Q: Thanks for the JobsPage. I have been out of college for almost five years now and have been following you all the way.
I am at a crossroads and need your advice.
I grew up as a military brat, spending most of my childhood out of the United States than in. My first job out of college was at a newspaper in the same town that I actually went to high school and college in (the longest place I had ever lived). Being a small paper, I had the opportunity to do it all.
Before my senior year of college, I started as a photo intern, moved to the evening/weekend photographer job and after graduation, was offered the assistant sports editor position. Having never covered sports before, I did that for a year and it was great until I was offered the lifestyles editor job. (Better hours, slightly better pay, etc.)
I took it, but a year later, my dream of being a military journalist was fulfilled when I was offered a job in Germany with Stars and Stripes. It was a 13-month contract position.
However, at the end of it, I made the decision that I may regret for the rest of my career -- to come home.
I got engaged during my year overseas and instead of staying on with my contract (which could have turned into a permanent reporter position) I moved back to the area (where the fiancé lived) and picked up with the largest paper I had worked at yet -- in a very provincial city.
It will be two years in September since I moved back and have been working as a beat reporter (no G.A. positions were available when I was hired).
The engagement has been off for a year. Unfortunately, it took me coming back to realize that we weren't compatible and that I wasn't ready for marriage.
Of course, my sense of wanderlust and desire to get to where I almost was (Iraq and action in general) are with me every day.
In an effort to get back to military reporting, I am taking Arabic. I'm hoping that with the market the way it is, it may be one more selling point to get back to where I feel I am meant to be.
My quandary now is this ... I'm really enjoying the language, but feel like in order to be fully fluent, I need to fully immerse myself in it. I am seriously thinking of joining the service to give me that proficiency. I am told by virtually everyone I have talked to that one of the best language schools in the world is the military's Defense Language Institute.
The service commitment for a linguist, however, is five years. I know you don't have a crystal ball, Joe, but what do you think about this (especially if I decide I truly want to return to journalism after that time)?
I could go to grad school afterwards and develop some contacts to get back in the swing of journalism again -- if the bug is still there. There are so many things about journalism that I love, but this current job and the lack of job prospects, are not giving me any hope of ever coming close to the dream that I gave up.
I want to be where I can make a difference, be it as a correspondent or a linguist.
I recognize the dangers.
However, right now, it seems that being a military linguist will almost guarantee me the excitement and the chance to be where the action is ... and that's a long way from here. (I hope).
Happy Feet
A: It turns out I know someone who went into the Army to learn Arabic. He is not a journalist, but this turned out not to be a good move for him. Now, he went in before we were at war, and being sent to Iraq was not his ambition (he's there now), but he finds that he has very little chance to use his Arabic. Now, he was not a military brat, as you say you were, so I bet you would be in for less of a surprise than he was. But he finds that his education in Arabic is not exactly high on the Army's list of priorities.
The five-year commitment would give me pause -- especially if that is five years without doing journalism. I fear you'd have a hard time getting any job in journalism with a five-year gap in journalistic experience. Then where would you be? And will you then want to go back to school for a year or two to get back into things?
If what you want to be is a journalist, rather than a soldier, stick with journalism. I would scour the job boards for openings in towns that are near military bases and hope to get sent overseas by one of those papers -- at least for a little while. Certainly, your present paper isn't working for you.
Another option -- a dangerous one -- is to just over and try to freelance. It sounds as though some news organizations are pulling back on their own people (the cost and danger), so this may open some budgets for freelancers.
