It has happened to me and perhaps to you, or a spouse, friend, or relative. It can mark one for a lifetime. I decided to put my feelings on paper...yes paper. Then the editorial board of my local daily newspaper, the Salt Lake Tribune, was kind enough to publish on paper, yes...paper and online, my thoughts.
Pass it along to someone you know who can relate.
If misery needs company, today's Ragan Communications column on "Horror Stories From The Front Lines" lists real life testimonials of a layoff, or firing handled badly.
I'd like to add my own personal story to the list. At one of the first radio stations I worked at, it was clear that the new management wanted to get rid of me. Daily cruelty was the first attempt. One day, after finishing my morning news, management pulled me into a very quiet production booth and accused me of "deliberately sounding bad on the air to hurt ratings."
Whenever I run into someone going through a similar situation, I can always bring a smile to their face by saying, "Hey, if you've never been laid off or fired, you aren't an official member of the communications profession."
Now, enjoy the Ragan article here.
New research by job search site CareerCast.com indicates that of 200 selected careers, public relations is ranked #79 of 200 professions (#1 being the best, #200 the worst). The best part? PR job prospects look very good for the coming year.
The rankings compare physical demands, the work environment, income, stress and the future hiring outlook. Each profession is scored in all areas.
Guess what profession comes just before us, at #78? Cosmetologist. Guess which one comes after at #80? Attorney...(gasp). AND, the PR salary listed (which I assume is an average) is about $90,00.
Being sandwiched between such different careers does make me question the research a bit. But read on....
PR Has One Major Flaw
Surprisingly, according to CareerCast.com, "there are more high-paying, well-respected jobs ranked between 61 and 80 than there were from 41 - 60. However, while positions such as attorney, federal judges, psychologist and public relations executive boast average median salaries ranging from approximately $89,000 to $152,000, each career has at least one major flaw that prevents it from finishing higher in the rankings. Judge, for example, is the highest-paying position in the group but suffers from a poor hiring outlook, while attorney is hurt by high stress levels and a difficult work environment."
Go here to see the top ten jobs. Click here for the ten worst. And if you'd like to see all of the research, here you go!What do you do when you want to be a journalist, yet the world of journalism is in chaos? Like many former or laid off reporters, you can always shoot for the stars and start your own news operation. With some sweat equity, good journalism ethics and an eye for the hyper-local news no one covers anymore, you just might get a good reputation. You just might one day make enough money to live on.
Here's one story, right here in Utah.
Meet Richard Markosian, creator of Utahstories.com. "Read all about it" here.
Been thinking about starting your own PR firm, or becoming a consultant? The time is almost over-ripe and I suggest you take your plunge sooner, rather than later. Competition is about to heat up, according to the July 2009 issue of Money magazine.
In an article on top trends in the new economy, Money predicts "The Rise Of Freelance Nation," citing that an estimated 30 percent of today's workforce (about 42 million people) are either freelancers, independent contractors, part-time or temp workers.
AND...in the next 10 years we can expect that number to grow to 40 percent. Ravin Jesuthasan of Towers Perrin is quoted as saying, "Companies want a workforce they can switch on and off as needed."
Read all about it here. By the way, I've never regretted the creation of my own business back in 1996.
He'd just had dinner with friends. He came home, and while shoveling the driveway...fell and died from his injuries. Tom Jordan, a well known radio reporter in Utah, had been downsized months earlier from Metro Networks.
When I heard this absolutely tragic news, I went to my email box and searched his name. The screen filled up with dozens of emails from the last few months of his employment. I made a mental note to save them. I will not hit "delete."
Tom Jordan was rare. He was never a mean or jaded reporter. While he worked for Metro Networks, he treated me and my story ideas with utmost respect. He really listened to my story pitches with sincere interest, despite his heavy workload. He didn't act put off and busy, and kindly let me know when my story idea wasn't a good fit.
Tom respected PR people. We were his friends, not his nags. I'm sure he didn't quite understand what the word "flack" meant. Most touching of all, whenever I talked to him, I felt like his "best friend."
When Tom was laid-off from Metro Networks, he quickly emailed a goodbye letter to those of us he had worked with.
If you knew Tom, and even if you didn't, this letter will make you smile and cry (scroll to bottom of this post). It is unedited, and from the heart of someone who knew the news industry was going down hard for awhile. Tom, you will live on in my computer archives, and I will remember your laugh and twinkling eyes.
If you didn't catch the tribute, so thoughtfully written by a former supervisor and peer, Dan Bammes, in the Deseret News - you can link to it here. Thank you Dan. Your message was beautiful...and you are brave to take such a blunt shot at the corporate effect on the news industry.
[Tom's farewell email begins below]
"An inadequate letter to my friends,
The parent company of Metro Networks has downsized or closed closed many of its news bureaus, including me.
For the last eleven years, I have had a spectacular time spreading the word, and I am taking this unfortunately impersonal approach at the moment to thank you for being a friend and giving me some sort of word to spread.
I have never thought of myself as a journalist, partly because I'm not one, and partly because I spent over 20 years as an English professor. As I sat down at my computer every day to write the news, I generally thought of myself as a teacher with a really big lecture class. The point of news, as far as I can make out, is to tell people something they didn't know, and that's where you come in. Without you, there would have been no news. In personal terms, however, this position has allowed me to meet and know a simply extraordinary number of fascinating people.
What a marvelous thing it was to wake up everyday with a sense of excitement about all the interesting stuff I was going to learn. I can't imagine anything more fun (well, I probably can, but not sitting at a desk) than spending every day talking to nothing but well informed, interesting people. It was my job to talk to the people who make the news, and the reason I was talking to them was because they knew a great deal about something people might find interesting. What fun.
Many of the people I'm sending this to are the PR people who write up and send out the good stuff. Would you be so kind as to thank very genuinely the people you work with who say the interesting things and do the interesting deeds?
It is nice to think that because of what we do, we have made the world a better place, or at least a place where there's something interesting to listen to on the radio.
As to what I'm going to do next, I have no idea. Zorba the Greek probably said, "What work do I do? My hands, my feet, they do the work; me, I just have fun." Sounds like a plan. I think it is traditional to say I will be pursuing other interests. Heck, I've been pursuing other interests my whole life, why should I stop now? I believe it is also customary to say that I want to spend more time with my family. That's a great idea given where my family lives. My wife's family lives in Holland and France. Our daughter lives in New Zealand. Our son lives in Australia. And if I could figure out how to pay for it, I would definitely do it. Of course, I filed for unemployment this morning, and I have been led to believe those folks would not look kindly on me if I told them I have to run off to Europe for a couple of weeks. The Taco Bell down the road from my house says they're looking for people like me, but they used to be offering $9 an hour and they recently dropped it to $7.50. This could be tougher than I think.
Wordsworth said in his "Ode: Intimations of Immortality," possibly the finest poem ever written, that we come into this world trailing clouds of glory. I always hope we pass through life also trailing at least a few remnants of that glory as well.
Thank you very, very much. It has been a privilege to know you and work with you.
Cheers,
Tom"
I've been through a number of unemployment experiences. It hurts like hell. I call it "scorched ego." Your logical mind says "it's not personal." Your heart says it most definitely is...if you were that good, they would have found a way to keep you.
If you are in fear of losing your job during these queasy economic times, rest assured, there isn't a single person I know who hasn't said in retrospect, "that was the best thing that ever happened to me. Look where it led!"
As for me, I've been laid off and fired in my career. Allow me to share how I coped, and even thrived.
First, if humor is nothing but "tragedy plus time," some humorous personal background for your enjoyment:
I have suffered many times from "scorched ego." You see, once I worked in broadcast news...one of the most volatile industries in the 1980s.
In radio news: I was fired for not having talent. My boss accused me of deliberately going on the air and sounding bad to hurt ratings.
In TV news: Laid-off while doing regional cable news cut-ins (via KUTV) for the now defunct Satellite News Channel (SNC). Ted Turner, who then owned CNN, bought SNC because he didn't like the competition. He then turned it off. On my last day of employment there was no exit interview. I stood in front of a TV and watched as SNC threw the switch, became non-existent and faded to black. I was fortunate that KUTV (CBS affiliate - Salt Lake City) hired me shortly thereafter to be a local news reporter. Yet somehow, TV and I never got along.
Thus, I decided to get into a less volatile industry, hence...
Politics/government: What was I thinking? After nearly three years, elections and new bosses told me it was time to voluntarily leave.
Another layoff: Prompted me to start my own PR firm - going strong since 1996. Soooo glad it happened!
This will be my fourth recession (unless it becomes a depression - then it'll be my first - whoopee). I've been unemployed in two of them. Once for more than a year.
Ten Tips For Maintaining Sanity While Unemployed - Healing Your Scorched Ego
1. Join an inexpensive gym. Work out a lot. It helps prevent depression.
2. Have structured weekdays when you call your peers, check for jobs, and network for openings that haven't even hit the radar yet.
3. Make a list of all the things you always wanted to do but didn't have time. Try to do one every day. Several on my list: Chalk art (lasted one day), visits to neat food delis, visits to zoo and Aviary, people watching at parks.
4. Stay in close contact with friends. Don't lean on them, just enjoy their company. No need to risk the friendship with constant talk about your problems. ENJOY the moments.
5.When the bank account grows lean and you haven't shopped or treated yourself for awhile, stroll into a Big!Lots (or a similar drop-dead discount store). Have lots of swagger in your step as you tell yourself, "I can afford anything in the place!"
6. Stay healthy, eat well, don't scrimp on what you spend for groceries, vitamins and health care. Cut other things first. You cannot afford a bout with bad health at this juncture.
7. Realize there is still work available - it just might not be a full-time job with benefits. Write down a list of all the important and powerful people you know. Begin setting brief appointments with them. Ask them for their advice as you ponder your next career step: "What are the trends, etc.?" DO NOT ask for a job or if there are current or future openings.
8. As you leave these appointments, always ask if your contact knows of any other people she/he would recommend you meet with. Take the names down and ask if you can drop the name of your current contact when setting up these future appointments.
9. After any appointment, and based on the information you gleaned during the meeting, redo your resume to reflect the talents (don't make them up) that might actually one day land you a job with the company/contact you just visited. Send it with a thank you note and most importantly indicate: "I'd love to do some freelance or project work for you." This was a great strategy for me. I picked up all kinds of odd and exciting work. Each experience taught me an important lesson: Did I like or not like this type of work? Better to find out in a freelance situation than after accepting a full-time position.
10. My final advice... I don't recall the author, but I'll never forget a small essay I read while feeling terribly frightened about my life situation. It went something like this - and if the author is out there - please make yourself known so I can give you credit:
"We live our lives like a trapeze acrobat, constantly going from one swinging bar to the next. Yet there is a moment, a rare one, that takes place when the artist must let go of one bar, and reach for the other. It is a vulnerable and nervous second when the performer is literally suspended in mid-air. One bar flung behind them and an anxious hand stretched to grab the bar swinging toward. Most of us kick and scream during this transition and grab the first safe bar we can find. But why not take another approach?
Savor, relish, don't dread the time in between the swinging bars. We have so little time as it is. Use these precious days, hours, minutes to reflect on your life, your achievements, where you want to go, and who you want to become. Be with those you cherish most and learn the art of solitude."
A word of warning: If you don't enjoy your time between the trapeze bars, trust me, you'll be pretty angry you didn't once you are told "you're hired" and must start work on Monday. No more sleeping in or long mornings sipping juice and reading the news.
Life is full of cycles. This too will pass. And who knows where it might lead you.
Once a broadcast journalist, I now work as a PR, media relations, social media advisor for my firm, Cartwright Communications. My profession grows more complex each day. This blog helps me cope :) Selected as one of the 101 Women Bloggers to Watch for 2009 by WE Magazine.
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