"Getting out of the business" success stories

As I've mentioned elsewhere, Mrs. Editude has been out of the as-we-knew-it business for a few years and has done quite well both free-lancing and at non-traditional gigs. A few reasons she's been successful in translating her old-school skills:

1) She can write.

2) She's empathetic. She relates to people, and people relate to her in a non-threatened way.

3) She doesn't come across as (because she isn't) ladder climbing. Whatever the spot is, she'll do it.

4) She's reliable. Whoever said that showing up is a big part of life nailed it.

 

I spent nine months as a news reporter at a 30k, two years years as an assistant sports editor at a 40k, one year at a website for a major magazine and then went to business school to get an MBA. I am now a consultant helping to analyze business process problems.

The skills I gained as a journalists have been invaluable. In my interviews I highlighted the following:

-Strong writing skills and the ability to write clearly, briefly and quickly. It's amazing how much terrible business writing there is out there.

-Interview skills which allow me to quickly diagnose problems during initial interviews with clients

- Not intimated by "famous" people. Most consultants with my initial experience level wouldn't have been able to walk into meetings with COOs and Executive Vice Presidents at Fortune 100 companies, but I convinced my bosses that after getting one-on-one interviews with NASCAR's biggest stars, college football's most famous coaches and other sports stars, business leaders wouldn't be a problem.

 

I've been out of the business, at least full-time for about four months. Basically, a PR job here in town came up and I was able to land it.

From the standpoint of what from newspapers help with my current job, it's being able to write, handle multiple tasks and getting those things done on a deadline.

 

I would love to read more "true stories" about what specific jobs that people got when leaving the journalism biz, rather than just "here are the skills I have that might apply elsewhere."

Tell the whole story about how you found the job, why you thought you'd be good at, how you pitched yourself, exactly what you're doing now, and whether you enjoy it.

 

I went into teaching, then school librarianship. You get to teach the same inquiry skills you use as a journalist. It's a challenge, especially given the laziness of today's student, but I love what I do and I still freelance a little on the side.

 

Please keep this thread going. This is good stuff.

 

I work in Business Development. My job duties include proposal writing -- basically a narrative style which relies on interviewing subject matter experts about certain areas of the company.

I also conduct research -- using such tools LexisNexis, PRNewswire, Datamonitor and the like -- on potential competitors for contracts. If we uncover any weaknesses, we can sometimes write to those in our proposals.

I'm also starting to do more networking with companies and government officials. It's no different than source development, but rather than trying to build rapport to get story leads, I'm building that rapport to create partnerships.

There's a lot of similarities to journalism.

 

After 12-and-a-half years in newspapers, I headed for academe to help put out a house organ publication. People say I left the business but I don't see it that way. I'm still telling stories, still making deadlines, still herding these cats we call creative people. Just for more money, better benefits and without the angst of whether the ax will fall tomorrow.

How did I get this gig? A friend in a high place who had been after me for almost a year to take a job in her department. The last straw was my former company's earnings report coming out. Unfortunately luck has as much to do with it as skill, but if I hadn't been a proficient newspaper employee she wouldn't have thought of me and recruited me for the gig.

 

This response doesn't end happily, but perhaps it helps provide a thread of hope.

I've worked at small papers all my life, all in sports. I got an interview with a small industry association not in any way affiliated with sports or journalism.

The guy I interviewed with said I'd written the best cover letter he'd ever seen. He later said that both he and a second guy I talked with were truly impressed by how much I 'got it' despite the fact that I've never spent a day of my life in public relations.

They ultimately went with someone who experience very close to what they were looking for, but I was one of the final cuts and was in it until the end.

One of these days, I'll pull the upset.

 

Best of luck with that, Hustle.

What other sorts of jobs do our skills transfer?

The basic stuff I'm thinking is PR, SID, communications coordinator for a company or team... what else?

 

i quit and went to law school.

now i'm a lawyer.

knowing how to write, and how to write fast, has been tremendously helpful.

i'm amazed at how many lawyers apparently can't write better than a kindergartener. it's also shocking to me how so many attorneys take an unbelievably long time to write a basic two- or three-page document.

with that said, it took me a long, long time to get used to not having a copy editor. i was not used to meticulously proofing my own work.

 

Didn't Walt MacPeek win some lottery jackpot?