Ask the Recruiter

Q. My full-time reporting career began at a 30,000-circulation paper in a small Illinois town. I left there after 10 months to work at 40,000 circulation paper in the Northeast. I left my second job after more than two years when the paper was sold. I am currently in my sixth month of a new job at a 60,000-plus paper. I recently learned that I might need to return to the Midwest to help alleviate the stress on my brother, who is currently taking care of an ailing relative.

I realize that it isn't going to bode well for me that I've only been at my current job for a few months. I don't want to seem like a flake who is going to move around from one job to the next so quickly, but I think my personal concerns are beginning to outweigh my career ambitions.

Q. I started a newspaper career later than most of the reporters I have worked with. I spent 20 years owning my own business. When I started in newspapers I wanted to see the country and get to a destination paper.

I managed to land at a paper with decent pay. I thought I had found a home, but it was a bad fit. These things happen. People marry and divorce. I left. Now I freelance for a 50,000 circulation daily and a weekly started by staff from the paper I left. I have a wealth of business experience, an education with college-level science courses such as chemistry and microbiology, and only one desire: to find a place where I can report and live at a pay rate that can support my frugal lifestyle.

Q. I'm writing with some sad news.

After nearly three years in the newspaper industry, my newsroom cut several positions -- including mine. I wasn't expecting to be laid off because I am young, productive, relatively inexpensive and well-versed in blogging and video. But the newsroom seems to be concentrating on a metro-centric product. (I worked in features.)

I've been meeting with many possible employers, but my best bets are with public relations firms. For years, my colleagues dubbed the PR industry "the dark side," stressing that people who switched over could never work as journalists again. Well, that was then. What's the prevailing wisdom now? Certainly, there is clemency during these economic times ... right? If I keep freelancing while working at a PR firm, will I be able to re-enter the industry I love?
 
Thanks again.

Successful But Laid Off

Q. Throughout a few different internships, I had a really good system for turning in copy without mistakes, and I went a full year without a correction.

Working at a small community paper, things are different.

Our story volume is high. So is the fatigue. Our copy desk is small and busy. In addition, our editing program likes to gobble up stories, often forcing us to scramble and get into earlier versions.

I have checks I try to use as best I can. For example, when I interview people in the field, I take down their name, where they're from, occupation, and age, then show them this page in my notebook for them to double check.