Help...Career Advice???

[blondebomber]

To chime in on a pet peeve misconception of mine: Mileage reimbursement is not free money. Don't factor it into your income.

 

[Tom Petty]

I get the point.  I'll get as much as humanly possible from them.

If you don't Tom Petty might hunt you down and kick your ass.

well shirt ace. this obviously is a young guy who comes in and asks a question and then continues to tell us why it's better to work for less even though most of the people who answered his question told him not to.

(i know this kid hasn't) but he asks advice from people who've sat in on all-departmental newspaper yearly budget meetings and know newspapers 'assign' thousands of dollars to projects and employees on whims. if an editor really wants someone on staff, spending an extra 3 grand is a given.

owners and publishers of newspapers don't even vacation inside our own freakin' country, while many of us are happy as heck to take a week down the coast somewhere without our cell phones. giving a kid who's making, say, $27,000 a small bump to come to any paper is peanuts ... that and the fact if he goes into the place and takes a pay cut, well, he should get used to being their bench, working 50 a week, claiming 40 and receiving a 2.5 percent raise at the end of his first year for his troubles.

it's why i should stay away from most recent college grads, i guess.

Damn, must be nice to work for you your paper. :

buck, so does your paper. you have any idea where your publisher last vacationed?

nope. but i'm sure it was pretty close to where you said it was, somewhere i can't afford. and i also know an extra $3K for "talent" isn't going to make much difference on the publisher's profit margin, let alone where he vacations. doesn't mean you're going to get it. ... but that's not the point anyway.

the point is, my paper ain't shellin' out an extra $3K for "projects" ... or "talent," for that matter. and i'd venture to say most other papers under 100K aren't, either. it's DEFINITELY not a "given," as you said, not at most papers.

the guy said he works at a 30k paper, not a 7k twice-weekly such as yours.

 

[Barsuk]

it's why i should stay away from most recent college grads, i guess.

Actually, could you seek out as many recent college grads (writers) as possible? I think a few of us could use a fair shot at some writing jobs.

 

[Tom Petty]

it's why i should stay away from most recent college grads, i guess.

Actually, could you seek out as many recent college grads (writers) as possible? I think a few of us could use a fair shot at some writing jobs.

hey bar - sorry about the poke at recent grads. i understand it's tough, especially nowadays. your post kinda smacked me in the face to that fact ... i was in your shoes once, too, sometimes that's easy to overlook.

here's a thought, though: if you're in the hiring seat, as with any other profession, it is fair that people with experience usually win out.

to be honest, i don't know if i'd ever hire a recent college grad again. one of the best hires i ever made was a recent college grad who worked at the paper for five months and then put in his notice and went back home because he was homesick. recent college grads also seem to never be happy with their first job and spend less than two years at their first paper after their co-workers spent more than a year training them.

college grads are a lot of work with an expiration date of about 18 months ... many people feel as though it just isn't worth the effort.

but, a recent college grad who's grounded, a helluva writer, not afraid to get his or her hands dirty and has a tremendous work ethic could get me to change my mind because the only thing more important than experience, to me, anyway, is work ethic.

tell you what bar, if you'd like, pm me and i'd be more than happy to give you a hand getting your resume noticed once it hits an editor's desk.