Charles Apple

We’ve written extensively on this topic. It’s time, though, that we do it again.

The intent here is to give you a kick-start — to let you know what you should do first and how to do it — based on the experience of folks who have preceded you down the path of layoffs, buyouts or closings.

We’ll introduce our panel at the end.

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1. WHEN IT HAPPENS

First of all, don’t lose your cool.

Perhaps you had some notice — some reason to expect you might get laid off or that your paper might close. Perhaps you didn’t.

Either way, saying something stupid just won’t help. Stay as neutral as you can be.

When I was informed I was to lose my job at the Virginian-Pilot, my managing editor was incredibly sensitive to my shock. She suggested I take the rest of the day off.

When I was cut loose by the Sporting News, I had no warning or notice at all. In fact, I was escorted from the building pretty much immediately. I couldn’t even log off the computer system — I found the security folks had removed my keyboard and mouse!

Marin Devine writes:

Don’t burn bridges. You’re allowed to be upset, but don’t say anything you wouldn’t say while still gainfully employed.

A friend who wishes to remain anonymous wrote us last fall:

Your editor didn’t want to lay you off. Seriously. Make him/her a reference. Even if you have to apologize for throwing that potted plant during your HR interview.

You can get angry and emotional, of course. But you won’t be impressing anyone and you’ll only be hurting yourself. So watch what you say, how you emote and — for Chrissakes — be careful what you post to your Facebook page when you get home.

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2. FIRST: FINANCES

Immediately, you’re going to worry about paying your bills.

Some folks have been given generous severance checks. Some have not. And while yeah, it’d be nice to have savings and whatnot to fall back upon, you can’t do anything about that now.

a. Reduce expenses. Now.

Cut out everything you can from your budget. Cease all unnecessary spending. You might have three or four weeks’ of pay coming, but you’ll likely need every penny of that later.

Sarah Slobin writes:

Look at your finances and get a clear sense of how much you spend, how much you need to earn. Make a strategy of how to approach your finances before you become stressed or anxious.

b. File for unemployment. Right away.

Make no mistake, this is a major deal.

Martin Gee writes:

Apply for unemployment immediately. It was such a ordeal / pain in the ass, I didn’t get a single cent from unemployment. Prepare yourself for paperwork and bullshit.

I’ve had the same experience. I’ve been working with the employment people here in Virginia for months but have yet to see a dime. However, they tell me to keep filing my weekly report. I suspect I’ve wasted a lot of time.

Michelle McCleary-Siss advises:

Be patient with your state’s painfully slow Web site as more people than ever are using it these days.

You’ll definitely want to use your state’s web site. Because calling the employment commission, I’ve discovered, is impossible. They just don’t have enough people to handle the demand.

I even made the mistake once of visiting our local office in person. I was just one head of cattle in a huge herd.

In order to file, you’ll fill out a very long, very complicated online form. I was surprised they expected me to know the date — not just the month and year, but the actual day of the month — I started every job I’ve ever had, going back to 1985. Yeah, right.

The other mistake I made: I filled out the form during my office visit, on their PCs. But they’ll ask you how you want your money: As a direct deposit or in the form of a state debit card. I didn’t have a blank check on me, so I couldn’t file for direct deposit. Had I been at home, I’d have been OK.

Once you fill in the form, you’ll probably find you have to file a resumé with the state’s employment service. I had to convert my resumé from PDF to Word in order to be compatible with my state’s system. (We’ll talk more about job hunting later.)

At that point, you’ll have to pause a week or two while your state commission determines how much total money the state can pay you and over how many weeks that money will be spread. You’ll find the total weekly amount a third to a half of what your normal check would be.

And then, in order to actually get paid — at least in Virginia — you have to apply for at least two jobs a week, then you have to fill in a form that asks you a number of questions about those applications.

Anonymous writes:

Most states require that you make a certain number of job contacts per week. This will also keep you motivated and productive.

It has, indeed. I’ve found and applied for a number of jobs that, frankly, I’d love to have. I think this requirement is a good thing.

But it’s a pain in the ass. Make no mistake. It doesn’t help that the Virginia web site is down much of the time. I’m supposed to file each week on Sunday; some weeks it’s been as late as Friday. But you can’t file if the site is jammed.

Now, you’ll be tempted to put off the whole unemployment thing until your severance money runs out. But again,  the process of filing these forms and getting approved (and, God forbid, getting rejected and having to appeal) takes weeks. Months, even.

Do not wait until you’re out of money to file.

c. Call your mortgage company or creditors.

What we discovered was that mortgage companies will do very little to help you out when you lose your job. There are a number of programs to aid folks who have missed a number of payments and who are in danger of getting evicted from their homes. But it takes months to get to that point. We were calling during week one.

However, they did lower our mortgage payments for three months. Which helped — for three months. But you have to ask. And you might even have to spend quite a bit of time on the phone with your lender.

Something else we discovered: The mortgage company told us our debt ratio was too high to qualify for help. We used some of my retirement money to pay off our credit cards and whatnot. That reduced our ratio and allowed lenders to make us a better deal on the minor restructuring we did.

There was a half-week or so, though, that we were behind in paying one of our bills — Discover, I think it was. Those jokers called me every damn morning until the electronic bank transfer went through.

Every. Damn. Morning. In my book, that’s harassment.

And then they wondered why we closed our account. Heh.

Bottom line: You can get some help. But you’ll have to ask for it, and you’ll have to dig. But don’t wait until the severance checks stop. Do it now.

d. If someone offers to help, let them help.

Anyone who’s ever spent time with me knows how much I hate being beaten to a lunch check.

But now’s not the time to play that game. If someone wants to have lunch or dinner — or hell, just a coffee — let ‘em pay.

Meg Lavey admits:

The biggest thing I’ve learned is to accept the help that’s been offered me. I had fantastic discussions with both my mom and fiancé about accepting help in situations like this. I was afraid I was leeching money off them, but they assured me that in times like these, this is what family is for.

In fact, I just attempted to pay my mom back and I’m to put the money into savings instead.

Michelle McCleary-Siss agrees:

You’ll be tightening your budget more than you ever thought possible, but don’t be ashamed, either, to let others treat you if they offer.

This is how I ended up attempting skiing yesterday morning – hours, I might add, before I attended a career fair. (Thanks, Dad for buying me beginners lessons and rentals; you will never, ever drag me out on snow with my feet strapped to boards ever again. Ever.)

But hey, now I know that when I once again find myself plugging away at my next job, I won’t regret having never tried.

Martin Gee writes:

I always hated it when people say “Let me know if there’s anything I can do.” People won’t ask. It’s a pride thing. If you want to help, just help.

Along those same lines, Anonymous wrote us last August:

It’s nice to say, Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help. But here’s the real, honest truth: You can’t do anything. Except give money.

I swear to God. That’s the best present ever, because when it really comes down to it, that’s what’s lost the most during this event.

But don’t just, like, give money. That’s rude. Buy your buddy a gift card.

And be smart about it. They don’t need to spend $50 bucks at Starbucks. They need food and an interview suit. Send ‘em to Target.

And drive them there. Gas is a bitch.

e. Get your revenge in a way that counts

OK, remember way up top, when we told you to keep your cool? Kicking and screaming will get you nowhere when you’re fired.

Once you get home, though — if you’re feeling that bloodlust — you can take out your sweet revenge on the bastards.

Nicole Bogdas sums it up best:

Don’t forget to cancel your subscription to the paper. Just cause they fired you doesn’t mean they won’t come collecting.

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3. HEALTH INSURANCE: GET COVERED

Two things to consider here: Short-term and long-term.

The best short-term advice we’ve seen is from Autumn Heep:

Make all those medical appointments you’ve been putting off and utilize your coverage until it runs out. Use up your flex spending. You’re entitled to the entire amount you pledged at the beginning of the year.

Sure enough, your coverage will probably run a few weeks. I was cut loose on Oct. 8 but covered until the end of the month. Oh, how I wish I had gotten my tooth fixed properly. But I didn’t think of it until after the holidays.

Autumn adds, wisely:

Ladies: Planned Parenthood should be able to fill a year’s prescription (maybe more). If you know you’ll be without coverage, use your flex spending to pay for it.

In my own case, I have a spouse who works for the local school district. It was a fairly simple thing to simply sign us onto her coverage. Open enrollment was over, though, so we needed documentation from my ex-employer that I had been terminated.

If you don’t have such documentation, call your former H.R. department and get them to send you one now. You’ll need the date of termination specifically cited in the letter. They should know the drill.

Hopefully, you’ll have better luck than Martin Gee. He writes:

My H.R. department was extremely unhelpful. Good luck.

If you don’t have a working spouse, then you’ll need to buy some coverage.

Marin Devine writes:

I just searched for the cheapest coverage I could find - but then again I don’t have a family and am pretty young.

Sarah Slobin suggests:

Ask freelance friends you know. Try to avoid COBRA, it’s really expensive. (Obama is discounting it, but still.)

Yes, that’s right. Part of the new economic stimulus bill includes a discount of up to 65 percent off COBRA premiums. Read all about it here.

This applies to anyone terminated after September 1 of last year through the end of this year. But it’s only good for nine months. After that, you’re back to full price.

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4. HOW TO SPEND ALL THAT SPARE TIME

Once you’ve called the bank, set up your doctors appointments and filed for unemployment, you’ll be left with two big things: a) A job search to conduct, and b) Lots of time to fill.

We’ll address the second one first, because — well, it’s easier.

Quite frankly, if you sit around and do nothing except watch TV, you’ll only grow more depressed. And that sucks.

You’ll want to find ways to keep yourself productive. Productive and positive.

One way is to throw yourself into a project — any project.

In my case, I found myself at home about four weeks before the election. It suddenly occurred to me that I had a commodity I could sell: A really cool Election Day graphic I’ve been showing for years in my presentations. Various editors around the country have told me they’d love to run a similar piece, but  constructing a huge, info-laden grid can be tedious. And the research is a bitch.

But those are my specialties! So I e-mailed damn near everyone I knew and offered to build them that graphic, customized with their own fonts and page dimensions. The result was 14 separate customers. I blogged all about it here.

The original idea was to give me something productive to do for my first few weeks of unemployment. But it resulted in a mortgage payment and then some.

Perhaps there are things you can do, too, to be productive and maybe earn a little coin on the side. With baseball season arriving and March Madness around the corner and the Masters tournament after that, perhaps you can find a free-lance client who needs photos or some design work. Or would like a live blog to aggregate your local team.

For Marin Devine, it was time to brush up on technical skills

I looked into all the skills I’ve been wanting to learn, but hadn’t “had the time” to learn earlier. There are tons of online tutorials - learn Flash, HTML, CSS or even brush up on Photoshop and Illustrator. I started building my Web site.

For Meg Lavey, it meant indulging her creative bent:

I boosted my involvement in the Society for Creative Anachronism significantly, as well as my creative writing.

For Richard Curtis, it meant doing things he never had time to do before:

* Make a daily list of things-to-do.
* Keep a list of things you always wanted to do but never had the time. Now, you have the time.
* Learn something new; for example, take a welding class.
* Don’t forget to maintain contact with the friends you made during your career. Write real letters.
* Read books.
* Keep house for your hard-working spouse.

Sarah Slobin combined Richard’s list-making with Meg’s creative expansion:

Make a schedule and set goals. Divide your time between looking for work, learning new things and feeding your head.

Autumn Heep stayed sharp by going pro bono:

At the end of December I started contacting non-profits and offering to volunteer so I could keep my skills up and get non-newspaper pieces for my portfolio. So now I’m volunteering at three different places in Brisbane and doing virtual work for a few places in the U.S. making brochures, posters, fliers, invitations, etc.

She suggests VolunteerMatch.org and Grassroots.org as places were you can find ways to help with graphics, design and online skills.

Michelle McCleary-Siss looked for a way to get out of the house and found something she really enjoyed:

Maybe this is a girl thing, but make your darndest attempt to get showered, get dressed and get out. Your spouses will thank you for not creating a permanent imprint of your arse in a bathrobe on the couch. And, there’s the added benefit of meeting people while you’re out.

This is actually why I’ve become an Avon lady in the interim. It doesn’t count against collecting unemployment (I checked; until you earn a certain amount annually, you don’t have to report it, because technically, you could just be buying lots of Skin So Soft for your own moisturizing purposes …). And, it forces me to get dressed up and present myself as pulled-together as possible.

And it’s a good networking tool. You never know who might know someone who knows someone. Don’t worry about being imposing or annoying; the bottom line is we all have bills to pay, right?

The key is to get off your butt and to get moving on something. Anything. I’m not trying as many free-lance projects as I was a few months ago. But on the other hand, there’s the occasional speaking engagement. And the blog has been keeping me pretty busy lately.

I just wish I had good news to post more often. Sigh…

I set my alarm every morning for 7:45 a.m. I eat some breakfast and I read my morning Virginian-Pilot (I never canceled my subscription!). And then I head upstairs to my office to blog.

Basically, I work pretty substantial office hours (it’s 11:10 p.m. as I type this sentence). I just don’t get paid for them any more.

But you want to keep that work ethic; that drive to accomplish stuff going. This is what’s working for me. Anything to keep me from lounging around in my jammies.

Finally, Anonymous gave us this terrific piece of advice last fall:

Get out of your house for a couple of weeks, and I don’t mean take a walk. Go visit a nice friend or a sibling. Go anywhere you don’t feel totally at home.

This will keep you from laying around all day in a post-layoff daze. You’ll be more conscious of what you’re doing because it’s not your house you’re staying in. You’ll clean up after yourself an shower each day (mostly). This will keep you motivated at a time when you just want to feel sorry for yourself.

Ellen Lynch told us this worked wonders for her:

I totally agree about visiting people instead of being at home. I have been a lot more motivated about everything when I was at my parents versus my apartment.

This, of course, is a great segue into our next topic…

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5. DEALING WITH DEPRESSION

I wanted to write about this one first. Because, frankly, depression is your biggest foe.

But I was afraid I’d scare you off if I did. You’ve read this far, so I’m hoping you’ll stick with us.

I’ll kid you not, losing your job sucks. And even if you can manage to find a way to stay openly positive, you’ll eventually wear yourself down. If being alone in your house all day doesn’t do it, the first big batch of bills you realize you can’t pay will.

Meg Lavey say to rely on your peeps:

Talk, talk, talk. This is what your friends and family are for. Do you best to confide your biggest fears in them. You’ll get some amazing advice in return.

Nicole Bogdas agrees:

Be sure you have some support. I can’t stress spending time with others enough. Get a buddy to come over with his/her laptop, make a pot of coffee and apply for jobs together.

Stay awake. Stay active. Don’t watch TV, order pizza and sleep on your couch.

Marin Devine says if you can’t get folks over, then go to them:

Get out of the house whenever you can. I spent some days by myself, but I tried to accept every offer to meet up with friends.

Sarah Slobin makes getting out a routine:

Get out of the house. Make up a special route to take a walk for an hour for exercise. Make a plan to meet friends for coffee. Discover the wifi cafes in your neighborhood.

But I have to tell you, there will be days when you’re just depressed. And that’s OK. Sara says:

Give yourself a break and have a bad day if you really need to.

Martin Gee took this approach:

You can’t avoid being depressed. I just let it consume me and take its course. I don’t have a good answer for that one.

And Michelle McCleary-Siss adds this wise advice:

Don’t drink. I’ve actually decided, after a few rough nights, to quit drinking till I find a new job. It’s too costly, on several levels.

It’s important to note here: You’re allowed to use your resources to pull yourself out of a funk. I have certain folks I’ll swap e-mails or phone calls with when I get really down. And there are folks who’ll use me the same way. That’s what friends are for.

You’ve got to find your own way out of your depression. But it’s important that you do. Trust me on this one.

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6. HUNTING FOR A NEW JOB

Surprised to find this one so far down on our list?

Don’t be, for three reasons: 1) You’re a journalist. You can figure out the basic mechanics for job hunting on your own. 2) Simple priorities. It’s absolutely vital you take care of all the stuff above before you take a dive into your job search.

And, of course, the one you don’t want to read: 3) What practical advice we can give you is awfully limited — The supply of jobs simply isn’t what it was a year or two ago. Unfortunately.

Naturally, you’ll need to update your resumé and references. Do that right away. In my case, I’ve been good about updating my resumé every few months. However, I discovered some online application processes required resumés much smaller than my usual PDF file.

So I had to create a Word version. It’s very plain. I don’t like it as much as my trusty PDF document. But I have to admit, it’s probably a lot better.

Marin Devine writes:

Update your resume and portfolio ASAP. I did that and sent out a few applications within three days of being laid off. I think that worked well because I was still a bit in denial and I hadn’t yet gotten used to not working 8 hours a day.

Nicole Bogdas suggests taking anything you can get:

A server job is no longer beneath you. You need to pay for stuff. Do not rely on your credit cards to get you through.

Meg Lavey agrees:

Don’t limit yourself to journalism. I went from being a newspaper to a fraud analyst, a job that I’d never thought I’d be doing when I signed on for a j-school degree. But, my newspaper skills have helped me tremendously and I’ve enjoyed myself. It’s opening doors I didn’t even know that were there and is giving me the chance to consider my future options.

Sarah Slobin does, too:

Get creative and look outside media work. Daydream; who do you want to work for. Try to find a way in there.

Michelle McCleary-Siss says she’s looking for something in public relations, as opposed to newspapers:

I’m following everyone else’ advice: Network, network, network; update your resume, and have others look at it, too. Try sites other than Careerbuilder and Monster, like juju.com and idealist.org. I make searches, save them, and have them sent as RSS feeds right to my Outlook.

An article in the last issue of American Journalism Review stressed the importance of moving quickly. John Challenger, CEO of an outplacement firm, is quoted as saying:

“Get a fast start. Don’t think about it too long. A lot of people spend a lot of time thinking about what they want to do next instead of getting started. They’re waiting for an epiphany about what to do next.”

And he says he tells journalists weighing a new career to think hard about that. “I want him or her to think whether he really was sick and tired of journalism,” he says. “If they get into a new field, they’re competing against 22-year-olds.”

So let’s say you want to find something at another newspaper. Here are some resources you should know about:

1. Media Pros
Robb Mongtomery of VizEds created this last week: it’s an RSS feed of media jobs from a variety of sources. Go here and bookmark it. Check it often.

2. Erica Smith’s job board
Erica Smith built this page that aggregates media job listings from, again, a variety of sources. Same deal. Bookmark. Visit. Lather, rinse, repeat.

If you want to visit the sites themselves, here they are:

3. Society for News Design
Wow, has this site been quiet lately. As we write this, only ten want ads are showing up for the entire month of February. Four of those are internships and one is a solicitation for free-lancers. Eek! Still, it should be in your tool kit.

4. Poynter job board
A directory of want ads listed by the Poynter Institute.

5. Journalism Jobs
You’ll find the most ads posted here. But you may have to wade through a lot you’re not interested in. Oh, and this bookmark will find only newspaper jobs. If you’d like to see other communications industry positions, you’ll have to run your own search.

6. American Copy Editors Society
Same deal. Mostly, copy-desk type jobs.

A few tips on issues that might not be so obvious…

a. References

Pay particular attention to your reference list. Lots of people have moved around lately. Make sure you’re giving your prospective employer current info on all your peeps. It’s a good idea to doublecheck the contact info for each of your references before you send out a round of resumés.

b. Networking

LinkedIn is designed to be a networking tool. So is VizEds, for that matter.

But how about Facebook? No, that’s a social networking site, I hear you say.

I say: Use it. Use every tool at your disposal to make and keep in touch with as many contacts as you can.

Hey, here’s an idea: Block out a couple of days and update the address book on your computer? Dig up e-mail addresses and phone numbers from all the friends you’ve made at LinkedIn and Facebook and VizEds. This could be the first step toward some heavy-duty networking.

But sometimes, the real secret of networking is the simple question: Hey, do you know anybody at Newspaper X? Or: Who do you know in YZ City? And it’s perfectly acceptable to use Facebook or any other tool to ask those questions.

c. Portfolio

If you’re like me, then you’ve become quite reliant on the best portfolio site of all time, NewsPageDesigner.

But that site is gone now. There’s a ning site that’s holding its place for now. But your portfolio is gone. Unless you thought to save a copy of it.

Now’s the time to post it again. Whether you do it at VizEds or at Flickr or at the NPD ning site or whatever: Get your pages up and get them organized. Folks will want to see them.

Lately, I’ve had folks send me links to their own custom portfolio sites. Some of these sites are gorgeous and cleverly designed. But keep in mind: The object is to show off your portfolio. If an art director or editor can’t find a way to pull and print specific pages that catch their eye, then your site’s no good.

Now, remember a while ago when we mentioned you must get your head on straight before you try to hunt for a job?

Anonymous, writing to us last August, basically explained why:

You will probably experience the five stages of grief:

1. Denial
2. Anger
3. Bargaining
4. Depression
5. Acceptance

In the Denial stage, you probably are best equipped to use your time wisely. Search for new jobs, update your resume, apply for unemployment, make lists of options, make a new budget of your money. Soon, the anger stage will begin and…

The Anger stage is not the best time to make contacts. You don’t want to find yourself updating your cover letter to read: I had this great job once but the bastards fired me.

Use this time to unwind a bit. Let friends buy you drinks. Call your parents and yell about your old boss. Write bad poetry. Do anything that allows you to just be angry.

The Bargaining stage isn’t as clearly defined here as if we were referring to, say, death. Bargaining, in my case, went something like this: I don’t need to work at a newspaper. I can do anything. I’ll even work at Starbucks just so long as I don’t have to move back home.

On the other hand, I could move back home and go back to school. Or I could go back to school somewhere else. I could get out of the industry all together.

JUST AS LONG AS I GET A JOB.

This might be a good time to try interviewing or having actual contact with employers. With your anger sated and your willingness to compromise at its peak, you’re probably in prime interviewing form.

The shift is from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. but that’s probably going to change, although we’re not sure exactly when. Is that a problem for you? Heck no! You’ll take anything.

Depression is another stage where you probably should avoid contact with employers. It’s hard to look eager when you can’t smile.

Spend a week or so feeling sorry for yourself. Order pizza, watch movies and sleep on your couch. Don’t shower for four days. When your pets or roomates start complaining it’s time to get up and accept your fate.

Yes, Acceptance. It will come. It will feel like forever, but it will come.

How will you know? You’ll be able to tell strangers what happened. Like this:

So, what brings you to Hays, Kansas?

Well, I was working in Springfield, but I got fired. How’s the banana cream pie here?

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7. FINAL WISDOM

You have friends, both in the newspaper world and outside it. Rely on those friends. Rely on them to cheer you up and to buy you an occasional cheeseburger.

You have brains. How can we tell? Because you’re reading this blog, of course. Obviously, you’re wicked smart.

You have resources. You’re a journalist; you know how to use them. You know how to motivate yourself. You know just how much to kick yourself in the ass in order to make some progress.

Richard Curtis advises:

Remain relentlessly optimistic.

Meg Lavey offers her best piece of advice:

Don’t give up hope.

The moment you give up any shred of hope, you’ve lost the ability to find any sort of job. Because there’s a difference between hope and desperation. The managers hiring you will embrace the hope, but will turn away from the desperation.

It may take months, but you will always emerge out the other side. It may not be as a journalist, and if there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that being a journalist doesn’t define who you are. It’s just one facet of you.

No matter how much things change, the person you are inside won’t. You’ll grow and become stronger, but you’ll still be yourself.

And Nicole Bogdas offers:

This saying was passed to me third-hand today: Sometimes a stumble is not the beginning of a fall, but a push forward.

Yes, it’s corny. But in the recent weeks I’ve spent a lot of time exploring what I could do next and I’m finding doors I didn’t know were there.

If you still have a job, do this now. You’ll be prepared with ideas whether you’re cut now or later. If you never get cut, but find something you think you’ll be better at, you’re saving someone else’s job now and giving them the chance to explore.

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FOR FURTHER READING

How to (Voluntarily) Become an Ex-Journalist
John Zhu, formerly of the Durham (N.C.) Herald Sun, has covered a lot of ground on the search for a new career after newspapers. Check it out.

We Were Print blog
A blog by former print journalists who are looking for a new career.

Is there Life After Newspapers by Robert Hodierne
We used one quote today from this article in the January 2009 issue of the American Journalism Review. The entire piece is a must-read, though.

Just been laid off? Advice from one who’s been there…
We posted this here in the blog last August. We’ve reused several excerpts — and even a couple of the comments — but it’s still worth your time.

Facebook group: Newspaper Escape Plan
Martin Gee created this Facebook group last August. As of Thursday night, it had 2,660 members. Definitely opportunities there for networking, support and asking questions.

I Want to Do Something Else, But I’m Not Sure What It Is: Find a Job That’s Fit for You by Dr. Ronald L Krannich, Ph.D.
Several folks have recommended this book.

—
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OUR PANEL

A number of folks took the time Thursday to offer tips you’ve been reading. In alphabetical order…

Nicole Bogdas, former designer for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Let go in April 2008, she’s currently a designer with the Orlando Sentinel.

Richard Curtis retired in December after 26 years as managing editor for graphics and photo at USA Today.

Marin Devine, former designer for the Tulsa (Okla.) World. Laid off in January, she was hired this week by The National in Abu Dhabi, UAE. She’ll start her new job in March.

Martin Gee, former designer and illustrator for the San Jose Mercury News. Laid off last June, he’s currently art director for Oregon Business magazine in Portland.

Autumn Heep, former designer for the Orlando Sentinel. Laid off in July, she’s currently free-lancing and doing volunteer work in Brisbane, Australia.

Meg Lavey, left her position last September as a designer for the (Tucson) Arizona Daily Star. She’s currently working with Bank of America and as a blogger for the Unofficial Apple Weblog.

Michelle McCleary-Siss, former layout editor for features at the Waterbury (Conn.) Republican-American. She was laid off in December and is currently on the job market.

Sarah Slobin, former senior graphics editor at Fortune magazine. Laid off in December, she is currently on the job market.

Charles Apple, whose job as graphics director of the Virginian-Pilot was eliminated last winter. He continued at a lesser position at the Pilot before leaving in July to become art director for Sporting News Today. Three months later, that job, too, was eliminated. He’s currently a free-lance graphic journalist, a workshop instructor and your host in this very blog. He thanks you for reading and hopes this has been of assistance to you.

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Posted Friday, Feb. 27, 2009
Reposted Tuesday, April 14