First job lessons

With it being 2022, It means my first media job was somehow 10 years ago. I accepted my first job offered to me after college and… well… I wish had declined it.

Every country has city or a place where it suffered a defeat. For me it was New Castle, Indiana. New Castle is my Somme, my Gallipoli, my Dunkirk, my Bay of Pigs.

Instead of waiting for a job that was a right fit, I took a position as a crime and court reporter for the Courier-Times in New Castle. Did I know much about crime and court? Not at all, but New Castle was close to my college friends in Muncie and my family in Indy so off I went thinking I could make it work.

I was playing out of position and was too naive to understand the politics of a newspaper. I thought I would have time to grow into the role but that paper had no chance of being patient. The editor was half a century older than me and my ability to communicate with him was intermittent on a good day.

When I asked a coworker for advice he simply said, “You’re in a bad situation.”

Even worse, the Courier-Times was dysfunctional. The main advertising rep did not like the editor and wanted me to go to the publisher to get him fired. Thankfully, I did not do that but the employees in the company were far from friends.

I had some success but I knew I had to exit the company if I was going to be happy. After just three months I put in my noticed and I ran through the parking lot on my final day.

After my experience in New Castle it would be five years before I would apply for a job at a daily newspaper again and eight years before I accepted one. In 2017 I was offered the sports editor job in Mt. Carmel, Illinois but turned it down. Too many things about the paper reminded me about New Castle.

In 2020, I made a recon when offered the sports gig at this very publication. The staff was young and there was not an advertising team plotting to get people fired. Linton passed the New Castle smell test.

To be fair, I did not have an identity or a voice for what I wanted to do in media as recent college grad. The problem though was the Courier-Times was not about cultivating journalists and I needed to do that somewhere else. Simply put, I was drafted by the wrong team.

I get that employers today are frustrated they can’t find help. At the same time, it’s important for job seekers to take their time and make sure before making a move. That’s something I wish had done 10 years ago and I hope this helps those in a similar situation today.