I graduated from one of those "marquee" j-schools in the summer, and after three months surfing my parents' couch, I landed a job at a well-respected trade newspaper in a very, very big city. Given the state of the newspaper business, I was getting a lot of very polite "please keep in touch" emails from metro editors. So when presented with a solid job offer (and the chance to get off my parents' couch), I jumped at it.
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The location is great (top three market), the pay is excellent for someone just out of school (around $40k), and my colleagues are cheerful and willing to lend a hand to the new kid. There's only one problem: I hate it.
Although we're a daily paper, we're also a trade pub, and the editors don't want spot news. They like features and analysis. It is not unusual for a reporter to spend a week on a single story. I find the pace to be mind-numbingly slow. I love to jump at a breaking story. I have a hard time dragging myself out of bed in the morning to go to work.
I'm also afraid that working at a trade daily is not exactly a stepping stone on my way to my ultimate goal: a job at a wire service or on a metro desk. I took this job because it was a solid paycheck at a newspaper. But have I taken a detour that is leading away from an eventual daily hard-news-reporting gig? Should I just suck it up and be thankful that during this hiring crunch I have a job at all?
Thanks,
Restless
Yes, you are going to have to suck it up a little. Recalling those three months on the couch will help.
But you have to get out of this place where you hate to go to work. That can kill a career. It's pretty clear that you have taken a job at a place that has the wrong culture and that you did it for some good reasons, not knowing entirely what to look for. But let's get a new job in 2007.
Work with your editors to try to change the metabolism in your little corner of the newsroom. Tell them what you're looking for, volunteer for or pitch every potential breaking-news article and run, run, run. I wouldn't be surprised if they hired you, in part, for your go-getter attitude. Max it out.
Make this job work, and you'll get the experience and clips you need to get the next job, which you will no doubt make sure has a culture that is more favorable to you.
Coming Wednesday: This college senior has done a lot of work in her journalistic niche already -- on paper and online -- and needs to start getting paid for her work.
