Joe Grimm's News Jobs Café: Ask the recruiter

What if My Best Reference Left?

Q: I’m getting ready to leave the newspaper I’m working for now, and I have a question about references.

This is my first job out of college and I’ve been here about two and a half years. I still list the editor who coordinated my internship four years ago, as well as my college media adviser (I was the editor of the student paper) and a professor who had me in a number of classes and also coordinated an international summer program I participated in.

I also list my former editor from my current job. He left for a different newspaper about two months ago, but I still feel like he’s the guy from this newspaper who knows me and my skills best. Should I list someone else who’s still at this newspaper in addition to (or instead of) the former editor who has since left?

There are other people here who I could list, but I don’t think they’d be as good as the guy who’s gone. I get along with my immediate editor, but I wonder how she’d come across in a reference call. She’s not an enthusiastic person in general. So she wouldn’t have anything bad to say, but I’m not sure she’d wow someone who called her, either.

There’s a fellow reporter who’s sort of a newsroom mentor who I could use as well. Does it look strange to have no references from my current employer? Should I add someone to solve that problem? Also, should I drop some of the college and previous internship references? Are they out of date?

Thanks for your help on this. Your column is my new favorite feature on poynter.org.

Ready to Move

A: Use your former editor, with his consent, of course. He sounds like a strong reference for your recent career and that should be acceptable to anyone. Be ready to serve up another name if someone asks, but reserve it for then.

You are so right to evaluate potential references on their ability to give a good reference. I see nothing wrong with using the newsroom mentor as a secondary reference, as it sounds like he has some experience and credibility.

Those college advisers? Pare them to one now, preferring the one who knows the most about what has happened with you since you left college.

Long-term references can be helpful -- but only if they have been in a position to follow your career growth.

Note: "Ask the Recruiter" has moved to Poynter's new Career Center. The new home is here. Remember to change your bookmark.

An Explanation for My TV Firing?

Note: I turned this one over to Scott Libin of the leadership and management faculty at The Poynter Institute. He  graciously agreed to help. -- Joe Grimm)

Q: I was terminated two months ago by a TV station after nine years on the assignment desk.

In August, I received a good review and a modest raise. Later in the month, my wife had surgery. I asked for time off (which I was owed) to be with her during her chemotherapy and was terminated two days later.

The newscasts went off without a hitch as far as I could tell, but the next day I was told I was let go without the news director giving me a chance to tell my side of the story. I'm having difficulty dealing with this and really don't know the real reason I was let go.

The company I worked for was "self-insured" when it came to health insurance. They already paid for my wife's surgery, and was now informed of the needed chemotherapy.

The company did not fight my claim for unemployment ... and even gave me extra severence pay I did not expect.

Is there any legal remedy here? How do I deal with this when applying for other jobs?

Right now, the only work I can get is part time as an on-air announcer at a small-market radio station. I'm afraid my career may be over. I've been in broadcasting since 1981.

Any thoughts on this?

Terminated

A: You're in a tough situation personally and professionally. Your wife's health crisis would be difficult under any circumstances, and I can imagine it's a lot tougher on both of you now.

No one at Poynter can offer you any legal advice. We aren't qualified, but you might well want to consult an attorney who knows Indiana employment law. As a former news director who now trains newsroom managers, I can offer you this much:

If you are unclear about the real reasons for your termination, I think you should ask for clarification. Your August review and raise would not preclude your being fired for performance reasons in December, but your side of the story about the incident involving equipment doesn't quite add up.  If the newscasts were unaffected and the episode was a "first offense," it does not seem to me like the kind of thing that generally gets people fired. Your letter seems to indicate that you suspect your wife's medical condition had something to do with it. I hope that's not the case, and I have trouble imagining that any successful company would jettison a valued employee solely to avoid the costs involved in his wife's medical condition. (Would you really want to work for such a company anyway?)

You might consider requesting a meeting with your former news director. Ask for no more than 30 minutes. I think it's fair to seek clarification on the grounds for your termination, if only to determine how it might affect your future employment. What will the news director say if someone calls for a reference?  How can you ensure that your account and the station's do not contradict each other with any prospective employer?  These are legitimate issues for discussion, in my opinion.

Be aware that your news director and his or her bosses will be very sensitive to the possibility that you might be preparing a lawsuit, even if it turns out you don't have firm legal grounds to sue, or don't want to. They might even decline to meet with you for that reason, or without giving a reason, and I'm sorry to say I don't think you have any way to force such a meeting -- short of suing, that is, and doing that would dramatically change everything about your relationship with the station. If you can't arrange a meeting, a phone conversation or exchange of correspondence might be the best you can do.  You might well find that the station's lawyers advise it to say nothing further at all.   

Maybe most important, I think you need to answer a few questions for yourself: What do you hope to accomplish? Reinstatement? Is that at all realistic? If not, what would be a more reasonable goal? My suggestion would be to learn whatever you can about what really went wrong, so that in the short term you can adjust your job-search strategy accordingly, and in the long run, you can be even better prepared for whatever challenges might lie ahead.

Best of luck.

Note: "Ask the Recruiter" has moved to Poynter's new Career Center. The new home is here. Don't forget to change your bookmark.

Take the $70,000 Job?

Q: I'm in a complicated situation, so I'll try to be as clear as possible!

Currently, I am working as a reporter for a small daily in California. It is my first job out of college and I've been here for just over a year. As you can assume, I don't make a lot of money, about $28,000 a year. In California, that's nothing. My husband is a full-time college student and part-time worker, so making ends meet is very hard. Often times, we have to borrow money from my parents, which kills me every time.

A relative just offered me an opportunity to work as an assistant at her organization for $70,000 a year. The position is more administrative, and pretty much the complete opposite of what I'm doing now. I want to take this position to balance our financial situation for a couple years, then when my husband graduates, go back into journalism.

I'm afraid that taking this position will taint my resume (which is full of nothing but journalism experience), and that getting back into journalism will be incredibly hard.

Am I being naïve? I just want to be able to support my family.

Thank you for your help!

Cristina

A: I sympathize.

You are not being naïve at all. You are in a very real predicament and the rescue that your relative is offering will provide huge relief but it may, indeed, take you out of journalism permanently. That salary is a great one!

Three years down the road, if you try to return to journalism, you likely would face a pay cut that you could not afford. If we suppose your husband's income would make up for the drop, you'll be interviewing with editors who will wonder why you left in the first place and who may doubt that you would be happy working at half your former wage.

There is the possibility, too, that during the intervening years, you will advance at this new company into a job that you like even more and that pays you even better. That might not be so bad.

I cannot advise you on your personal circumstances or your finances. I can only tell you that a return to journalism could be quite difficult. It sounds as though you really love your work. If that is so, I'd look for something in between, such as another form of journalism that will give you a good raise, but that will neither take you out or price you out.

Note: "Ask the Recruiter" has moved to Poynter's new Career Center. The new home is here. Don't forget to change your bookmark.

Escape a Burned-Out Editor's Depression?

Q: Through various newspaper sales and staff reorganizations I have a new editor who seems suffering from burn-out. He has admitted several times that the only reason he's still doing his job is because of health insurance for a child. He frequently talks about the "death of the industry" and is just an extremely negative presence in the newsroom. He speed-edits and seems to do the bare minimum possible. He rarely gives feedback about anyone's work and I get the feeling he really doesn't care as long as it's in by deadline. I feel that I would have the same work experience if I wrote my stories from a distant bureau (and I sit next to him.)

His mantra seems to be "we're all lucky to have a job" and obviously dislikes his. It's like he wants to be a hermit in a cave somewhere but it doesn't pay as well (he ignores phone calls from readers because "they always want something," and wants to move all our workstations away from his so he can "be alone.") I've never met an editor who so dislikes being around other people.

On the plus side, he's not abusive or antagonistic but every utterance he makes seems to indicate to me that he's depressed.

I've only been here a year and it's been a rollercoaster. How can I keep my morale up and my desire to work there when my supervisor so obviously hates his job?

Thanks,

Battling Burnout

A: Let's make sure this extinguished editor doesn't put out your fire.

He may well be battling depression and I think you, as a direct report, are not in the position to suggest he get help, so let's keep this focused on the work.

First, I would appeal to him as a fellow journalist: "Look, I know you're down on newspapering -- and you have your reasons -- but I'm not and I really need your help. I need you to teach me your best lessons. Please, I need you to punch up my writing, give me feedback on my reporting and teach me everything  you can about journalism. Sure, things have changed a lot, but the bedrock principles you know are the things I need to learn. Pass what you know along to me."

If this appeal doesn't improve the editing, seek out mentors in your newsroom and the industry and start looking for a new editor. Top editors hate it when reporters "editor shop," so be careful. You also probably won't do yourself any favors by explaining what is wrong with your current editor. The top bosses already know.

Apply for positions that come open, even if they are lateral moves, that will get you working for someone better. Offer to work different shifts -- even ugly ones -- if they mean you will spend more of your time working for better editors.

Don't internalize what this editor is telling you. Burnout was not invented with publicly owned newspaper companies or new technologies. Those realities are speeding up the changes that can lead to certain kinds of burnout, but this is not a new phenomenon.

My guess is that this editor's burnout has a whole lot more to do with what's on the inside than with what's on the outside. Protect the fires that are in you.

Note: "Ask the Recruiter" has moved to Poynter's new Career Center. The new home is here. Don't forget to change your bookmark.

Would an Employment Gap Hurt Me?

Q: I'm a 26-year-old reporter who has been working at a 30,000-circulation daily newspaper for the past 2 1/2 years. I've been considering quitting my job to teach English as a second language in Europe. I plan to freelance while there.

My question is: If freelancing doesn't pan out and I return to the states looking for newspaper work, would the move to Europe hurt my chances landing a job?

Sincerely,

Cory

A: Probably.

That's not to say you shouldn't go.

But you should go knowing that if you leave a daily here and are not engaged in any sort of journalism there, you will have at least three hurdles to clear:

• Your clips will be old.
• You will have to explain why you quit journalism and why you want to come back.
• Your journalistic growth will have gone into a state of suspended animation and you will not have much more to commend you to employers than you had when you left. The best your chances would be is just the same as they were before you moved overseas.

That said, the chance to live and work in Europe may be too great for you to pass up and this may be the best time in your life to do it. To have it all, don't make the move until you have nailed down a journalism job or some dependable clients for your freelancing.

Note: "Ask the Recruiter" has moved to Poynter's new Career Center. The new home is here. Don't forget to change your bookmark.