"Getting out of the business" resource thread

[Tom Petty]

I read something interesting about layoffs in Montana that raised a question for me:

For those of you who were involuntarily terminated, were you told by management not to discuss it with anyone? Legally, can they hold you to that?

what are they going to do, fire you again?

 

[Cadet]

See, that's what I'm thinking. They can't keep you from saying anything unless you sign a non-disclosure agreement, right? Or could they verbally tell you to not say anything and withhold your severance if you do?

 

[Tom Petty]

if you're involuntarily terminated, do you actually receive severance?
and if you aren't given severance, why would you agree to anything?

 

[SlickWillie71]

Bought a book entitled "Middle Class Lifeboat" from Paul and Sarah Edwards yesterday. There are some great ideas in there, including list of over 50 financially secure careers (one of which included small newspaper publishing) that help folks like us be able to hop off the ship if so desired.

 

[BB Bobcat]

Do you usually get something in writing about your departure from a job that says it was a "layoff" or "buyout" or "voluntary"? How does that come into play with regard to collecting unemployment benefits?

I am in a situation in which I'm being told my job description is going to change in such a way that it essentially forces me to resign. (I'd have to commute 170 miles a day to do this new job.)

 

[sportschick]

See, that's what I'm thinking. They can't keep you from saying anything unless you sign a non-disclosure agreement, right? Or could they verbally tell you to not say anything and withhold your severance if you do?

If you're getting severance, you can be forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement to receive the severance. I believe that the agreement can last for the length of the severance. Least this is how I remember it being explained to me at one point.

One of our lawyers might know better though.

 

[Mark2010]

Good grief. I guess they are paying much better now than they did when I was in the business in the 1990s.

I'm pretty glad no newspaper I applied to (countless amount) would give me even a low paying desk job. I am glad because I landed a job at a college as a sports information intern and it seems that my future is much brighter in this field.

 

[standman]

Anyone have/had any experience as a car salesman? I got an offer from one my area's leading car dealers to begin as a salesman. They're paying for my training, and offer benefits (which my paper does not).

Thoughts?

Don't be afraid of sales, especially those among you with reporting skills. If you've been a reporter for any length of time, you have the communication skills necessary for sales.

Consider:

If you've done man on the street or random interviews, it's the equivalent of old calling experience. You've probably interviewed everybody from the typical high school kid and his family to a celebrity athlete, which means you can communicate with all kinds of people.

You have deadline experience, which means you know how to handle pressure. You've been able to get people to talk when they didn't want to, which means you have the power to persuade. You may have had to wait hours just to ask one person a question when you know you're going to either get a no comment or a b.s. answer. You know how to stay cool and be persistent.

Journalists aren't shy people, which is why you've been able to have success. Salespeople aren't shy people, which means in many cases, you stand to make a lot more money for the skills you already have.

I've been in sales for the better part of two years and I use my old skills every day. The sales folks put a different name on it, a more technical name on it. But this is stuff you have been doing for a long time.

And once you start selling and grow in your profession, you'll have something tangible to move up to the next level or sell another product. It's not about who you know and it's not necessarily about how much experience you have. It's about results and $. And if you can show a sales manager that you know how to make $, you'll always be able to get a job.

 

[ZummoSports]

anybody know where any of the pro teams or the leagues themselves post whatever media relations openings they may have?

 

[leo1]

See, that's what I'm thinking. They can't keep you from saying anything unless you sign a non-disclosure agreement, right? Or could they verbally tell you to not say anything and withhold your severance if you do?

If you're getting severance, you can be forced to sign a non-disclosure agreement to receive the severance. I believe that the agreement can last for the length of the severance. Least this is how I remember it being explained to me at one point.

One of our lawyers might know better though.

I'm a lawyer. I don't think this is accurate although I have never dealt specifically with a non-disclosure case. This seems like a simple contract matter: A non-disclosure is a contractual agreement that can last as long as the parties agree to it lasting.

So in other words they can write a contract that says in exchange for three months severance, you have a four-year non-disclosure. Or enter swap any other numbers for the three and four. You'll almost certainly agree to this contract because you want, and need, that three months of severance.

Also, you're not "forced" to sign the non-disclosure. That might be how it seems because you won't get that severance if you don't sign it, but the choice is yours. They're making an offer of severance. The terms are that you have to agree to the non-disclosure. If you don't want the non-disclosure, you don't get the severance.

 

[EStreetJoe]

For those of us who are pushing 40 with a family and don't have the time and money to invest in law school to become a lawyer, a paralegal seems to be a good alternative.

 

[Cadet]

Can you brief us on what a paralegal is and how to become one?

And does the job description include being looked down upon by lawyers? Is this akin to a doctor/nurse relationship? Or is it totally different?