By Anonymous
If you think getting fired from magazine job will turn your world upside down, you’re right. But that devastating feeling is only temporary. Even if you can’t look back and laugh about the day Susie Smith didn’t invite you to birthday party, you will be able to laugh about this one day. But first, there will be some tears.
I had recently been promoted to assistant editor after about a year on the job. So when the editor-in-chief called me into her office less than a week later, I didn’t think she was going to tell me she was thinking of firing me. After a search of the staff’s emails (yes, they can—and do—do that), an email I sent was deemed to be inappropriate, and I had signed a contract my first day on the job promising never to use the company email system inappropriately. I had violated a company policy.
I instantly felt like my own lawyer, defending what I did and giving reasons why she should keep me on staff. But no amount of arguments, and subsequent apology letters, could reverse her ruling. The next day would be my last at what was, until that point, a great job.
I felt like I would never work in magazines again. I was embarrassed about what happened and I dreaded telling my friends and family. I had always prided myself on playing by the rules and I was worried that the people I loved would think less of me for doing what I did. I thought my boyfriend would be freaked out about making our rent payments, but he wound up being the perfect first person to tell. He listened, let me cry, assured me it could have happened to anyone, and promised me that I would get another job soon enough.
My mom, who got the next phone call, had similar affirmations. She told me that she and my dad would help me, should my funds get disastrously low, and reminded me that I was lucky that I only had myself to support. My friends, most of whom were editorial assistants and assistant editors at magazines, were as shocked as I was to find out, but equally supportive as the others I had told. I was relieved to have their love and support in that uncertain time, but I was still distraught.
Wallowing in misery was the easiest thing to do, and I let myself do that for one day—and then no more.
Going back on the job hunt wasn’t something I planned on doing for a long while, but I’m glad I started right away. Updating my resume helped me realize that I had learned a great deal at my job, but also that I was ready for change. I checked Ed’s
whispers, mediabistro, craigslist, journalismjobs.com, hotjobs,
and monster daily. I applied to every job I saw that was slightly relevant. Even though I didn’t dream of being a fact-checker or an advertising copywriter the way I dreamed of being a magazine editor, I didn’t think I could be choosy in my situation.
Within a couple of weeks, I had a handful of interviews lined up. I purposely set up an interview for a job I wasn’t too interested in so I could rebuild my interview skills, because it had been about a year since I was last a job-seeker. It was a good move because when the interviewer asked me why I left my old job, I didn’t know what to say. Obviously, “promoted from editorial assistant” wasn’t followed by “fired as assistant editor” on my resume. Instead, I didn’t indicate I was fired. I put an end date on my resume for my previous job, a date that, by this interview, was in the previous month. This must have prompted the interviewer
to ask that question. So I told her all about the situation, down to the tiniest detail, except that I let her believe that my resignation was voluntary. I didn’t get that job. I wrongly let leaving my job be the focus of the interview, instead of the experience I gained and why I was looking for new challenges. I utilized that strategy on my next interviews.
In between interviews, I kept busy. I’d set my alarm each day (well, almost every day) and get to work. Having a strong network of magazine friends, consisting of my former co-workers and people I had met through internships, was helpful not only because of their crucial moral support, but also because two of them, one who was an editorial assistant and the other who was an assistant editor, were able to assign me stories to write for their magazines. I was forced to get over my shyness of asking for help in getting paid assignments and informational interviews with their companies. The assistant editor friend was also totally cool with submitting my resume to her HR department, which turned into an interview for a position, though it didn’t turn into a job.
I eventually worked up the courage to pitch stories to editors I didn’t know—and I actually got an article published in one of my favorite magazines. Of course, this meant extra money, (babysitting and tutoring were putting food in my mouth, though it
wasn’t especially lucrative), but it also strengthened my resume and gave me something else to talk about with interviewers. In addition, it made for a good reason to tell interviewers why I left my old job: to pursue diverse freelance opportunities. I
may have overused the term “broadening my horizons,” but interviewers appreciated that I went after the chance to
write for genres for which I had never written.
I also seized opportunities to do temp work at magazines because it enabled me to make more connections, feel like a part of
the magazine world, and support myself. When one of my editorial assistant friends left her job, I filled in for her for a
week…until that magazine folded. I also found a two-day, in-office assignment at a different magazine that was listed on Ed. All the while, I kept up on industry news and attended magazine events, just like I did when I was employed. When interviews went on tangents, as interviews tend to do, I was able to talk about everything from new magazine launches to recent closings. Even though it sometimes got awkward at parties when people asked where I worked, I became more comfortable saying I was a freelance writer, because I was. I even came to accept that I had been fired and was more open to telling people. And what I found, especially with the more experienced folks in whom I confided, was they had been fired before, too.
Two months went by and I was still without a permanent gig. I applied for many editorial assistant positions that my friends told me about or that I saw on the online job boards, but interviewers expressed concern that I wouldn’t be as willing to pay my dues at their magazines, since I had already had my fair share of dues-paying at my old publication. The rejection stung more than when I was applying for jobs right out of college because I knew, unequivocally, that I could do what they needed me to do. But I pressed on, just like I did during my first magazine job search. Eventually, something clicked.
After applying for a job I saw on Ed, I met with three separate people for a position I wound up accepting and told each, with confidence, that I left my last job because I wanted to do something different and more challenging. My freelance writing had partially satisfied that, but I wanted to continue to learn and grow as part of a staff. That made a lot sense to them and it was all true.
Although this position was a little off the track I wanted to be on, the company was well-known and respected and I would be writing more than I did at the old job—much more as it turned out. The job search, which seemed like centuries, was just two and a half months long, two weeks and one interview shorter than when I was first looking for jobs out of college.
I eventually took a job as an assistant editor at a different magazine, putting me right back on the path on which I wanted to be. And now I’m an associate editor at a magazine for which I’ve always wanted to work.
I now feel lucky to have lost that first job. I wrote for great magazines and I got to work with smart, kind people who gave me a lot of responsibility, which, no doubt, helped me land the next gig, and the one after that. I won’t be as scared should this happen again because I’ve seen that I can get through it. I also feel fortunate to have been able to assure some of my other friends who lost their jobs shortly after I lost mine that they, too, would be just fine.
Besides learning to be much more careful about email use, I’ve learned just how important it is to have friends on my level in this business, not just for the cheer-up flowers (which were much appreciated!), but for the jobs that they heard about that weren’t posted anywhere, and for the writing assignments. Had I not
lost my job, I probably would be at that same magazine, doing the same tasks, and not learning as much as I have at the next places.
Losing my job did turn my world upside down, but it was a shake-up from which I greatly benefited. I can now look back on everything
and laugh. I laugh at how silly I was to think I would never work in this industry again because I’m back and, honestly, better than ever.
