What old co-workers are up to

I left a medium-sized daily a few years ago, and the time since has not been kind to the paper, which has been folded into a couple of other nearby cities' papers. Very few of my co-workers remain there, and today, I was on LinkedIn and found what several of them are doing instead of working in newspapers. These are former reporters and editors. Kind of wild ...

Owner, Arconti Concrete, LLC
Property Manager at Housing Authority
Director Of Operations & Client Services
Account Manager at Chartwell, Inc.
Student at Santa Fe Community College

 

Perhaps the most depressing part of that list is that the skills they used in journalism are not the skills they are using in their current jobs. Makes you wonder why any of us paid good money to hone those skills in college.

 

Because we're all going to work in this field until we're 65, retire and enjoy Social Security, pensions, fat 401Ks and high-value stock options!

 

Mine are all dead. I killed them.

 

Damn, Concrete Boy has stirred a little bit of shit in the interim, hasn't he?

 

There's a pretty good indication of how f'd up things are -- radio is considered more stable.

I had a friend who did morning sports on a radio station. They had a noon staff meeting. Once everyone was assembled, the general manager flipped the switch on a speaker just in time to hear, "This is the new sound of Country 97."

That's how the staff found out about the format change that ended all their jobs.

 

I've never fully understood how just a format change would end radio people's jobs.

Don't they think people could adjust to a different format?

Oh wait, this is corporations we're talking about here.

 

Pern, sometimes it's hard to convince employers that the skills you possess are transferable to other industries.

But, surely you realize the skills you have and use as a journalist are valuable in many roles.

Tell me what you perceive to be your skills, and I'll tell you why I'd want someone with them.

But, for a start, critical thinking, writing, the ability to talk to strangers and make them feel comfortable, thinking on your feet, working without close supervision, working on deadline, etc.

Those are skills any employer should value. And, I'm sure copperpot's former colleagues are using their journalism skills in their new jobs. (Well, all except the concrete guy. He's relying on political connections. LOL.)

In fact, I'll bet they're surprised how easy their transition has been to new fields, and I'll bet they are aware that their journalistic talents are a big reason for the ease of transition.

 

Fair enough, YF, but my point was really that spending four years studying journalism in college is not needed to be a property manager or an account manager or to own a concrete company. Those four years and dollars could have been better spent studying business to enter any of those fields.

I could open a restaurant tomorrow and I would benefit from knowing how to get coverage from local papers, how to write and design a menu that looks and sounds attractive, how to advertise, etc. But ultimately, my success as a restauranteur would rely more heavily on the 15 years I spent working in restaurants and learning the business rather than the $17,000 and four years I spent learning the inverted triangle and how to write a lead.

Will you use those journalism skills in other professions? Sure. But did you need to spend four years and $XX,000 dollars to get there? No.

 

I understand.

I just hate to see so many people here feel like they're trapped in a dying field, and not realizing how many transferable skills they have.

The money and time learning your trade has been spent. No going back now.

Go forward, with confidence in your skills. They are desired by smart employers.

 

If there's a format change, it's probably because the station is not successful.