After spending the first part of this series badgering and bludgeoning you into deciding that it’s time to leave journalism, I’m going to use this post to talk about how to approach a job search in trying to land a non-journalism job using the same skills you used in your journalism careers.

Compile a List of Job Sites and Check It Frequently

Just as a beat reporter would check with his/her sources on a regular basis to see if there’s any news, a job seeker needs to make the rounds. You’ve got your usual suspects like Monster and Careerbuilder, and I’ve found Craigslist to be a very abundant source for writing and design jobs, especially at smaller local companies. Also, be sure to check the classifieds in your paper (oh irony of ironies) and other local publications.

Aside from those general job sites, look for:

• Industry-specific sites, such as creativehotlist.com for design jobs.
• Sites of various trade associations.
• If you are looking to remain in your current area, look around and see who the biggest employers are, then go find the job boards on their sites.
• Nonprofits’ Web sites. See if there is a Web site for an association of nonprofits in your state, which likely would have a job board.
• State and local governments’ sites

Once you have your list of job sites, check it frequently. When I was in my job searches, I checked daily, which at times can be frustrating because it might feel like you are seeing the same handful of unappealing jobs forever. However, you never know what might turn up tomorrow.

Cast a Wide Net

“Quantity, not quality” is an abhorred phrase in journalism these days, what with staff cuts and antiquated performance metrics forcing journalists to churn out work. However, when you embark on your job search, it helps to play the numbers game — the more jobs you apply to, the more likely it is you’ll get an interview, and the more likely it is you’ll get a job offer. Sure, there are some key factors that you need to take into consideration, such as contract/fixed term vs. permanent, but try to approach your job search with as few exclusive parameters as possible. And unless you have very strong personal preferences, don’t limit yourself by saying I’ll only look in this or that industry. Skills such as writing and design are sought by companies in a whole array of industries. If you look in my My Documents folder, you’ll see about a hundred or so application letters I’ve written in the last four years, spanning three major job searches. The places I’ve applied to run the gamut: real estate company, lawyers organization, state agencies, educational nonprofits, just to name a few.

Remember: The application is just the initial step, the knock on the door to say, “Your job opening looks like it might have potential; tell me more,” so don’t sweat the details at this stage. Stop asking, “Well, would it do this or that? Would I like the environment?” The point is, you don’t know, and that’s why you should apply so you can get a chance to find out. Neither side is making any kind of commitment here. Until you’ve actually been offered a job, it’s a moot point to worry about whether you will take it. If a job posting looks like it could be interesting and fits your skillset, send in an application. If you get a response and an interview, then you can worry about the details.

Application Material: Templatized and Digitized

Yes, applying to a bazillion jobs can be a pain, especially if you have to do every application package from scratch. That’s why you should have some of the material templatized and ready for plug-and-play. For instance, I have two versions of my resume, portfolio, and application letter — depending on if I’m applying to a design job or a writing job. When I apply to a job, I just pull out one of the application letter templates, plug in the job-specific information, tweak the letter a little bit according to specific aspects of the job posting, and I’m done. It takes about 30 to 45 minutes, and that’s with something like 10 rounds of proofreading brought on by my paranoia.

It also helps to have an electronic version of your portfolio. This applies for designers as well as writers. It always amazes me that many newspaper editors still prefer (and in some cases demand) that applicants send hard copies of their clips. And PDFs have been around for how long? Fortunately, most non-newspaper fields’ hiring processes are a bit more with the times and will accept (and usually prefer) electronic resumes and portfolios. Sending your application material electronically saves you time and paper, making it easier for you to apply to as many jobs as possible.

Don’t Wait for the “Perfect Fit” to Apply

One common mistake I’ve seen in many journalists who are looking to make the jump to another field is that they talk themselves out of applying for a particular job because of one or two minor details. If a job posting lists 10 responsibilities for the position, they might like eight or nine of them, but are not sure about the other two, and they’ll end up not going after that job. Same with qualifications: They meet eight out of 10 but won’t apply because of two desired skills they do not have. Remember, there is no such thing as a perfect fit, not even the job you are in now (obviously, since you are looking to leave). The important thing is to look at the primary job responsibilities and decide whether those appeal to you. The last couple items on a long list of responsibilities are often things that come up very infrequently. As for qualifications, keep in mind that often the skills listed are all the ones that a company would like to have in an ideal candidate, but they realistically would accept someone with most of those skills. Sometimes some of those qualification lists make me laugh at how unrealistic they can be. I once came across a job posting that wanted an experienced biologist who also had substantial graphic design experience. You don’t need to be a perfect fit, just a good or even solid fit.

If you pass up otherwise promising job postings and only apply when you see something that feels like a perfect fit, you might be waiting for a while. With the way the newspaper industry is going, you don’t have the luxury of time. I’m not saying take the first thing that comes along, regardless of whether you like it or not; but just keep in mind that if you apply for a job and get no response or it turns out to not be a good fit, you lose nothing except maybe the time you spent writing the application letter. You stand to lose a lot more if you don’t even take the first step of sending in an application.

Don’t Give in to Inertia

It’s so easy to do that, especially considering that a job search can take as much time and energy as a job, and it’s always easier to put up with the status quo and tell yourself, “It’s not so bad” than to make the effort to change your situation … until the negatives that made you decide to look for another job strike again.

Unless It’s Really Important to You, Don’t Be Averse to Moving

I’ve come across comments from some journalists about the fact that they currently work in a small town that doesn’t have a whole lot of opportunities. My advice is to be open to moving, unless you are really at a place where you want to be. Fortunately for me, I was in such a place when I decided to leave journalism, and that area happened to have a lot of opportunities. One reason I got out of newspapers was because I didn’t want to have to move every time I changed jobs. If you are still in newspapers and are looking to get out, look at it this way: If you stay in journalism, you would likely have to move anyway in order to move up, so what’s the harm in moving in order to move out? If you move to an area that has a fair number of employers and industries for your first life-after-journalism job, your chances for not having to move for the next job will be a lot better than if you were still in newspapers.

One note of caution: If you have to move for a job, be sure that there are other things you like about the situation you are moving to besides the job. If you have strong roots in an area, don’t uproot yourself just for the job (unless, of course, you’re unemployed and have bills to pay). The job doesn’t always turn out the way we expect, and if it turns out to be less than what we expected and there isn’t anything else going for it (such as being in a nice city, being close to family, or allowing you more free time to pursue other interests), it might make you more miserable than before.

Be Open to Taking a Step Down on the Career Ladder

I was fortunate that I switched careers while I was relatively young. If you have been in journalism for a little while, chance are greater that you might not be able to make a parallel move into another field. However, the main reason for that isn’t skills but rather experience. So look at your first job after journalism as just that — your first job, not your last. Get a couple years of industry-specific experience in that first job, and you will be in a much better position to move up with your next job. Also, considering the sometimes ridiculously low payscale journalists have, there’s a good chance that you can take a step down in another field and still end up making more or the same as you did in newspapers.

Ask: Is This Job a Good Steppingstone?

This kind of goes with the previous point. Considering that you are changing careers, realize that your first job after journalism may not be the dream job where you want to spend the next 30 years. That’s OK. The important thing is that 1) It’s an improvement, both professionally and personally, over your previous job, and 2) It will add something to your resume and portfolio that will put you in a stronger position to move up in this new field. To me, No. 2 is especially important for someone going into a new field. Ask yourself this: If I spend 2-3 years in this job, will this experience put me in a better position for my next job search to get to a job where I would want to spend next 30 years?

Patience Is Not Just a Virtue, It’s a Necessity

I know from personal experience that when you are in a job search trying to get out of a bad situation, time seems to crawl by, and every rejection can feel like a big blow. However, I’ve also learned that you MUST remain patient and just keep at it. I mentioned earlier that during my last three job searches, I sent out about 100 applications. Out of all those, I got maybe 10 interviews, with three resulting in job offers (and I pulled out of the running for a couple other jobs because of lack of interest or because I got a job offer from somewhere else). Rejection is part of the game, which is also why it’s important to apply to as many jobs as possible so you can give yourself as many chances as possible to land an interview. Sometimes the jobs that I didn’t think I would even hear back from were the ones that gave me an interview.

Also, if you apply for government or university jobs, know that the hiring process at these entities move extremely slow. It usually took a month after the job closing date before I got a response requesting an interview, and sometimes it was a couple weeks after the interview before I heard back again (and this was when they were interested in talking to me again).

And remember: It doesn’t matter how many jobs you get turned down for; you only need one decent job offer to make your job search a success.

• Coming in part 3: So where can a newspaper reporter/copy editor/designer get a job in this town?