My job search

[TheFlyingBomb]

Hi everyone. As you may or may not know, I'm a news reporter in a small town in North Carolina.

I've been looking for a new job offhandedly for a while; various conditions (having to buy a new car, everything costing more) have led to a full-blown job search situation.

My search is centered on the Triad area of North Carolina for a few reasons, so I'm not asking for leads on specific jobs or anything. I'm asking for any advice you might have for a news reporter looking to leave the business (I had an interview a couple of weeks ago at a newspaper; they went another direction and I've kind of realized over the past year or so that I need to leave this business anyway).

What qualifications do you think a reporter would have that could translate into another field? I've applied for positions in public relations, advertising, working for a minor league baseball team, being the public face of a non-profit real estate advocacy organization, and even being a telecommunicator with the state highway patrol. Nothing so far but my goal, in order to keep from getting down about not being able to find something right away, is to send out two or more resumes each week. As long as I can stay focused this way, I'll keep myself from going insane.

Anyone have any ideas?

[baidaho]

Have you thought about teaching?

[jtur88]

I do fine on the money I make composing comments on message boards. You can do that full time.

Seriously, my step daughter, who has a lot less experience than you have, has a pretty good salary writing for an on-line news site.

[dlb]

You can write. It's really hard to understate the need for people who can write, especially in our part of NC. Ad agencies are looking for people who can express an idea visually, which a good writer can do. However, doing it within the advertising genre is a pretty tough skill to master. If you want to go in that direction, I'd advise shelling out the few thousand (maybe 12K) for a degree from The Portfolio School. Still, it will be tough.

PR, OTOH, is writing for the press. You can definitely do that. Starting out as a freelancer, you can easily get $35/hour, $50/hour wouldn't be out of reach (ask for $50, settle for $35). The thing you have to bear in mind is that not every hour you work is billable (there's all that accounting work & other stuff). If you can get 125 billable hours in a 4-week month, you'll be doing alright.

I don't know what salaries are at PR firms, but I bet they're better than newspapers. Get an entry-level position at a PR firm. If you're good, you'll move up quickly (again, there aren't a lot of people who can write well). After a couple of years, you'll understand how the game is played and you'll have some contacts. Then, you can go freelance at a rate of about $75/hour.

Your first four months will be scary as hell. You will make lots and lots of phone calls and get lots and lots of rejections. Ignore the rejections. Keep calling - the same people who tell you they don't have anything. You'll seriously consider giving it up and getting a steady paycheck at someplace like Lowe's. Then, if your experience is like most folks', everything will just fall into place.

One key to getting work is to accept the "impossible" deadline. Everybody screws up every now and then and needs something by lunchtime tomorrow. If you can deliver it, you'll have a client, and most of the work they give you will have reasonable deadlines.

The other thing you should know about freelancing is that there are no weekdays, weekends and holidays. There are days when you have work to do and days when you have no work to do. The trick is to learn to not stress out on the "no work" days - enjoy them. A hobby that doesn't require a schedule helps (mine is chess). The other part of the trick is to not get stressed about working on Saturday, Sunday, Thanksgiving Friday & etc. Just do the work and know that you'll get your time off on Tuesday, January 14th (or some other unknown date).

In short, your ability to write is golden. The freelancing life is a good one. Stick through the four months of hell and you'll never regret it.

[jtur88]

Not everybody can make the transition easily from journalism to public relations. After all, in journalism the objective is revealing the truth, and in PR it is concealing it. Some people have a problem with the ethical shift.

If you are a journalist, working weekends and holidays is alrady a been-there-done-that.

Here's a page from my wife's playbook. She quickly got herself qualified as a producer for the local Cable Access channel, who taught her the basics free. Then she got a grant to buy a 3-chip professional videocam, (about 4K including mikes, tripod, etc.), found a teenager to teach her Final Cut Pro, and started making money as a freelance videographer. There aren't very many people around yet who can do that very competently and professionally.

[AlexdeLarge]

My yard needs mowing and I'm going golfing......how's 20 bucks?
I'll leave it under the door mat

[ctjayfan]

I was thinking advertising and/or public relations.

Maybe a Tech Writer.

[TheFlyingBomb]

Thanks for the input everyone. I actually have some contract writing work lined up through an information technology company that should be starting in the next couple of weeks. Beyond that, we'll see what happens.

Any other input is always welcome.

[AlexdeLarge]

I scored a 82 and my lawn wasn't mowed....guess that means you didn't like the rate? I would have tipped

[TheFlyingBomb]

You didn't say whether or not your daughters would be home.

[LongtimeBravesFan]

Do you still have the bartending job?

[TheFlyingBomb]

Every now and then. Basically if they need some extra help I'm usually available. Last week I worked three nights, but I may go a month or two before they need me again. It's really inconsistent.

[TheFlyingBomb]

baidaho - I have thought about teaching, but I just don't know if I could do it. I'd probably murder the little smart alecks, primarily because I was one of them and it would drive me up the wall.

Maybe, though. I've already applied to five jobs this week. If I can keep that pace up, I don't think it'll take too long. That said, the contract writing I mentioned earlier is probably going to help my resume more than I'll ever imagine.

[TheFlyingBomb]

Weekends are the worst. Nothing happens.

[jtur88]

Originally Posted by TheFlyingBomb

Weekends are the worst. Nothing happens.

That's true whether you have a job or not. Try to get a job where you work weekends, so you can have weekdays off, when things do happen.