I feel a bit of a dilemma rising in my career, and I would love some advice. I am 30 years old, and I have a master's degree in English. I never had any intention of working in journalism, but after a year at a small paper, I know my place is in journalism.
I spent five-plus years teaching as an adjunct instructor with no luck landing a full-time position. As much as I love literature and writing, I grew bored teaching freshman composition semester after semester. I do love teaching, but the frustration of low pay, no benefits, no office, very long hours and waitressing on the side to make ends meet became too much to bear. I still teach a night class and remain in contact with many of my previous students as they enter four-year colleges and careers. I also volunteer with a literacy organization.
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I left my "full-time" gig teaching four classes a semester at a local community college to take a position at a very small newspaper. It was a tough decision. I uprooted my life and moved hours away from family and friends to my boyfriend's hometown. In the process, I was also uprooting my career. So, here I am at the best job I've ever had. I have fun every day, and I look forward to work -- something I never thought was possible. It beats the adjunct gig, as I now have benefits and a full-time job, but the pay is awful. From what I can tell, this seems to be pretty typical for reporters, especially at smaller papers. We are a biweekly paper with an editorial staff of five, two of whom are part-time.
I have a major money dilemma now that I know what career I belong in. I have been here a year and feel I am ready for a raise. I know it will be minimal, but how do you go about asking for that? Also, I've considered a move to a bigger paper, but I just don't know if I'll like it as much. I'm terrified I'll get to a bigger paper and hate it. Plus, I only have one year of experience and no journalism degree. That doesn't look great to prospective employers. How do I explain my abrupt change in careers? I'm already 30 and don't want to wait forever to be making better money. What should I do?
Thanks,
Love My Job, Hate the Pay
Many journalists who fearlessly ask questions about multi-million-dollar budgets have a real hard time asking for modest raises. Yet, it seems you must.
I agree that the raise will probably be just a few percentage points and that one year is probably too soon to make a jump that can bring you a significant raise.
Here's what I suggest: Make an appointment to talk to your editor. Make sure it is a scheduled appointment and not something casual. If the editor needs to know in advance what you'd like to talk about, say it's about your job.
When you meet with the editor, say, "I love this job and hope you like my work." Mention some of your day-to-day achievements and the highlights of your time there. Then say: "Here's my problem. I am having a major problem living on my starting wage here, and I simply need to make more money. I've been here a year now and know my work has been good, probably even better than you expected. But I need a raise, and a pretty good one. Based on my work, I think I deserve a 10 percent raise."
Change the percentage if you'd like, or state it as a dollar amount instead, but don't lose courage and only ask for 3 percent. Aim higher. It sounds as though you need a major adjustment, so I would ask for it. Now, the editor is no doubt under pressure to keep costs down, so the raise might not come. If that's the case, you'll have to keep working to hold onto your insurance while getting ready for the next paper. And you might have to find some other way -- perhaps through teaching again -- to stay solvent.
Frame the issue as one that you and your editor can address together but not as adversaries. Don't present this as an ultimatum, as that might ultimately lead to a hollow. Since you don't really want to leave, present it instead as an issue you need help with.
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Coming Friday: This week's announcement that
The Cincinnati Post and
The Kentucky Post will close makes a 14-year veteran ask if newspapers are finished.
