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Desperately seeking career advice from y'all
Divebommah
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Executive summary:
High-school diploma, some college. Highly entrepreneurial. Worked as a freelance journalist in technology for six years, widely published. Switched to public relations during the dot-com implosion to make ends meet. Hate public relations, not qualified to do anything else. Looking for suggestions on what career I could switch to.
Details:
I'm sick of the industry I work in. I'm surrounded by type-a attention deficit disorder sufferers who contradict themselves, and they are highly inefficient in everything they do, to boot! Me, I'm just not that way, you know? And I'm damn good at my job...but the stress of it is, I swear, killing me...so I want out. Problem is, I don't really know how to do anything other than write, fix computers (MCP and A+, uber geek, etc.), and convince reporters to write about products/services. I don't know what kind of job I could move to next.
Here's where I hope you all have some suggestions. You should know:
I appreciate any advice you all can send my way, really.
High-school diploma, some college. Highly entrepreneurial. Worked as a freelance journalist in technology for six years, widely published. Switched to public relations during the dot-com implosion to make ends meet. Hate public relations, not qualified to do anything else. Looking for suggestions on what career I could switch to.
Details:
I'm sick of the industry I work in. I'm surrounded by type-a attention deficit disorder sufferers who contradict themselves, and they are highly inefficient in everything they do, to boot! Me, I'm just not that way, you know? And I'm damn good at my job...but the stress of it is, I swear, killing me...so I want out. Problem is, I don't really know how to do anything other than write, fix computers (MCP and A+, uber geek, etc.), and convince reporters to write about products/services. I don't know what kind of job I could move to next.
Here's where I hope you all have some suggestions. You should know:
- I only have a high school diploma and a year of college. I'm very entrepreneurial so I generally get around the lack of education thing just fine because of my great experience and talent
- I used to be a freelance tech journalist. Published in the New York Times, Washington Post, CNET, etc. It was fun but, now that I have a family, I can't afford to take a chance and go back to that -- it's too uncertain
- I've tried working at different firms, large and small. They all suck
- My wife will probably kill me, bring me back to life, and kill me again when I do this
I appreciate any advice you all can send my way, really.
Divebommah on
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Also: you're not very entrepreneurial if you can't/aren't able to put everything on the line. That's the difference between an entrepreneur and a dreamer. You may have had that option, but if you can't go back to freelancing because of the steady pay you need, you can't be an entrepreneur.
I also don't believe that you've tried working at large and small firms and decided they all suck. What were you doing? Is it the field you don't like? Authority? Regular hours?
All I'm reading from your post is you have done well for yourself when it was for yourself, but now you aren't able to do the freelance thing you've got to get A Real Job, and you can't man up and take it. There is a 9-5 for everyone, you just have to do it in a field you enjoy. You sound whiny, not willing to say anything constructive.
Are you sure your current job isn't just about the people in your company, rather than something reflective of PR in general?
Because if you get that, along with your work experience and talent you would be a very valuable potential employee.
How old are you? Does your wife work? How much does she make?
By contracted journalist, you mean editor-at-large style? That's an excellent idea and one I had not considered. There are certainly challenges -- I've been out of the space for nearly four years, but its something to consider. Thank you.
You're quite right about not being entrepreneurial if you can't put everything on the line. Quite right. And when I think about going back to the freelance lifestyle I'm terrified by a vision of my family living in the street, hopeless and broken. We were nearly there, during the dot-com bust, but I worked my ass off doing temp and odd jobs to keep us afloat.
I started life as an "acount executive" about four years ago at a mid-sized firm. No authority, just spent all day on the phone getting publicity for clients. Switched to a big one along with a promotion. Today I'm an account manager with a few direct reports at a small one. Hours are stable and normal and I don't mind the authority.
The problem is with the industry. Large or small, PR firms regularly overpromise and underdeliver, and at my level I'm powerless to stop it. My bosses, who work with our clients and set their expectations, regularly promise the moon against my objections. And when we can't get the results we promised, we lose the client. When I freelanced I always delivered what I said I would, or gave my editor's money back (which happened only once).
What do you mean when you say "You sound whiny, not willing to say anything constructive"? There's certainly some whining going on here, I'll admit, but I want this to be constructive. I've been in the 9-5 for four years, manning it up the whole time. I suppose it's my success that has allowed me to stop and realize I can afford to be happy...whereas before I was happy simply to get paid.
And regarding the people at my company...I mentioned earlier that my frustrations with the industry lie with all firms. I'm not overly fond of my bosses, but I wouldn't leave my job just because of them because people like them are at all firms, if that makes sense.
Thanks for replying, Ege02.
Regarding college -- I'm not sure it's an option. For example, you ask about my wife. She's been freelancing this whole time and struggling. But she loves her work with a passion and I wouldn't take it away from her by asking her to go work full-time somewhere. I've never done anything I loved, particularly not now, so I don't mind doing this.
So getting back to college -- I'm not sure if its possible. I'd have to get through three years worth of school on whatever part-time job salary I could get, and thats besides paying for the education and rent, bills, food, etc. With a child now, that option is right up there with going freelance again.
I think I'll talk with my wife about the option tonight and get her perspective. Maybe if we both worked part time it might make for a good compromise.
Are you open/interested to working in other forms of journalism? Surely the skills, if not the contacts, are transferable from one area of journalism to another.
That's another thing I've never considered. Thanks! I'll look into it. Do credit unions do loans? I ask because I don't trust banks.
Surely this practice is not industry-wide, or there would not be any PR firms left!
My point, although I didn't make it very well, is that a man with a proven eloquence such as yourself doesn't just say that you want to "switch careers" and that's the end of it. Your post offered little reasoning to build suggestions from, so I was leaning towards you not having truly reflected on your current position, and thus what options you have from here. I was guessing you were having more a transient freak-out
Is there anything that you have learnt that you enjoy?
Skills are transferable. Contacts are not because of consolidation amongst newspapers, and because turnover in newsrooms is high these past five years...so none of my old contacts are working anymore. If I went back to journalism I'd be starting from scratch. Tough call right now.
In general, PR delivers excellent results in spurts throughout the year. Just enough to keep it valuable. Compared to the ridiculously high cost of advertising, PR is a great deal.
Ah, I see what you mean. My post was short on reasoning because, over the years, I've learned that many people won't read long messages -- just the beginning and end. This comes from writing concise messages for busy journalists and for my ADD suffering colleagues. It's a terrible practice.
Regarding enjoyment -- I haven't found it yet. I get my kicks from my family, from gaming and technology...never from work.
I hope this is a freak out.