Degree or no degree.

quit being such an ass

 

This job might sound like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to you now, but one just like it will be there when you're done with school -- and in fact the very same opportunity is likely to come up once they've rid themselves of the person they hired once you turn them down. An employer who would advise you not to finish school in this environment is one that is not to be trusted. Even if you find a way to stay in the business forever, at some point you are going to run across a job you don't get because you don't have a degree.

 

You must be a bad writer, too, if that bothers you so much. Someone else already gave him the same advice, and it's good advice.

 

I haven't heard anyone wish they didn't go to college. I hear the opposite regularly.

 

I think people make the mistake of listening to people proclaim they never had a degree and got by. Times change.

 

At my last shop, we'd have interns and paid part-timers who were in school. The SEs would always tell them that school came first, before the job. They were very flexible in scheduling for them, and would even tell them that if they needed off to study for an exam, to let them know.

In other words, stay in school. Especially since it's a fairly new publication with sucky pay, odds are whoever they do hire won't be staying too long. By the time you get your degree, whoever they hire to replace you might leave, and you can have the job anyways.

Plus, if they like you that much already, they can give you some freelance work, and you won't have to regale us with stories from your impovershed college years {cross-thread}

 

I have no degree. I would say your age and the circumstances determine whether it's a good risk.

I was 19. The place I lucked into had people in their mid-20s who not only could teach me, but they had their own ambitions to work at larger papers, and they moved up at approximately the right time for me to replace them. So by the time I would have graduated from college, I'd covered a preps beat, a minor pro beat, a major pro beat and then been a copy desk chief. Then, two years at a mid-major and on to a major metro at 24. Equal parts hard work and luck.

It was really a very small window when I had an advantage over most people my age. By the time you are 27 or so, other people now have had five or six years of pro experience and caught up to you.

Three decades later, the lack of a degree has not been a factor in newspapering. I do sort of wish I had one now, though, when I look at other careers.

I'd do it if you think you can learn from the people there and can move up quickly. Their ambition is as important as yours, because if they aren't better than you are and they aren't going to move up, you aren't going to get enough opportunity to make it worthwhile. The window closes quickly -- you want a short but productive apprenticeship.

 

As my dad always says, "In life, you always want options." A college degree gives you options in your life. Just having your high school diploma doesn't really do the same thing.

 

I think some of these opportunities for young writers can be a trap. You work like a dog 60 hours a week for $15,000. With the hours and schedule, you have little opportunity to take classes or have much of a social life.

You'd be better off flipping burgers for $8 an hour and going to college.

 

I'm sorry, but why should this guy's forum post be how he's judged as a writer? It's a message board, not a publication. Plenty of "its" rather than "it's" show up here daily, do those mean the authors should leave the industry?

 

I believe only two people bashed his writing and the majority gave legit advice.

But if you come on a board asking if you should take a writing job or go back to school and your writing is unclear and contains grammatical errors, well, you're hanging a curveball there.

 

It's also a message board for those in the industry, including many who may decide on hiring people like the OP one day.

Besides, if you can't type with good spelling or grammar here, when can you type well? Do you have a switch to turn it on/off just because you're writing for a publication?