Q: In college, I always dreamed of being a writer. I worked for my college paper as both an editor and a staff writer, but somehow after college I ended up at a PR agency. The good? I got to write a lot and really learned to challenge myself as an editor, a researcher and an interviewer. I was also frequently published in national publications. The bad? I hate pitching and media relations. My pieces never received my byline - I was always ghost writing for a client. PR as an industry was not nearly as exciting to me as the only component of it that I could stomach: sitting in front of my laptop for three hours tapping away at something I could really be proud of. After a few years, I felt like a hamster on a wheel.
So I moved on and am now managing marketing and communications at a nonprofit. I did not come here to do this job, I just happened to get promoted from PR girl to manager after my boss left. The older I get, the less I feel like a writer and that college dream of working as a journalist seems lost and unattainable. I'm not 100 percent defeatist, however. I have done a small amount of freelance work and applied (with clips) to a multitude of publications. I'm still working at it, but the "big break" seems like it might end up to just be a big heartbreak.
Can someone with strong writing skills and an innate desire to start over as a journalist make the jump from a life of PR and marketing to the world of journalism? How do potential employers perceive someone like me?
Any suggestions?
Stuck
A: This is certainly no consolation, but you've become the victim of decisions made by other people to satisfy their employment needs of the moment. Now, you've decided to take command of your career and steer it back on course.
You have some challenges. One is your lack of journalistic experience compared to other candidates. Another is the inevitable questions you'll get about your commitment to journalism. While editors may look more favorably on someone who does PR work for a non-profit, they'll still have reservations about your motivation and the standards you're accustomed to meeting. A third challenge is that you may be looking at a pay cut.
By all means, increase your freelance work and add clients who might be potential employers. Be frank with them about the career change you're trying to engineer. If an editor says that freelancing is unlikely to lead to anything there, try to replace that client with one more likely to sign you on. Spend as much time as yuo can with the most likely prospects, letting them see your character and work habits.
