Dark Redemption - Charlotte Byrd Page 0,31
and of course it makes sense for the company itself. But if you don't have rich parents who can support you it's hard to make that work.
I have worked for two years in various roles, mainly as an administrative assistant, hoping to get a cover story at least once. But of course I didn't. I've written a number of articles for Huffington Post and other online newspapers, but they pay very little, and making it as a freelance journalist while living in the city is a hard road.
I was so certain that I would get that job, or at least be invited in for an interview since Allison did put in a good word for me and now I just got a form letter rejection back.
But hey, at least they messaged me! Nowadays it seems like you send out your resumes through all of these online job portals and no one even deems it appropriate to write you back.
Suddenly, I wonder if perhaps I'm a little overqualified. I know that this is a standing joke in a lot of businesses, but no one wants to hire someone and pay them $30,000 a year when they have a master's degree. I thought that a graduate degree from Columbia School of Journalism would do me good, but I don't also have the internship and the connections to match the degree.
What if I can't find anything?
Whenever I feel frustrated, I tend to bury myself in work, and applying for jobs is no exception. I go on Indeed and Monster as well as most specialty forums just for news jobs. The thing that people do seem to be hiring more for are the audiovisual and videographer positions, something that I have no experience with.
There are a few administrative assistants at news desks, which basically requires you to route calls from one person to another. It's something that I have done before and thought that I could get away from by getting a graduate degree.
Still, I fill out the applications.
Without even thinking about it, and just out of curiosity, I expand the search outside of the Tri-state area. I haven't thought of not living in New York City. Growing up in New Jersey, I've always thought that I'd be a grownup once I get an apartment in Manhattan and live the fun single life portrayed on Sex in the City.
But suddenly, wanting to have a career of my own and a place to belong is more important than the location.
What if I were to consider jobs outside of here?
Yes, of course this is the media capital of the world of the United States, but there are news outlets everywhere.
I focus my search on the big metropolitan areas, scrolling through Indeed looking for anything that would strike my interest. Then I decide to look outside of the major cities as well. Who knows, maybe there'll be something.
An ad from Nantucket pops up. It's a place I've been to a couple of times as a kid, having barbecues with cousins on my mother's side. She had a falling out with that side of the family a while ago, why I can’t remember. But I've always found that town to be quaint and lovely, and sort of romantic in the way that you would least expect.
They're looking for a news assistant for their local news station.
This position includes a mix of journalistic and administrative responsibilities, such as assisting editors with tasks during the day including minor editing and proofreading, as well newsroom administrative duties and directing phone calls to the news desk.
Some experience in news reporting and feature writing is required, and news assistants are encouraged to propose and write feature stories for various sections of the newspaper.
My eyes light up when I read the last part: propose and write feature stories!
The shift begins at 5:00 a.m., so you have two get up at 3:30, but that’s not unexpected. The job post says the salary is competitive, and I wonder how much that would be in a town like that.
I don't know why, but the prospect of this makes me a little bit excited. I've never thought about leaving the city, but walking around the Hamptons, I wonder if life is just a little bit calmer and a little bit to my liking somewhere smaller.
19
Jacqueline
I wait a few hours for Allison to come back and when she doesn't, I head back out to the beach by myself.
I text Dante to meet me there and he does, arriving half