When to start sending resumes

bullshit, through. you're in this business. you know its impending fate.

why don't you just tell the kid to be a journo and a firewalker?

i'm not trying to pick a fight, but i'd sure rather have someone be honest with me than lie.

 

through - i don't think it's too late to use the degree and find a job in another field that isn't dying ... or at least think of grad school.

 

Sorry Playthrough. But while my post may have been filled with snark, Tom gets to the bottom line of it: It's NOT too late to look for something else or think of grad school.

I just cannot recommend this field to anybody. Ever. The only advice I can give is to get out before you get in, b/c you can't get your heart broken if you never get in.

 

I agree completely.

Sorry for the snark.

 

No matter how newspapers evolve, there is still a market for writers and editors. But True Son is coming into the business at an uncertain time.

Broaden your skills as much as you can and good luck.

 

here's the reason for my snark, through: all too often i've run into kids who say "well, i don't care what the state of the business is. i'm going to jump in with both feet and end up at the LA Times because i'm that fucking good. i don't care where the chips fall, because i have something to prove."

two years later, i talk with these kids and they wish to god they hadn't wasted 730 days of their lives. IRL i've begged and pleaded with some of these cats not to jump aboard, yet they still go on to waste portions of their lives that they'll never get back because they feel drawn to this field.

i don't claim to be an SE at the largest paper in the country, but at least i was able to keep my family in a nice house, in nice clothes and driving nice cars while my wife took four years off to raise our kids. somehow i doubt too many kids graduating from mizzou could hope to do the same 10 years from now.

i'm not being flippant when i throw down some snark at a recent grad, i'm being serious. obviously the rational approach doesn't work with these guys.

again, the last thing i'm trying to do is pick a fight with you. you're a solid mod, and i respect that. but i also don't think anyone here wants any kid to climb aboard this sinking ship we call journalism.

 

That should get us through the end of October.

 

Just. So. Fucking. Solid.

Listen to this man, younglings. He's not wrong.

 

The way the environment is in this business, it does no good for us to sugarcoat things and pretend nothing's wrong. Sometimes the best advice is to get out while the getting's good.

I wish I could say I see a light at the end of the tunnel that isn't a megatrain driven by the likes of Lean Dean Singleton. Sadly, I don't.