jboy said:
Damaramu said:
Wendell Gee said:
I "gave up" last summer.
I started out as an SE at a small daily. After a few years, moved on to a larger paper. After a few more years, moved on to an even larger paper. I always thought that as I moved up the ladder, I'd be more content. That wasn't the case. The hours and pay weren't very good, but I understood that when I got in the business. I got in because I liked to write and I loved sports. But my knowledge of sports, combined with my skills as an editor and designer, got me chained to the desk. And sports quickly became a job instead of something fun. I knew then that moving on to a metro wouldn't do anything to help me. So I got out.
I make almost twice as much as I did at my last newspaper job. I go home at 5 every night. I have weekends off. I get holidays off. I can take vacations in the fall. I enjoy sports again. The job isn't as exciting as newspaper, but I work with great people and am much happier than I was at my last paper. And I can always go back to stringing if I feel the need to get that rush again.
One of my best friends bolted the business about a month after I did. We frequently ask each other: "Why didn't we do this sooner?"
See it seems like a lot of you are saying you left the business. And someone earlier said you could get so many more jobs with a journalism degree.
My question is......what jobs? I'm not kidding when I say I can't imagine any other job. I really can't.
Every company/organization has to have some type of communications: flyers, brochures, newsletters, etc. They need someone to design, write and edit those communications.
If you have page design, copy editing and writing skills? Man, you have a kick-ass resume.
Think about a company/organization you'd like to work for. Or if not a specific one, the type of company/organization you'd like to work for.
Or...go to careerbuilder.com. Type in your zip code and click the right search criteria. Try the same at Monster (they have a category for Sports).
You'd be surprised.
I've also found craigslist to be a pretty good place for graphic design, editing, and writing jobs ranging from entry to senior level. If you live near a university, check its job board. Also check the local and state government sites for their careers sections. Find a list of big local companies and check their web sites. Trust me, you're not limited to choosing between newspapers and selling vacuum cleaners at Sears. When I left the biz, it took me about seven months of serious searching to find a job that I felt comfortable jumping to, but I've never looked back since then.
I loved newspapers. I miss what I did in newspapers. But I can't imagine going back into the business, not with the sacrifices I would have to make. I've had three jobs since I left newspapers, one I loved, one I loathed (mostly due to a bad owner), and my current one, which I am fine with. But I've loved my life away from work ever since I left newspapers, and that's not something I could say when I was in newspapers, and it's not something I can find if I go back into the biz now. Like one poster said, being a journalist can be, ironically, one of the worse jobs you can get with a journalism degree. I certainly understand those who love the biz and don't want to leave it, but those who are considering jumping, know that there are a lot of options out there.
And for those who think that you have to sell your soul to work in PR, here's a little anecdote: On one of the first days at my current job -- university PR -- I asked my boss for some tips on dealing with the media since I hadn't done any media relations before. The first thing he said was "Never lie," which was a bit of surprise even to me. And in the year I've been at this job, I've never once had to lie or even fudge the truth to a reporter. I would say 99.9 percent of our dealings with media are cooperative -- they call us looking for experts to comment for stories they're working on or to follow up on releases we send out, and we get them in touch with the right people. Now, I don't pretend that it's like that with every PR job, but just know that a good number of PR jobs don't have the same adversarial relationship that exists between SIDs and sportswriters. Most of my time is spent writing, editing, and designing -- very similar to what I did at newspapers. And a journalist looking to break into PR on one of those skills would also have the added advantage of having worked under ridiculous deadlines. Not many PR folks have to turn around a news release in 15 minutes.
Several posters have said that they can't imagine what they would do if they weren't working in newspapers. That's something I hear quite often from my newspaper friends too. I would say that you would never know if you hate or love something until you try it. And one mistake I see many journalists make is that they think they have to be a perfect fit for a particular job ("I don't really know that much about X", "I only have four of the five desired skills," or "I'm not sure I'd enjoy item No. 10 on the list of job responsibilities") so they don't even bother to apply to a lot of openings. My response: You probably didn't know squat about the area prep football scene before you took your current job; everyone has had to learn some sort of new skill on the job; and I'm sure you don't love every responsibility that comes your way at a newspaper. Those concerns, while somewhat reasonable, are often just excuses to talk ourselves out of taking the risk of making a career change, even though realistically the risks may now be just as great or greater if you stayed.
