Q: Your site is a godsend. Great that someone is offering this wisdom for free.

I have, for the past two years, been working at an alumni magazine since getting my MJ at Temple. The job offers security, good pay, and six weeks vacation a year. But it is just too, well, easy. And I miss the life of a daily (interned at a suburban Philly tabloid in grad school).

The problem is, the daily paper racket would be at least a 10K pay cut (which could hurt right before my wedding in Sept) and with my small amount of daily experience, I’ll likely be covering town hall meetings again. And I have progressed, in my own estimation, well beyond that, with pieces published in the New York Times, The Washington D.C. City Paper, Philadelphia magazine, etc., plus many investigative and narrative features for the magazine here in State College.

I suppose my question is, without a substantial daily background, is there any chance that I could get a job at a suburban daily that paid better than entry-level? More importantly, what are my chances of getting in the door at a major metro daily in a city I don’t live in and can’t string for?

To complicate matters, I also have a fiancée in Massachusetts, and am looking only in the Boston/R.I./Western Mass. regions.

Pennsylvania

A: There is only one way to get the true answer to your question. You have to apply for the jobs you want.

Your guess is likely good, though. Most large papers can and do insist on hiring candidates with substantial experience at other dailies. Their considerations go beyond writing quality, which you seem able to demonstrate. They want to see daily experience and will likely go with candidates who have it.

Now, if your work does attract an offer, try to use your years of full-time experience in a negotiation that brings you in at the rate they pay experienced reporters.