Getting out

[sjfan1]

I don't know which board is best for this, so feel free to move it...

I hate my boss (SE). I hate him with a passion that I can't even put into words. He has, over the past year and change, made every aspect of my life miserable.

I'm ready to quit, and I just wanted to know if anyone had any suggestions on what I could do instead of sports journalism. I've got the usual skills: a communication degree, good in quark, indesign and photoshop. AP style. Can handle deadline pressure. Good communication... etc, etc, etc.

In what fields are those skills useful? I know there's a big PR firm in the nearby big city. There are several pro sports teams in the area with media relations people. But I don't know what else I could be considering, or, more importantly, where to look for jobs in those kinds of fields.

The thing I like about sports journalism is the creativity -- of designing a good looking page, of writing an attention-grabbing story. I'd like my next job to have some similar brand of creativity to it, if at all possible. If I can't get that, so be it. But instead, I'd like to make more than the pittance I'm making as a sports journalist.

Given my current living situation, I can't leave the area until next summer (wife's job is here until then, at least). That's why I'm ready to get out of this field -- in this area, I've got nowhere to go. There are two other daily papers within driving distance, both of which would be a step up over the current place. But one is so much bigger and more prestigious I'd never dream of going from my current place straight there, and the other hasn't had a sports opening, the SE there told me when I talked to him, since the mid '90s.

So, in a perfect world, what I'd like to do is this: get another job in this area. A 9-to-5 job, whatever, I don't care. I could probably string the occassional story for either of the other two nearby dailies in my off time, just so that when next summer rolls around, if I feel so inclined, I can begin a more national sports journalism job search. But that's only if I feel whatever new job I get isn't permanent or if I just miss this field of work too much, which may happen, because when I started at this current shop, I loved it.

Anyway, sorry this is so long. If you've read this far, I just want any suggestions you may have of other jobs people with the typical sports journalist's skill set may be able to find, and where to look to find those jobs.

Thanks.

 

[Stupid]

advertising

 

[PeteyPirate]

I would have laughed myself out of the room for saying this two years ago, but after going back to school for business (journalism was my undergrad) it is my firm belief that everybody should have an MBA. I've learned a lot about finance, management, marketing, etc., but most important I've learned the skills that people need to succeed within any organization. Just my two cents.

 

[Claws for Concern]

Advertising, PR, magazines, is the paper you're at the only paper in town?

 

[Roscablo]

If you are that unhappy with your boss, would moving to the other side of the newsroom change anything? I'm sure there is something you can do in news. That would mean a whole new range of experiences which could help you down the road. And a different boss.

Of course, there's plenty you can do with your skills that are still journalistic (if that's important to you) and not in newspapers. Plenty of magazines and publishing companies around. Better hours at a lot of those places, too.

Just be flexible and open. And make sure it's something you like.

 

[snakeplkn]

What about graphic design? There has to be plenty of jobs in your area.

 

[brettwatson]

How about staying where you're at and going to online or another department in the newsroom? That way your benefits stay the same and you get to bid the asshole boss adieu.

 

[Ace]

Why not stay and find ways to make your boss' life miserable?

 

[leo1]

i quit journalism for law school. so that's an option.

 

[boots]

Try general labor. It's good honest work.

 

[funky_mountain]

yes, do that - because we all know how honest all those construction, plumbing, auto mechanic, electrical and factory companies are.

i'm joking. sort of. maybe not.

i used to swing a sledge hammer (i'm no john henry). as bob ryan wrote in his column the other day, not many like to see how the sausage is made, and that goes for plenty of businesses.

if you can live with yourself at the end of the day, that helps.

 

[boots]

I know the recipe for McDonald's secret sauce.

 

[DyePack]

If you want to design, go to a business that focuses on that. I don't know why more "visual" people don't do that anyway. Why be in a business that focuses should focus on writing when you don't want to focus on writing? It's silly.

 

[spaceman]

starbucks

 

[User 1019]

I left the biz a little over a year ago to head back to school (finance). In June I'll leave school with a $50K job. Second best decision I've ever made.

 

[Tom Petty]

I left the biz a little over a year ago to head back to school (finance). In June I'll leave school with a $50K job. Second best decision I've ever made.

hope it works out as well as your first gig.

 

[slappy4428]

I know the recipe for McDonald's secret sauce.

goody. Boots' secret sauce...

 

[Moderator1]

Here's the thing, only you can really answer this. You know what other skills you have, what other type of work you can do. You know what you enjoy.
Had a friend get out and go to law school. He's making a fortune and is happy.
Had another friend get out. He went into banking and PR and made more money and then went into teaching. He's making less money, working twice as hard as he ever has and is about 100 times as happy. So he won with that decision.
Was in a hospital recently, they had a list of available jobs posted in the elevator. Amazing variety, amazing pay ranges. Jobs ARE out there. Even if journalism type skills are all you have, you can find something where they work. I'm betting you have other skills, too. Don't limit yourself.

A friend gave me great advice years ago - life is WAY too short to spend even one miniscule fraction of it being miserable. If you are miserable, find something else ASAP.

If I ever get out of this sometimes crazy, sometimes very frustrating business I will probably try to get a job selling books. As we get older, our financial commitments shrink. I'm not yet to the point where mine are such that I can take a pay hit but I'm getting there. I love to read, I love to converse. I'll be Barnes and Noble's best salesman. Or I'll open my own small shop with my wife, who loves to read and loves to converse.

Analyze yourself and figure out your next move.

 

[User 1019]

Spot on, Moddy. A journalist is likely to find him/herself fairly valuable after leaving the business. Employers these days aren't necessarily looking for IQ, but rather EI or emotional intelligence. Employers want folks who can deal with people and interpret their communications and emotions. And, unless you have some serious people-skills or self-confidence issues, journalists are normally pretty good at handling people.

 

[The Duke]

start masturbating.
you'll sleep better and feel better about everything in life.