Advice on a job offer

I'm in Dubuque, WCI's only daily paper. (My name is Erin Murphy, btw.)

There's a lot of good advice in this thread. Take it all into consideration.
And if you take the job ... get a roommate to split rent.

What I think many in this thread are overlooking here, is dude has been sans full-time work for almost 2 whole years now. So maybe there is another option to consider:
If you take the job, at that pay scale I'd argue the grace period for moving on to another job shrinks considerably. Take the job, get some steady income, and keep firing out resumes left and right. In the meantime you'll also be producing more clips/samples to send out to prospective employers.
And if you're fortunate to get another, better offer just a couple months into this one, you can safely say "Match what they're offering or adios."

Either way, good luck man.

 

My first suggestion would be to move out of the area if this is the best you can do after two years of looking.

If you aren't willing to relocate, take the job and search like hell for a hot girl with a cushy job. It's the way to go at my newspaper. It's how we stay afloat.

 

Mustang,
Thanks for your advice, I appreciate it. I'll definitely look into the counter offer letter, that sounds like a good idea.
Yeah, I'm in tough bind. I appreciated the fact that they offered me the position, but I was hoping for a tad bit more, considering I've been doing this for a few years. It can't be a bad place to work at, though. The SE's been there for seven years and the old ASE was there for two and a half. I love the fact that it's close to Madison, too.
Right now, I'm barely getting by working part-time and getting unemployment, so this would be a better alternative. And, like most of us, I aspire to work my way up to something bigger, so while the pay isn't great, this would be a good way to get back into the game full-time to get the experience needed to move on sometime down the road. Let me know what you think.
Thanks for the counter offer idea!

 

I agree with the others. Make a counteroffer to let them know you are seriously interested. If they can't meet your minimums, you have to be willing to walk away. There will be other opportunities. Don't undersell yourself.

 

I was going to correct your grammar and point out that a dilemma is when you are faced with two poor choices. How could a job offer be a bad choice?

But I see that you were simply being accurate.

I wouldn't move anywhere for $10 an hour.

I'd ask them to make it at least $12 (what can it hurt?) though I wouldn't get your hopes up.

 

And don't forget, it's easier to find a new job when you have a job. At least that's how it feels.

 

You have plenty of advice here on the salary that's been offered. I'm wondering if there are other benefits that help with the decision-making process. If you're now a part-timer, I'm guessing you have no health insurance; if that's part of the plan at your new company, does that change anything? It's probably unlikely, but maybe they pay for the entire premium for employees. Granted, I wouldn't base my decision solely on this factor, but perhaps it is another possible consideration. Good luck.

 

Another thought... If you write the counter offer letter and they decline it, you can still accept the job. Keep firing off those resumes. You will soon find something better (it's easier to find a job when you have a job). When you leave, even if it is after a short time, you can tell them the pay wasn't sufficient and your counter offer letter indicated that before you started.

Even though this is a down market, they offered you for a reason. You were the best of all the applicants. Maybe nobody else even came close. It may be worth their time to spend a little more on you because it may be cheaper than continuing a search, or hiring someone who is not as qualified.

In your letter, make sure to point out WHY they should pay you more. Politely thank them for the offer, but reiterate your qualifications and how you can help them make money. All they care about is money so justify the extra chunk of change you want in your paycheck.

If you can't negotiate a higher wage, see if you can get them to fork over a signing bonus, or possibly pay for moving expenses. See if you can negotiate a higher raise after 90-days after performance.

There are a lot of options here.

 

The paper needs to understand that it costs more to post an opening, interview applicants, make a hire and train a new hire every year than it does to offer a decent wage.

These revolving-door openings are costing these papers money and they're too dumb to see that because publishers only look at today's bottom line.

 

Gospel.

 

I'm going to stray a little from what others have said here because I've seen how hard this industry has been hit and know way too many talented people who are gone and never coming back.

I'd ask myself one thing before anything else, is sports journalism not just something you want to do, but feel like you have to do?

If the answer isn't a clear yes, don't take the job.

Otherwise, I'd tell them you're worried about the salary and making ends meet. My guess, though, is that they won't come up much. At that point, it's what you can live with.

Oh, and yes, Madison is a pretty terrific town.

 

alan,
Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it. Sports journalism is definitely something that I'm passionate about and I feel like I need to do. But I also need to pay the bills too, so it's hard. In the past, I have taken other jobs outside the industry just to make ends meet and really wasn't fulfilled at all.
I certainly know what you mean about the industry losing many talented people and it's really a shame. People tell me that I have exceptional talent for sports writing and that, despite what's happened in the past, I shouldn't give up, but boy, it's hard sometimes to not just say, 'Oh the hell with it' and pursue something else.