Sports Reporter, Sun-Sentinel

It's probably a good thing for the S-S that he didn't go there. He probably would keep looking out for other jobs and applying for them. Then, he'd leave in the middle of the prep season. The job requires some stability because of the amount of beats to be covered. A text message doesn't cut it. Have the guts to talk directly to the person who offered you the job.

I once had accepted a job I wasn't all that eager to accept. Turns out another job I also had applied for became a possibility. I mentioned it to the place i accepted and the editor pulled the job offer. Turns out the second job wasn't such a hot place -- and I ended up taking yet another job. Years ago jobs were more plentiful and it was easy to be in the running for different jobs, making it tough to juggle the job searching process. Now jobs are really hard to come by.

 

Can we re-title the thread "Should I via text message turn down a job I just got to chase a job I might not get?" That way, we're not going after anyone in particular.

 

It seems like a free agent signing with one team, only to change his mind and move to a different team a week later.

Actually had that happen to me a few years ago. Accepted a job, moved to another town (staying in a motel at the time). Get a call from a guy where I had applied two months earlier --- I was a free agent at that time and was applying in a number of places ---- wants to interview me. Probably was a better job than the one I had just accepted. But I had to tell him the truth that I had made a commitment to the other place and wanted to try my best to make it work.

Turned out the job I had taken wasn't so hot and I got laid off 10 months later. So, I was screwed, but at least I kept my integrity. Would do the same all over again. There will always be other jobs out there.

 

I thought this post seemed fishy, so I did some back checking this morning. And according to sources (look at me! I sound like ESPN!) here is the actual timeline.

Wednesday -- Sun Sentinel offers Dunn job and he accepts
Thursday -- Journal Sentinel calls Dunn first time about Packers blogger job
Friday -- Sun Sentinel announces hiring to company. They don't know about call.
Tuesday -- Dunn informs Tim Stephens via text message he is pulling out of job.

Clearly he did not "inform them beforehand" that he was pursuing other jobs. In fact, it seems almost the exact situation Mark describes above. And Mark, kudos to you for the handling of the situation.

The other point I'd like to address is the "look out for yourself and no one else" idea. As someone who was laid off by a newspaper after what I consider many years of quality hard work I agree you do not have to show loyalty to any company as it will not show loyalty to you.

However, I think that many young yournalists, including Pompano, seem to think that "look out for yourself" always means "taking the next best job" regardless of circumstances. It simply does not.

In fact, in this case I would argue that Mr. Dunn has done a TERRIBLE job of LOOKING OUT FOR HIMSELF. He has burned a couple of big media companies. He has burned a couple of people who went out of their ways to help him. He has made himself look like a flake, especially for withdrawing via text message. He has earned the reputation as a jumper by pursuing his fourth job in a year. In short, he has done a TON of damage to his reputation and closed many future doors for him, the exact opposite of what someone in his first year out of college should be looking to do.

The good news for Dunn is he is young and will have the chance to overcome all this. Maybe he will be the best NFL blogger in the country and will be the next Bill Plaschke. But he will now have some big hurdles to overcome.

As a side note, shame on Mike Davis and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, too. At least with Dunn we can say he is young and doesn't fully understand what he is doing. Davis and the other editors at the MJS should have more integrity than to try to poach someone who accepted a job with another paper THE DAY BEFORE they called him.

Sorry to the Moddy for continuing this thread, I really can't help myself sometime. I'm going to slink back into my cave for a few days so I won't be tempted to post again.

 

Did the MJS know about Dunne?

 

I'm interested by this idea of informing another newspaper beforehand of any other goings on in my job search. I mean, the ultimate goal of any job search is to end up with a job. I feel like talking about other jobs in an interview is a great way to blow it. but maybe that's just me.

Also, we live in a world where it can be unclear at times where one stands in a job hunt. I mean, I'm sure there were points in a job hunt where I'd had 10 or more apps that I could still believe might be in play. I've done an interview almost completely unaware of how close I was to seeing another application turn into an offer (and that uncertainty only came about becuase of another interview which seemed like a big deal, but ended up being a VERY preliminary step). Basically I find it a bit silly that anyone would be expected to discuss jobs they are in the running for. From the timeline Needles laid out, it seems like an unfortunate confluence of circumstances. I like to think these big decisions out and I know an acceptance-first call-announcement series over three days would rattle the hell out of my mind.

On the actual subject of the long lost OP. Sounds like a hell of a job. Good sports and lots of diverse responsibilities. I hope it goes to someone good. I wish I could add something more substantive, but I don't know the area very well.

Now just awaiting thread lock in 3... 2... 1...

 

Hey, Needles:

Go go insulting Bill Plaschke. He would never do anything of this sort.

As far as your note to Mike Davis and the MJS: Well, maybe they didn't know about Dunne's other job, either, just same as the Sun-Sentinel apparently didn't know about Dunne's NFL blogging possibility. Maybe (probably?) Dunne didn't tell them.

I would probably have no problem with this whole situation if Dunne did inform the S-S, perhaps at some point during the interview process, that he was in serious running for another good job, you know, just so the people there were aware of it.

As it is, this is just all very depressing, because, you know what? It really doesn't matter what we all think, because Dunne now has himself yet another good job, for another good outlet, a place in which, given the current blog/digital-centric nature of our work these days, he can probably ensconce himself for years to come if he wants.

Which, of course, he probably doesn't.

 

dirtybird,

Your question is a valid one, but the thing that makes this situation different is probably in the caliber of the jobs that Dunne has pursued/gotten. As I mentioned in an earlier post, these are jobs that many on here would kill for, and, for some, perhaps even be considered destination-type jobs. They are not the types of places people expect employees to jump from within days, or even months, of their hiring if the opportunity/circumstances warrant.

There are papers/jobs where this probably can and does happen, sometimes, places that are, in fact, "resume stops," as one editor with whom I interviewed was afraid (wrongly so) I was perceiving his paper.

But, the jobs Dunne's tried for and been given? Not so much.

It's not that you might never move on from them, but it just doesn't happen as quickly as it has, in every case, with Dunne.

 

The lesson in all of this is you can have no sense of professionalism, yet still get offered great jobs at every turn.

 

Didn't we learn that with Jason Whitlock?