Getting out

Congratulations. I've been considering getting out of newspaper design and into a related non-newspaper gig. How does your work and pay compare to what you did at the paper?

 

Until the new AD arrives. Then your only hope of hanging on is knowing where all the bodies are buried.

 

I think we would all be amazed at the number of people in this business who are considering such a move. I have many friends who I consider to be incredible successes in the industry who are looking to get out.

Let me ask a question where I'm only half-joking... What else are we qualified to do?

 

I never thought I would consider getting out, but that's what I'm doing... The travel and the bullshit is just too much and I have young kids and I don't want to miss their youth because I'm on the road covering some bullshit game... I've seen so many great writers lose their jobs...

We're all next. I have a friend who is a columnist in a major market who is trying to go back to school so he can go the Scott Cain route. We're not talking about people who are struggling to make it in this business wanting to get out, we're talking about the top guys.

 

Mizzou - You're seriously thinking about getting out? You of all people? You seem so passionate about this line of work, and are obviously a success ... which I guess means very little when you turn 40 and they drop you like a bad habit.

When I mentioned possibly getting out, my editor laid the, "I guess I've always believed if you do what you love, it'll work itself out" line. When I mentioned to another friend in the business trying to be a law professor, he replied sharply, "No, you're a writer."

Like you, I've had a little bit of success in this business, caught some breaks really, and I'm pretty young. So people can't fathom that I'd want out. And I don't know for a fact that I do, not at this very moment at least. But I'd be absolutely irresponsible not to at least lay the groundwork. I'm doing the standardized test circuit right now. LSAT down, GRE and GMAT on the horizon (GRE study is actually fun because you improve your vocab by leaps and bounds, which we should all do anyway. I was reading Bernstein's Hillary book and he said her family was "ascetic" and I was like, "Damn, I know what that word means now!" Digression over.)

 

Fuck it. We should just win the lottery. I should, anyway.

I'm barely even in the industry — just finishing my second year at my first job — and I think about looking for something else on a daily basis. I had three majors, all of them now equally worthless: print, tv and radio (if I'm getting out of the media, that one won't help) and history (if it weren't for English and Philosophy it would be the most worthless major in college.)

I feel if I really tried, I could do fine in this business. But this summer especially I just can't make myself go all out. I just don't care. I'm hoping I've taken enough time off this summer that it will all feel fresh again when fall sports start up again, but I don't remember feeling this hopeless last year.

As for what else I'd do ... well, until I come up with an idea for my book ... Honestly, every time I think about it I decide the only way is to win the lottery. So, here's to hoping!

 

I've been on the market to make such a move in a major market (D.C.) and I've had plenty of success finding jobs it would appear I qualify for. The keywords I've used while scouring the web (mainly the Washington Post, Baltimore Sun and Craigslist) have been "writer," "editor" and "communications." They seem to reveal the most fitting results.

As for my results, I'll be issuing a heartfelt 2 weeks notice at my current shop later this week. After an intense six-week interview/screening process, I've landed what appears to be a solid job in corporate communications with lots of future potential. And for this one, there was no cover letter or references, etc, just a blind resume on a whim a couple months back.

Like they say, you never know...