Ask the Recruiter

Thomas Pardee's Facebook ad brought him all kinds of attention. It just wasn't the kind he had expected.

Dozens of resumes, an active network and cold calls weren't getting Pardee any response, so he tried Facebook ads that are targeted to specific users. He started by aiming them at people at Hearst and then Condé Nast.

Pardee, who is interning at Chicago Magazine -- his seventh internship -- landed an interview, but it was for a story, not a job. Salon's "The Big Money" recently ran a story about Pardee titled "Will Targeted Facebook Ads Land You a Job or Creep Out Employers?"

The story led Twitterers and bloggers to talk about whether it is wise to target employers in Facebook ads. ...

While the news industry is frantically searching for solutions and new directions, journalists' lives have been disrupted by cutbacks and job changes. Poynter Online wants to help by sharing how-they-did-it snapshots from people who overcame employment challenges.

ERICA CURLESS

Age: 34

New job: Certified equine massage therapist. I own Dog and Pony Show, a mobile animal massage therapy business specializing in performance horses and dogs. These animals are athletes and massage is a critical part of their training regimen, just like with human athletes.

The idea is to get ultimate and correct movement so the horse or dog can do its job and have a long, successful career without breaking down and getting injured. As with humans, massage also helps with rehabilitation from injuries and surgeries and is very beneficial to geriatric animals. I'm based in the Spokane, Wash., area but service eastern Washington and North Idaho.

Old job: As a staff writer for The Spokesman-Review's North Idaho bureau, I covered politics and growth and development for eight years. ...

Q. I recently passed my three-year mark in my first journalism job after college. I learned a lot and developed a highly specialized side beat that I'm very passionate about. My editors always have been supportive of that work and recently changed my assignment so that I can do much more of it.

While I enjoy the new assignment, it comes at a time when I've gone into debt to live here because of constant furlough days. I've realized how much I sacrificed personally to move to an isolated area away from friends and family. Additionally, my work is stagnating (though that could be due to all the furlough time I've had to take) and is rarely edited. My editors recently said they weren't sure how much more they could teach me, which I take as a sign to move on. ...