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savvyliterateIn the middle of getting ready to apply for the possible T-News position, something else happened.
Monday night, I got home from the paper and checked my caller ID. There was a listing from Bristol Newspapers. I look at my answering machine and see the light blinking and pressed play.
"Hi, Megan. This is Steve Kaylor from the Bristol Herald Courier in Bristol, Virginia..."
I listened to his message. Then I listened to it again. He had seen my resume through JournalismJobs.com via a Media General recruiter and then found my clips at News Page Designer. He liked my work and wanted to talk to me about a possible job as a writer and designer for the features section.
I was completely in shock. I couldn't even think. I'd never had that happen to me before - just someone call me out of the blue and say, "Hey! We like you! We think we want you to work for us." Jonathan sorta did that with the Selma Times-Journal, but he also was a former boss during my internship and Dr. Mullins told him I was out of work.
Anyhow...
Nah....I couldn't possibly move to Virginia, I thought. But then I spoke to my friend Mike, who also works at a Media General paper. He encouraged me to do what I was already planning on doing - calling me back. So I did. I spent an enjoyable half hour on the phone with Mr. Kaylor and he said to send him some references and he'll send me a week's worth of papers to look over and critique. If things progress, I'll make the 8 hour drive from Selma to Bristol to visit them.
He called Dale today. I told the newsroom what was going on since we're all pretty close-knit. They've been very supportive of me. Dale said he recommended me, that I'm a really good reporter and editor. I just need to read what I put in the boxes I draw ;-)
So, it looks like eventually this paper will make me a job offer. It's a 40,000 circulation paper (bigger than The T-News) in a town that crosses over two states: half in Tennessee and half in Virginia. The city of Bristol alone is roughly 41,000. The metro area is over 400,000 (this spills into several counties I think.) The city is twice the size of Selma, the paper seven times the size of the STJ. The more I think about it, the more excited I am. I look forward to seeing where this leads.
Monday night, I got home from the paper and checked my caller ID. There was a listing from Bristol Newspapers. I look at my answering machine and see the light blinking and pressed play.
"Hi, Megan. This is Steve Kaylor from the Bristol Herald Courier in Bristol, Virginia..."
I listened to his message. Then I listened to it again. He had seen my resume through JournalismJobs.com via a Media General recruiter and then found my clips at News Page Designer. He liked my work and wanted to talk to me about a possible job as a writer and designer for the features section.
I was completely in shock. I couldn't even think. I'd never had that happen to me before - just someone call me out of the blue and say, "Hey! We like you! We think we want you to work for us." Jonathan sorta did that with the Selma Times-Journal, but he also was a former boss during my internship and Dr. Mullins told him I was out of work.
Anyhow...
Nah....I couldn't possibly move to Virginia, I thought. But then I spoke to my friend Mike, who also works at a Media General paper. He encouraged me to do what I was already planning on doing - calling me back. So I did. I spent an enjoyable half hour on the phone with Mr. Kaylor and he said to send him some references and he'll send me a week's worth of papers to look over and critique. If things progress, I'll make the 8 hour drive from Selma to Bristol to visit them.
He called Dale today. I told the newsroom what was going on since we're all pretty close-knit. They've been very supportive of me. Dale said he recommended me, that I'm a really good reporter and editor. I just need to read what I put in the boxes I draw ;-)
So, it looks like eventually this paper will make me a job offer. It's a 40,000 circulation paper (bigger than The T-News) in a town that crosses over two states: half in Tennessee and half in Virginia. The city of Bristol alone is roughly 41,000. The metro area is over 400,000 (this spills into several counties I think.) The city is twice the size of Selma, the paper seven times the size of the STJ. The more I think about it, the more excited I am. I look forward to seeing where this leads.
