any sports since fall 2013. Can't say I miss it, though shooting sports recently was far more enjoyable than that tedious meeting last night, not to mention the one the night before. I probably will miss some of the features and especially the in-depth reporting. But after the first week at the new job, when I'm leaving the office at 5 p.m. each night and not working or even having to think of work again until 8 a.m. the next day, I imagine I'll miss it a lot less.

 

To expand upon this, and to some degree what Ty said on page 2, a bit: I think I enjoyed journalism more when I was younger and single. I was still pretty new to the biz and having plenty of first experiences, pay was low but so were my expenses, plus it didn't bother me being out working a lot of nights because the only thing to come home to was the TV anyway.
I used to spend every Saturday night in the spring and summer covering the local dirt track. I'd get there around 3 p.m. and get home around midnight and loved it. Since we took our son in, I think I've been to the races once and that was with my son. In all honesty, I don't miss the racing. Granted it's a different track than the one I used to cover. Maybe now with evenings and weekends off I'll catch more races, but part of me thinks that's just a past life now. Maybe I outgrew it, and maybe the same can be said of journalism for me. Being out late covering something used to be an adrenaline rush, whereas now it's another night of rushing through dinner and being away from family.
I tell people this as a joke, but maybe it's not a joke after all: this business has aged me in dog years. I haven't been doing it 18 years, it's actually been 126 years.

 

My first editor out of college told me I was a dumbass for getting into this business. I've since worked for a few major metros and have covered some of the most famous professional athletes on the planet, but I still occasionally contemplate whether my former boss was right.

This industry nearly destroyed my marriage, and I can't seem to get over how many years it's been since I was last given a raise. But I still enjoy writing about people and telling their stories, and I believe there's value in the work that I do. That makes me feel pretty good. So, I can understand someone missing that.

 

That's exactly what a spy would say!

 

My first editor told me, when I was 24, that I should plan to be out of the business by 28 or else I'd suffer for a long, long time. I stayed in 'til I was 40. Despite what I miss, the good times and all, I think he was probably right. I'd be a lot happier today if I had gotten out a long time ago.