What Are My Chances?

Pete, ask yourself, would you apply for this job if you were already out of work?

Because, with the problems you've had with your company previously, you essentially are already laid off. You just managed to hang on by the skin of your teeth for this round.

This business isn't getting better, and odds are, you'll find yourself cut soon enough. You managed to buy yourself some time. Use it wisely.

In other words, go for it. The worst that happens is, they say no.

 

Go for it hard, confidently and with specifics.

I have several friends in the PR business and always ask them about openings. You can do it and you know about your local media outlets -- who is good, who is trustworthy, who you wouldn't piss on if they were on fire and their agendas.

You have nothing to lose.

 

How can you have no corporate communication skills and still hold down a reporting job for a decade? Either you're selling yourself short, or you b.s. it so well that your would-be new bosses won't notice any more than your old ones.

Think of how you got sources, made contacts. You got communication skills aplenty right there.

As for your college major, there's probably some ceramics majors in every industry, so I wouldn't sweat it.

If you want it, do it. Now.

 

I say go for it, too. First things first, security and something that will keep you employed on your own terms rather than someone else's, and a bunch of other reasons make this a no-brainer.

But here is a question that you might or might not have thought of: If the word gets out that you're applying for a job with the city you cover, will your paper hold that against you? The concern is two-fold: The editors might be mad that you're shopping for another job, period (totally out of line for them to feel this way, but that doesn't mean they won't), and they might not like that you're seeking some personal benefit from an institution that, if it doesn't pan out, you'll be back covering.

Some reporters might be suspected of going easy on a beat where they hope to secure employment. Others might get accused of getting tougher on that beat later out of payback for not getting the job. It might cause your editors to bounce you into another assignment that might be less enjoyable or more precarious in job security.

If I were covering a team, applied for a media-relations job with that team and didn't get the job -- and the word leaked out -- I could see people questioning the integrity of my coverage before, during or after the process. They'd be wrong, but the questions still would come.

Might that apply in this situation?

But I still say go for it.

 

This guy made a pretty good transition from newspapers:

www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/1622292,david-axelrod-depaul-graduation-061409.article

 

Agree with all of the above.

Pete, I made the jump a few years ago. I didn't have news or InDesign skills.

You ARE qualified for this position. Trust me.

Read the job description carefully. Re-use the words they used in the job description in your cover letter.

Convince them that you can hit the ground running from Day 1. It's not lying, it's the truth.

Yeah, sure, some people might have corporate communication skills. So what. Like bsquared said, you have skills and experience that no one else has: "organization, planning, interpersonal communication, writing, designing, incorporation of the Web, buzzword-buzzword-buzzword"

Go for it.

 

Be prepared with a plan for the job. They'll likely ask you what your media plan for your responsibilities will be, and you can't just answer "whatever you tell me to do."

 

Ditto. My degree is in political science and that didn't prohibit me from getting any sports writer positions.

 

Go for it buddy.

 

If there is a media relations component to the position, emphasize strongly that you understand how the media works and have the skills to work with the media.

 

What's all this "one in a million" talk?

 

Bingo. You know first-hand the issues print and other media are going through (shrinking news holes, shrinking staffs, etc.). You know ways to effectively get your message across to the media.