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Part-time sports writer for Portland-area weeklies

Discussion in 'Journalism Jobs' started by flexmaster33, Aug 1, 2011.

  1. flexmaster33

    flexmaster33 Well-Known Member

    The Sandy Post/Gresham Outlook sports department is looking for a part-time writer to put in 32-36 hours a week covering prep and junior college events in the area. Our main office is located in Gresham -- about 20 minutes east of Portland. We cover 10 area high schools and Mt. Hood Community College. The Outlook is published Wednesdays and Saturdays with night deadlines, the Sandy Post is published Wednesdays with a Monday afternoon deadline.

    This position will be called on to provide a variety of stories -- game coverage, features and event previews, and the ability to handle a camera is a plus.

    Pay range is in the area of $10.50 - $11/hour

    This job will be posted to several other Oregon-based want-ad sites by the end of the week, so if you're seeing it here today you're getting it first.

    In the past year, this position has seen one writer find full-time work at an Idaho daily and another go full-time with a news/sports job within the company.

    Send writing samples (3-5) to Sports Editor, David Ball via e-mail at dball@theoutlookonline.com.
     
  2. sgreenwell

    sgreenwell Well-Known Member

    Wow, 32 to 36 hours a week without benefits is pretty rough for a "part-time" position. I have no idea what this paper or region is like, since I'm on the opposite coast, but this sounds sneakily suspicious to how Walmart just hires 500 people at 35 hours a week, all of them "part-time" employees, and thus, no benefits.
     
  3. flexmaster33

    flexmaster33 Well-Known Member

    Yes, this was part of some down-sizing about a year ago.

    It's meant as a foot in the door, and I don't really expect anyone to stick around long term...note, we've filled it twice in the last year with both writers landing full-time gigs...one out-of-state and another within our company. We do try to hire within when possible, so if something full-time opens up you have some level of an inside track. We're also a part of a chain of 14-15 Portland-area papers, so there are opportunities that come up from within the chain.
     
  4. Full time is 32 hours at Walmart, which is actually a positive because many people juggle their families and school - or, unfortunately, other jobs - and cannot work five eight-hour days. But with 32 being the limit for full-time benefits, they can work four eight-hour days and still have access to the health insurance. I see it as them making benefits more widely available rather than more exclusive.

    In full disclosure, I spent about three years working at Walmart and was in a management training program for college students for about the final year or that. I worked extensively in HR and covered for the HR manager when he would go on vacation, and I can say that most employees were either very part-time (about 20-25 hours a week) or 32-plus. There was none of that 31.5 hours stuff people like to talk about and we very frequently moved people up to full-time status if they expressed interest in working more hours and had positive reviews.

    End of threadjack.
     
  5. flexmaster33

    flexmaster33 Well-Known Member

    starting the interview process this week.
     
  6. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    Is the 32 hours a week average a Walmart thing or a federal law?
     
  7. Stitch

    Stitch Active Member

    Where do the guys who left this job end up? Flex has posted this a few times and wonder how many who've taken the job move to Portland just for part-time work.
     
  8. Stitch

    Stitch Active Member

    It's just a Walmart thing. The only thing the feds deal with is with overtime pay. Benefits, breaks and vacations aren't covered by law.
     
  9. dirtybird

    dirtybird Well-Known Member

    At least one ended up in Moscow/Pullman, which has two D-I football beats if nothing else.
     
  10. Stitch

    Stitch Active Member

    There isn't much else up there from what friends have told me.
     
  11. awriter

    awriter Active Member

    Don't know much about the paper, but it's in one of the nicest parts of the country. Portland is a great city, and you have access to the ocean and mountains.
     
  12. flexmaster33

    flexmaster33 Well-Known Member

    This is correct...this will be the third person to come in since we went to part-time status here about 18 months ago...the first writer is in Northern Idaho on a preps/college beat as I understood it. The second writer was recently promoted to full-time status with one of the other publications within our Portland-metro chain.

    I open this job up realizing it's not an end point for anyone really. A foot in the door, a stepping stone or perhaps a spot to stay active for an older writer. It offers a flexible schedule, and it's a good company.

    I never expect anyone to stay on board long for a part-time job, but it's a good place to learn/practice your skills and keep your resume up to date. I always think it's better to keep working in your field somehow rather than having a 2-3 year gap on your resume.
     
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