"Getting out of the business" success stories

[chigurdaddy]

This is a spinoff of the above-listed resource thread. Looking for ex journos who are doing well in other fields. What talents/skills/tools from sports journalism made them/you succesful in those fields? Or not? I have a friend who went into PR a few years ago, before things got really, really bad. I don't think he'd say it's his dream job, but I think he's happy, so that to count for something. Oh yeah, and he gets a paycheck. Just thought hearing about some success stories might have some value for those of us who've been laid off/bought out, are fearful they might be, or just know they will be. Let's all keep in mind that in this economy, options are limited, so the idea is to have an idea of what to do when, if ever, the economy turns around.

 

[93Devil]

1. I can write a little bit. Few people can write.

2. I can have things completed on a deadline without always checking back to see if I am doing it correctly. You don't understand how important the ability to do something after you have been told only once is to a boss.

3. I can organize thoughts quickly. Think of everything happening after a high school gamer you have to do quickly and correctly.

4. I am good with a computer. All writers should learn Excel and Powerpoint. Now!

5. I have this amazing ability to get my workplace in the newspaper, and I am not even the PR person.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I am pretty good with people, can speak in front of large groups and am not easily intimidated.

I can also type 90 words per minute.

Unfortunately, very few people outside of PR or advertising are very impressed with the skills we have gained during a journalism career.

In my own situation, I had a friend call in a favor to get me an interview and I took it from there.

There were other jobs that I felt overqualified for that didn't even want to meet me.

 

[Ace]

I am pretty good with people, can speak in front of large groups and am not easily intimidated.

I can also type 90 words per minute.

Unfortunately, very few people outside of PR or advertising are very impressed with the skills we have gained during a journalism career.

In my own situation, I had a friend call in a favor to get me an interview and I took it from there.

There were other jobs that I felt overqualified for that didn't even want to meet me.

That's very true. If you are looking to translate skills into the business world (corporate communications, management, whatever) what we do just does not compute in their world.

Plus our terminology is different from corporate speak.

So unless it is someone familiar with you, it really is hard to get a foot in the door.

 

[SixToe]

I have a friend in PR for a large banking company, a job he found after years in newspapers.

He said the creativity lost amid newspapers has been reborn with a younger, Web-centric staff who never reads newspapers. They are able to combine his knowledge, their youthfulness, creativity and get good results.

He also said their local newspaper ad people five years ago told them to **** off during a meeting about getting better ad placements, unless they wanted to fork over more money. A meeting earlier this year resulted in a better outcome for both parties.

He said the first meeting with "the old geezers who knew 'everything' " was a clear revelation he made the best choice of getting out. Seeing from the other side of the table one reason of how and why newspapers were dying was eye-opening for him.

 

[Ace]

I have a friend in PR for a large banking company, a job he found after years in newspapers.

He said the creativity lost amid newspapers has been reborn with a younger, Web-centric staff who never reads newspapers. They are able to combine his knowledge, their youthfulness, creativity and get good results.

He also said their local newspaper ad people five years ago told them to **** off during a meeting about getting better ad placements, unless they wanted to fork over more money. A meeting earlier this year resulted in a better outcome for both parties.

He said the first meeting with "the old geezers who knew 'everything' " was a clear revelation he made the best choice of getting out. Seeing from the other side of the table one reason of how and why newspapers were dying was eye-opening for him.

If I worked for a bank, and a newspaper ad person said that to me. I'd beat the crap out of him and deposit his bleeding ass on the publisher's rug.

 

[SixToe]

This is from his email:

"It's been interesting to watch the change in the newspaper business from the outside. I can remember meeting with the advertising bigwigs from the Podunk News about five years ago. We told them we weren't happy with our placement in the paper and wanted to know how they would work with us to make our placement better. They basically told us to go "F" ourselves and said that if we would double or triple our spending with them they might think about it. It was a crazy conversation and the story still gets told today as an example of how we as advertisers were told off by a group of old farts standing in the middle of an industry that was burning down around their ears.

Now, we had the exact same meeting about three months ago with a new crew from the News and they were falling all over themselves trying to accommodate us on placement. How times have changed!!"



There is a difference in letting advertisers dictate editorial coverage and working with a paying customer to best come up with ways to make each side happier.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

I have a friend in PR for a large banking company, a job he found after years in newspapers.

He said the creativity lost amid newspapers has been reborn with a younger, Web-centric staff who never reads newspapers. They are able to combine his knowledge, their youthfulness, creativity and get good results.

He also said their local newspaper ad people five years ago told them to **** off during a meeting about getting better ad placements, unless they wanted to fork over more money. A meeting earlier this year resulted in a better outcome for both parties.

He said the first meeting with "the old geezers who knew 'everything' " was a clear revelation he made the best choice of getting out. Seeing from the other side of the table one reason of how and why newspapers were dying was eye-opening for him.

If I worked for a bank, and a newspaper ad person said that to me. I'd beat the crap out of him and deposit his bleeding ass on the publisher's rug.

The Plain Dealer can always use a security officer to guard the remaining workers.

 

[Ace]

I have a friend in PR for a large banking company, a job he found after years in newspapers.

He said the creativity lost amid newspapers has been reborn with a younger, Web-centric staff who never reads newspapers. They are able to combine his knowledge, their youthfulness, creativity and get good results.

He also said their local newspaper ad people five years ago told them to **** off during a meeting about getting better ad placements, unless they wanted to fork over more money. A meeting earlier this year resulted in a better outcome for both parties.

He said the first meeting with "the old geezers who knew 'everything' " was a clear revelation he made the best choice of getting out. Seeing from the other side of the table one reason of how and why newspapers were dying was eye-opening for him.

If I worked for a bank, and a newspaper ad person said that to me. I'd beat the crap out of him and deposit his bleeding ass on the publisher's rug.

The Plain Dealer can always use a security officer to guard the remaining workers.

You've given me hope and a new direction in life. Wonder if I get a bullet?

 

[Flash]

He said the creativity lost amid newspapers has been reborn with a younger, Web-centric staff who never reads newspapers. They are able to combine his knowledge, their youthfulness, creativity and get good results.

Times two.

As I said in the resource thread, embrace social media technology now. Blogs are not the devil, if you want out of the business and into marketing and/or media, public, and/or community relations.

 

[J-School Blue]

I think the most important thing about translating newspaper experience is putting what you actually do into terms non-industry folks can understand. Because we do a lot.

As was said upthread: we can juggle several projects at once; we can complete them on deadline and with a healthy degree of accuracy; we can write well, and you'd be shocked by how rare that is; we can type quickly and usually have above-average computer skills; we are generally experienced at being civil and getting information out of people who are upset or don't particularly want to talk to us; we are used to putting in a hard day's work, usually for far less reward than most real businesses would dare pay their employees; most of us have more investigative skills than we probably think we do; most of us have college degrees, again it's shocking what a rare commodity they are in the real world.

Putting stuff like that on your resume gets it more attention than just saying "I was a staff writer for Podunk Press" and expecting them to understand the kind of work that entails.

I don't think it hurts to look at non-traditional sources when you're searching for alternate employment. I spent months slamming my head against the dying print wall before I finally started applying to other sources. I landed a job auditing liar mortgage loans (the one growth industry in the economy :P). I was surprised at how well my skills translated.

Some newspapers have a way of emotionally devaluing their employees and making them believe they're less skilled and that their work is less difficult than it actually is (yes, I am bitter :P). Don't let the bastards win.

 

[93Devil]

I remember a top SID telling me about his first gig (and it was big time assistant or intern) by saying in his interview that he was responsible for the stats at his town's slow pitch softball league.

Nothing would ever equal the pressure of ruling your dad's or uncle's hit an error and costing them a batting title.

It's all about communicating what you can do for them.

 

[Editude]

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.

 

[McNuggetsMan]

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.

 

[sgaleadfoot]

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.

 

[BB Bobcat]

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.

 

[part-timer]

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.

 

[NDub]

Please keep this thread going. This is good stuff.

 

[Freelance Hack]

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.

 

[ServeItUp]

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.