Finding a meaningful career

One thing I was told again and again by friends and people I'd run into when discussing being laid off, at least in the early days of my layoff, was that things happen for a reason and that the best will come of this. I agree with fatalism to a certain point, but I also think we each make our own path based on the decisions we make. I was laid off almost six months ago (June 27, making the day after the day after Christmas a six-month anniversary I don't want to celebrate) and while I can partially agree to the premise that all things happen for a reason, I'm still searching for the good behind losing my job. Maybe when I find one the clouds will clear and I'll know where I stand in the universe.

But until then, I continue looking for full-time work. And one good thing I can pull from this search is that it gives me a chance to explore careers I probably wouldn't have if I was still working at a newspaper. For example, as a newspaper reporter and editor, I could never take a stand on an issue, for fear that it would look like I had a bias on a story. I tried to keep my opinions to myself on politics and the like, and I didn't appear at community events such as a fund-raiser for a local politician I supported, because I worked at a newspaper and was to remain objective. I didn't mind because I loved my job so much.

Now I'm free to choose a career where I can have an opinion and if not actively advocate for a position, at least support it openly. For example, I want to work somewhere where I can not only make a difference, but can do work that will benefit the local community, if not the world. I want my writing, speaking and any other work I do in the job I'll eventually find to help benefit that cause. One arena could be in the "green" field, such as solar power or other energy fields, as I strongly believe that America should be rid of its foreign oil habit and be a leader in ending global warming.

As in journalism, I'd like to work somewhere that benefits people and serves a greater good. I enjoy informing people and helping them learn things, and helping them solve their problems. It may sound like an oxymoron, but I'd like to work in government for those reasons. I think government can help people achieve their best and provide services to make their lives better.

That's partly why I volunteered in the November election to help re-elect U.S. Congressman Jerry McNerney. He was a good candidate and someone with views that I could get behind. The writing and other work I did on that campaign gave me a lot of experience that I hope will lead to a job. It was a great learning experience that showed me I'm on the right path.

A few months ago someone from a career center at a community college reviewed my resume and was so impressed she said she couldn't think of much to change or add to the resume, just a few tweaks. She was amazed by my experience and was confident I would find a good job soon. I was doing everything she could think of to find work, such as networking, getting informational interviews, adding to my job skills and polishing my resume. I was a bit down because I had sent out many resumes and had interviews without any success. She pointed out that everything I'm doing is like a gardener planting seeds, and that all of the contacts and other things I've done in the job search would lead to some flowers growing and that I would have my pick of jobs.

I've planted plenty of seeds, and plan to plant more. I just want to see some start growing.

(NOTE: I've added multiple paragraph marks between paragaphs, and they aren't working. Any blogger experts, please advise.)

Even a hooker knows to collect first

What career did the telegraph writer go into when he got laid off? Did the horse and buggy driver take six months to find a job when his job was eliminated? Did typewriter repair shop owners polish their resumes on a typewriter when computers took over? Will the last auto worker in Detroit please close the door?

As an unemployed newspaper journalist, I can see how workers in dying professions, or at least massively changing professions, must have felt as their jobs ended. I expect newspapers will survive in some form, but as news content moves to the Internet, they're starting to learn how to get there before they die.

The Detroit newspapers recently made a smart decision, I think, that is at least an effort to keep from going under. They will publish three days a week and charge people to read their content on the Internet. Hooray! Finally, a newspaper is charging to read it online. I hope it's a success. At least a prostitute knows to get payment on top of the dresser before services are rendered. Instead of giving it away, the Detroit papers are asking for money upfront to read online. The Detroit Free Press online is $12 a month or free with a home subscription.

That move is too late to save my job at a California newspaper, but it gives me hope that newspapers will find a way to survive and be profitable.

I doubt if I'll work in newspapers again, although the news business is a career I love. I just now hope to either do it online or find another career equally exciting. Like autoworkers, who face a dying profession unless GM and Chrysler can get their act together, journalists are being laid off left and right to keep newspapers financially afloat. In the end, this may come back to haunt the newspapers, which rely on strong reporting and editing to produce a product readers will want. The cuts they've made may be so deep that readers will notice the little local news that makes it into the paper.

Making money at journalism

Newsrooms throughout the country continue to lay off workers, in hope of saving money and trying to figure out how to reinvent themselves as the Internet takes their advertisers and readers. The Christian Science Monitor is ceasing print publication and will be online only, the New York Times reported today. Time Inc. announced plans to lay off more than 600 people. The layoff news just keeps getting worse.

Despite the slow death of Old Media, as David Carr reports, online sites must still get their news from somewhere since most don't have their own reporting staffs and rely on newspaper stories for content. And as newspapers slowly redefine themselves, Internet news sites such as Spot.us are moving to fill the void by asking readers to pay for journalism that they're unlikely to see elsewhere. Take a look at the site, I have a few story pitches myself that I'd like to work on: why solar power is so expensive for homeowners and why more isn't being done to lower that cost; and a followup to the Cosco Busan oil spill a year ago in the Bay.

My favorite newspaper, the NY Times, wrote about Spot.us and crowdfunding a few months ago. It's a great idea that I hope takes off, and not only so I can collect a paycheck again.

Newspapers will always be around in some form, whether in print or online, and I'd like to see them succeed and go online. People will always want somone to tell them the news, tell them a story, and show them how the news affects their lives. But if they don't, and continue cutting their staffs to the bone and leave coverage holes, then groups such as Spot.us, The Public Press and redwoodage.com will jump in and find a way to make money on the Internet, or at lesat break even. Redwood Age, for example, is an interesting news site because it targets people over 40, an underserved market on the Internet who want their news without all the social networking of Facebook and without having to give up private information about themselves online.