Unrealistic expectations of the business?

[shotglass]

Part-time writers and freelancers are in the slow lane. Recent college grads are in the fast lane.

I'm a part-timer and a year removed from college, so does that put me in the middle lane?  And how dumb are my husband and I to consider buying a home near a paper that I work 30 hours a week?

Here's the ugly truth about being a part-timer, BG.

Say a full-time opening comes up in your department. The sports editor has two choices. He can hire somebody new and pick up 40 man-hours a week. Or he can hire you, who's already working 30 hours a week, and he'll only gain 10 man-hours a week.

See the problem?

To which the people above the hiring editor say, Hire the part-timer ... we're only picking up 10 hours of salary.

Ah, but you're picking up a whole person's worth of benefits -- medical, pension, etc.

Plus, I would seriously doubt that you'd maintain the same salary structure with a full-timer.

And so the balance shifts back toward hiring a new body.

Also, if this is a black-and-white issue, sure, the people above the SE have say in the new hire. But you can be sure the SE is pushing hard to pick up more than 10 man-hours if he's getting a new hire.

 

[Peytons place]

Just out of niavete, I think most people early on, in college or just starting out, think about making it "big," so when that doesn't happen (like for most journalists) it can be a real letdown. I know I thought I might be working for Sports Illustrated by now (needless to say I'm not) but I've since realized if I enjoy what I'm doing, can make a reasonable living and like where I live, that that's success enough for me at this point.

 

[85bears]

I think part of it is that friends and relatives really get excited about a budding little journalist. Other than maybe politics, being in the media is the one profession where an average joe can seemingly become a celebrity on intellectual merit (theoretically).

So when daddy and mommy start bragging about their little future star journalist, they start dropping big names and publications to people as future destinations/role models. It's a field where outsiders can grasp what constitutes success, and when you're plugging away at a 30,000-circ. on preps or, heck, even at a nice-sized paper as a beat guy, you feel kind of naked doing what we do because people wonder why the former little star hasn't hit the big-time yet.

I was one year out of college when it was relayed to me that a former classmate asked why I wasn't at the big metro back home yet. "He was so good in high school!"

A heart surgeon is a heart surgeon is a heart surgeon. Same, mostly, with lawyers, teachers and most other white-collar professions. Not this. People know.

 

[Ace]

Part-time writers and freelancers are in the slow lane. Recent college grads are in the fast lane.

I'm a part-timer and a year removed from college, so does that put me in the middle lane? And how dumb are my husband and I to consider buying a home near a paper that I work 30 hours a week?

Here's the ugly truth about being a part-timer, BG.

Say a full-time opening comes up in your department. The sports editor has two choices. He can hire somebody new and pick up 40 man-hours a week. Or he can hire you, who's already working 30 hours a week, and he'll only gain 10 man-hours a week.

See the problem?

To which the people above the hiring editor say, Hire the part-timer ... we're only picking up 10 hours of salary.

Ah, but you're picking up a whole person's worth of benefits -- medical, pension, etc.

Plus, I would seriously doubt that you'd maintain the same salary structure with a full-timer.

And so the balance shifts back toward hiring a new body.

Also, if this is a black-and-white issue, sure, the people above the SE have say in the new hire. But you can be sure the SE is pushing hard to pick up more than 10 man-hours if he's getting a new hire.

And if you have an opening for a full-timer, it's a lot easier to find someone for that job than it is for someone good who will work 30 hours for no benefits.

 

[boots]

I think part of it is that friends and relatives really get excited about a budding little journalist. Other than maybe politics, being in the media is the one profession where an average joe can seemingly become a celebrity on intellectual merit (theoretically).

So when daddy and mommy start bragging about their little future star journalist, they start dropping big names and publications to people as future destinations/role models. It's a field where outsiders can grasp what constitutes success, and when you're plugging away at a 30,000-circ. on preps or, heck, even at a nice-sized paper as a beat guy, you feel kind of naked doing what we do because people wonder why the former little star hasn't hit the big-time yet.

I was one year out of college when it was relayed to me that a former classmate asked why I wasn't at the big metro back home yet. "He was so good in high school!"

A heart surgeon is a heart surgeon is a heart surgeon. Same, mostly, with lawyers, teachers and most other white-collar professions. Not this. People know.

Excellent point. I alwys thought i would be able to pay my bills. heck, there are times when getting the value meal at KFC is a treat.