Q. I have a bit of an interesting situation. I graduated from college in 2003 and struggled with the earlier years of my career. I've had a few internships at local papers, and I held a staff writing position
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at an online financial news service. In 2006 I decided to take the plunge and move to South Korea as a curriculum developer. I figured it was still in the publishing industry and that the financial situation would work well to quickly kill student debt -- which it did. Well, I'm still here and I am taking a position as a copy editor with one of the upper tier medical colleges in South Korea. I'm overjoyed at the opportunity, but I fear for my career in the newsroom.
Admittedly, I'm using this position to help bolster my resume, but I find myself wondering: If and when I decide to shoot for a reporting position, will I have spent too much time outside of the field?
Thank you for your time,
Dane A. You have reason to worry, but you should not be without hope.
Paying off that debt and working overseas are great personal achievements. While you were doing all that, though, your peers have been getting better at reporting.
Your new job, copy editing, is always in demand, and that may be the hook that gets you back into a newsroom stateside. Once back, you will have to push hard to trade a seat on the copy desk for a beat on the city desk. You'll need some writing clips, and you will have to be so valuable to the newsroom that it would rather keep you in a different role than lose you altogether.
So, do well in that new copy editing job, start generating some freelance clips and prepare for a two or three-step transition.
Coming Tuesday: She has worked seven internships or freelance gigs and is looking to jazz up her resume with some foreign reporting. She wonders if her language skills are good enough.
