CAROL CONYNE RESCIGNO
Age: Sliding into 60.
New job: Adjunct professor and part-time jobs coordinator for the School of Journalism at Stony Brook University on Long Island, N.Y. I teach principles of editing, a case study course about ethics and decision-making in journalism. The jobs coordinator is essentially a scouting position. I look for trends and talk to people in the industry about where the jobs are for our graduates. I also manage a Web site for J-School employees that provides links to policies, recent trends in the business and teaching. It's a work in progress.
Old job: Deputy foreign editor at Newsday on Long Island, helping to supervise an amazing team of foreign correspondents.
Biggest change so far: I travel to school two days a week (an hour each way), but otherwise work from home. I don't work in my PJs, but I'll admit to slippers and Beau, the yellow lab whose head rests on those slippers. I'm at my computer so much I think I need an on-site physical therapist for my sore shoulders. I left because: I took a buyout after the better part of 30 years when Newsday eliminated its national/foreign desk.
I was out of work for: Six months.
I relied on: Twenty-two weeks' buyout pay, 3/4 of a year of unemployment and a generous husband who's still in the news business and loves his job.
This new gig is: It can't begin to compare salary-wise. I joke that it's my part-time volunteer paid job. But I now have extra time with friends and family (and the dog). It's amazing how much time you can put into working from home.
One thing I miss about my old job is: I loved being a newspaper editor and dealing with foreign news. I miss the people I worked with most closely -- the folks on my desk and the reporters in the field.
One thing I don't miss is: The stress as newspapers turned from "full service" to "hyper local."
One surprise about my new job is: I'm much more patient than I thought I'd be.
I'm lucky that: The J-School at Stony Brook is only a few years old and I'm surrounded by a hard-working and enthusiastic bunch of people -- some of whom I worked with at Newsday, including Howard Schneider, the school's founding dean, and Paul Schreiber, director of the undergraduate program.
The hardest part was: Hands down: the teaching. I never thought I'd do this, and it's a challenge. I constantly remind myself that these are students -- not my own 20-something sons.
I learned that: In such shaky times, people in this field have to find a way to help the next generation's journalists find their way. They'll be deciding what journalism is as we move forward.
My advice: I can't give advice to anyone else. I've always acted on faith and have generally been pretty lucky.
If you have a transition story that might help other Poynter Online readers, or if you have career-related questions that you want answered, please e-mail Joe Grimm at joe.grimm@gmail.com.
Coming Tuesday: She graduates soon and wants to stay in the area, but none of the local papers are advertising. Should she apply anyway?
