NEW! Check the right column! These are job feeds from Indeed.com. They are now extensive on the site, for your use. If you are looking for odd, lesser known writing jobs go to this page.

A very instructive story at one newspaper, part of the late Knight-Ridder chain. The difficulties involve the lives of many people who have pride, talent, and emotional connection to journalism.

I get these questions occasionally, "I send in my resume and don't hear anything back!" Let John Challenger explain to you why this happens. His theme is, you've got to be aggressive when pursuing a job.

I like to think we are all "free agents," even those looking for a full-time position. We are in business for ourselves on behalf of our dreams, aspirations, or just pure desire to survive and thrive. A job is simply an element in a career path that the business has vaulted you toward. And business is, if nothing else, about respecting, selling, and having confidence by putting your strengths in front of you.

If you think along those lines you have a better chance of designing a path that is meaningful for yourself and getting jobs that are points along that path, while always keeping your goals in front of you. This prevents you from getting caught in a job or feeling you are stuck and it makes you look long and hard at the industry you are about to enter. Young people, especially, are always intimated by the workplace when they first enter it. Don't let that shake you from the sense that you own your own labor.

Do some things a businessman will do: Establish relations with those who may buy your skills down the road. Even if they don't buy today, they might tomorrow. Many employers, such as newspapers and magazines would prefer to have a short-list of possible candidates who have taken the time to meet the editors or made their interest known, than advertise in papers or web sites.

Read about the "intangibles of success," from askmen.com. It always comes down to attitude. In the magazine industry, for instance, employers are looking for good writers but they are also looking for writers who love and are devoted to the magazine industry.

According to this report journalism schools are booming.

No one should be discouraged from pursuing any career goal or path they find suited to their personalities. For that venerable old icon, the newspaper, the news is not good. It appears to me that newspapers are like the trains of old; fascinating relics of another era. But, those who love trains keep them going. I'm just not sure newspapers will be subsidized by the government.

It did occur to me that "news" has become a basic utility like water or electrical power. News is so pervasive and necessary it is taken for granted. News organizations may become semi-public monopolies making sure the news keeps moving through the pipelines cheaply and efficiently. However, the opinion, commentary, and analysis of the news will be the main thing and will have very competitive ventures going on.

At any rate, if you are looking to work at a newspaper and want a career in newspapers, understand the dynamics and plan accordingly. Is your interest because the newspaper is an icon with a very rich legacy? Or is it because you love to cover, report, and be involved in news gathering? There are people who love the iconic and bring hope to it.

Here are the latest layoffs from I Want Media.

Take it from the experts. Stress your strengths and don't stress over your weaknesses.

Bloggers out there might be interested in this deal by the Washington Post.

Here's some terrific advice from John Challenger about job-seeking through social networking sites. There are pitfalls that need to be heeded. Read the article.

I hadn't seen one of these stories for quite awhile. The Cleveland Plain Dealer is offering employee buyouts. They always make it sound good but as others have pointed out, how do you improve the product by reducing the talent? Talent is always the greatest asset, especially on a newspaper. The truth is the newspaper is reduced, the staff gets demoralized, the area of coverage and quality of coverage shrinks. It does make room for alternatives like citizen journalism.

Likewise, the Dallas Morning News is buying out 17% of its editorial staff. It does appear that the newspapers are trying to beef-up their online operations. Students need to learn how-to-do the Net. If colleges and universities are not teaching this, they are failing their students.

You might want to catch NPR's comment on the state of journalism. It's exciting they say. And despite all the bad news, they are right. This is an authentic shake-up of the literary system, not simply journalism. In times like these the individual steps up and offers some bold innovations, a few of which seed the future. And bold individuals get bold when they see a platform for their talents.

Read this article to ace the interview. An interviewer is often more interested in how you respond than your specific answers to questions.

This author has some thoughts about transferring skills from one job or industry to another. I think of the skills involved in a writing career other than stringing words together. One of those is interviewing, the other is researching. These skills can be brought into a new writing career or used to leverage yourself into a new career outside of publishing.

Grady College, based at the University of Georgia, has come out with its annual survey of job prospects for recent grads. According to writer James Rainey, "More than 62% of those receiving bachelor's degrees in journalism in 2005 said they had found a job by late last year, up from 56% in 2003..."

It's axiomatic to watch what you write on the Web. Here's a case of an editor who posted a profile on MySpace.com and has, apparently, been fired for the effort. This was a small newspaper in Indiana and it's understandable the guy wants to "move on," as he says he will. But, wouldn't it be better to protest this and not let the old hand of newspaper publishers have the final say?

Here are some reports about markets in the magazine industry. Get more resources from Sunoasis X 2006.

One of the hottest items in magazine titles is "parenting."

And some of the coolest are business publications.

Baby-boomers and those who write for that demographic might be interested to know that, as a group, they carry $2 trillion in annual spending power. Ergo, new magazines like GeezerJock that target a bit of this largesse.

A new travel web site is coming on line. It's targeted for affluent travelers. The founder is the former editor in chief of Yahoo! Internet Life magazine. He says, "All of us print guys who have found perches in the online world are happy, because that is where the future is." Did new car owners yell out in derision as they passed men on horseback?

Who are the most influential women? Those who read the Wall Street Journal. And the WSJ is reorganizing its fashion and style reporters as it lays the groundwork for a new fashion and design bureau.

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David

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