There I was…doom scrolling through dozens of work emails…as if I’d missed something dramatic in the few hours since I left work at midnight. My 6-year-old son had just finished telling me a story he was eager to share at breakfast before school…to which I was hardly paying attention and replied, “that’s cool.” “No, it’s not,” he said. “Were you even listening?” Once I got over the embarrassment, I asked him to repeat the story. He did, begrudgingly. Indeed, it was not cool.
What was even more not cool was my distracted behavior. That moment gave me clarity. It was then when I realized I needed to pivot. If you’ve ever worked in a newsroom in a major market, you know it is not uncommon to find 200 emails in your inbox on any given day. More so, you know you can’t be that one person in the newsroom who is unaware of what’s happening or what’s changing. I took seriously the privilege I was awarded when I accepted the position of Executive Producer. I felt that even if team members came into the newsroom uninformed, it was my responsibility to be informed – and inform them.
I was, and still am, very passionate about journalism. But I was stuck. I had 15 years of experience in broadcast news where I was part of a team that worked to solve problems in my community. I worked hard to work my way up the ladder. I worked weekends. I worked midnights. I worked holidays. I produced every show we put on the air. Sure, I could climb even further if I was willing to move, but my wife and I wanted to stay close to family. I was fulfilled at work. But I was not fulfilled at home. What could I possibly pivot to that would be equally fulfilling?
That is when I leaned on my MSU StratCom experience to muster up the courage to take the first step toward pivoting. Sure, my experience and my education would be appealing to most companies. The challenge is cutting through the clutter. I made a living doing this to tell compelling news stories. How do I do the same to connect with a recruiter or hiring manager?
Before you can decide if a pivot is for you, you must decide what it is you can do. Then, what it is you want to do. One thing MSU Stratcom did for me was elevate my thinking. I used that classroom experience to solve problems in the newsroom. This time, I needed to elevate my thinking for me. So, I plotted out what I wanted in my next job. Newsroom budgets are tough, and staffing is tight. The feeling that someone must work extra to make up for your early departure or vacation is inevitable. I wanted to be part of a culture that still has a positive impact on society but allowed me to detach when I was away from work.
So, how did I make the pivot? Let’s dive in.
What do YOU want?
I had to ask myself what I wanted in my post-news afterlife. I wanted a job in communications that contributed to meaningful work, had great benefits, and offered a work-life balance.
What do THEY want?
Then, as I searched for the perfect match – I dug deeper to see what these companies were looking for. Do they want ME? Am I underqualified? Too qualified? These are assessments you must make on your own. But you must be honest with yourself. I spent a lot of time combing through job postings to find ones I thought I could live up to.
Be ready for rejection.
Let’s be real. You’re not going to get a call for every job application you submit. Be ready for rejection. The more you start applying for new jobs, the more those rejections start piling up. That’s okay. Some entities are looking specifically for a type of experience. Those rejections will help you connect those dots and you might pass on those types of jobs.
Do you know your audience?
One of the best lessons in communication is to know to whom you’re speaking. It applies in many aspects of your life. I certainly don’t speak to my children the way I speak to adults. Each job application is an experience. I sent a different resume to each employer. I made sure to highlight relevant portions of my experience to match their job requirements. In one that called for someone to be involved in storytelling, I called myself an Executive Storyteller. It was a great conversation starter and I got to explain it through my own experience. The one that landed me the job highlighted my experience in crisis communications. I called myself a Crisis Communicator. Certainly, during my news experience I had to communicate with the public during crisis. That communication earned me a National Edward R. Murrow Award. Additionally, my MSU Stratcom experience taught me the lessons of crisis communications on multiple levels. I married the two together. I cut through the clutter.
When did I know I made the right pivot? Just a few weeks later when I sat down in my lawn chair to watch my son’s 6pm little league baseball game and I got my news alert about what was coming up on the 6pm news. That night’s top story was “Dad’s new job is a home run.”
-Doda Lulgjuraj, Sr. Communication Specialist at LG Energy Solution, 2021 MSU StratCom Grad