OT: Career advice Part II

[smoneil]

Hey guys. I am reaching out here on behalf of a good friend of mine. He’s in creative work, marketing, creative direction, etc.

He was recently let go from his job with basically no notice shortly after having a great performance review and being promised a promotion. Dude is reeling from this and worried as we are getting a little older (mid 40s) and opportunities don’t seem to be abound.

Does anyone here have any leads?

Creative/humanities minded fields are depressingly bad right now. I'm in education/academia, but left my tenure-track job last summer because I absolutely hated where I was living (rural Arkansas), and the university was run like crap. My plan was to move back to Rochester and teach a few adjunct courses while pivoting into the communications/marketing/social media management area (I had built a bit of a portfolio in that area, as I had been responsible for doing those things for the college of arts and humanities at my old job). I sent out a ton of feelers. Did information interviews. Applied to dozens of jobs. Not even a preliminary interview. In one of the information interviews, the guy confessed that marketing is sort of collapsing right now. Companies are outsourcing all things creative to AI, and just churning through new marketing grads (hiring a couple of kids right out of college and then discarding them after a couple of years).

I'm in a bit of a pickle myself right now. I applied lightly on the academic job market to cover my bases, and ended up getting another tenure track job. This one is somewhat (not much) better in terms of location, but it's still in the middle of nowhere West Virginia. The plus side is that the school seems MUCH better run than my old one, and the colleagues and students all seemed great. My plan is to spend all breaks back in Rochester, and possibly supplement my income/get more options by getting a realtors' license.

TL/DR: As a fellow mid-40s humanities field person, I feel for your friend and wish that I had some suggestions.

 

[JCProdigy]

Yeah, in reality, 10k difference isn't that huge, especially when looking paycheck to paycheck, and that's what I've been telling myself to feel better.

The way at look at it Will: If you just stop sending Emily Kaplan the two dozen roses every week then you should recoup most of that money.

But seriously, congrats on being employed again so soon. Sorry to hear the hit in salary but it's funny how simple amendments to one's lifestyle can make up the difference without feeling much of the pain. Way back when, I took a calculated risk and changed career fields while taking a big hit in salary so I know how it feels. Except for maybe the pride element, it ended up being less detrimental than I thought at the time.

Also never a bad idea to continue to casually put your CV out there for open positions while you're employed. Hey in a couple months, you could get a hit on an opening with better salary/benis. One good thing about modern job hunting is the ability to apply so easily/fast.

 

[Takeahnase]

Creative/humanities minded fields are depressingly bad right now. I'm in education/academia, but left my tenure-track job last summer because I absolutely hated where I was living (rural Arkansas), and the university was run like crap. My plan was to move back to Rochester and teach a few adjunct courses while pivoting into the communications/marketing/social media management area (I had built a bit of a portfolio in that area, as I had been responsible for doing those things for the college of arts and humanities at my old job). I sent out a ton of feelers. Did information interviews. Applied to dozens of jobs. Not even a preliminary interview. In one of the information interviews, the guy confessed that marketing is sort of collapsing right now. Companies are outsourcing all things creative to AI, and just churning through new marketing grads (hiring a couple of kids right out of college and then discarding them after a couple of years).

I'm in a bit of a pickle myself right now. I applied lightly on the academic job market to cover my bases, and ended up getting another tenure track job. This one is somewhat (not much) better in terms of location, but it's still in the middle of nowhere West Virginia. The plus side is that the school seems MUCH better run than my old one, and the colleagues and students all seemed great. My plan is to spend all breaks back in Rochester, and possibly supplement my income/get more options by getting a realtors' license.

TL/DR: As a fellow mid-40s humanities field person, I feel for your friend and wish that I had some suggestions.

West Virginia has a lot of natural beauty. It also still has a large amount of rural poverty but I have always enjoyed my time in that state.

 

[Synergy27]

Creative/humanities minded fields are depressingly bad right now. I'm in education/academia, but left my tenure-track job last summer because I absolutely hated where I was living (rural Arkansas), and the university was run like crap. My plan was to move back to Rochester and teach a few adjunct courses while pivoting into the communications/marketing/social media management area (I had built a bit of a portfolio in that area, as I had been responsible for doing those things for the college of arts and humanities at my old job). I sent out a ton of feelers. Did information interviews. Applied to dozens of jobs. Not even a preliminary interview. In one of the information interviews, the guy confessed that marketing is sort of collapsing right now. Companies are outsourcing all things creative to AI, and just churning through new marketing grads (hiring a couple of kids right out of college and then discarding them after a couple of years).

I'm in a bit of a pickle myself right now. I applied lightly on the academic job market to cover my bases, and ended up getting another tenure track job. This one is somewhat (not much) better in terms of location, but it's still in the middle of nowhere West Virginia. The plus side is that the school seems MUCH better run than my old one, and the colleagues and students all seemed great. My plan is to spend all breaks back in Rochester, and possibly supplement my income/get more options by getting a realtors' license.

TL/DR: As a fellow mid-40s humanities field person, I feel for your friend and wish that I had some suggestions.

Appreciate this. He ended up finding a job. It’s a step back in pay and not exciting in any way but it pays his rent. I am concerned for his future.

 

[will1066]

The way at look at it Will: If you just stop sending Emily Kaplan the two dozen roses every week then you should recoup most of that money.

But seriously, congrats on being employed again so soon. Sorry to hear the hit in salary but it's funny how simple amendments to one's lifestyle can make up the difference without feeling much of the pain. Way back when, I took a calculated risk and changed career fields while taking a big hit in salary so I know how it feels. Except for maybe the pride element, it ended up being less detrimental than I thought at the time.

Also never a bad idea to continue to casually put your CV out there for open positions while you're employed. Hey in a couple months, you could get a hit on an opening with better salary/benis. One good thing about modern job hunting is the ability to apply so easily/fast.

Haha, Emily will understand. She's a very considerate Puritan who lives simply.

But thanks. I definitely feel fortunate to be able to bounce back quickly and be financially solid where the salary difference won't make much of a negative impact, fingers crossed. I did tell the new place that I put the chance for growth as much a priority as salary.

The last time I was laid off was almost a decade ago, so I got a taste of modern job hunting. It's easier in some ways but also harder too. And it feels like there's even more people competing for jobs nowadays. And with freezes happening everywhere. I am very lucky.

 

[will1066]

Creative/humanities minded fields are depressingly bad right now. I'm in education/academia, but left my tenure-track job last summer because I absolutely hated where I was living (rural Arkansas), and the university was run like crap. My plan was to move back to Rochester and teach a few adjunct courses while pivoting into the communications/marketing/social media management area (I had built a bit of a portfolio in that area, as I had been responsible for doing those things for the college of arts and humanities at my old job). I sent out a ton of feelers. Did information interviews. Applied to dozens of jobs. Not even a preliminary interview. In one of the information interviews, the guy confessed that marketing is sort of collapsing right now. Companies are outsourcing all things creative to AI, and just churning through new marketing grads (hiring a couple of kids right out of college and then discarding them after a couple of years).

I'm in a bit of a pickle myself right now. I applied lightly on the academic job market to cover my bases, and ended up getting another tenure track job. This one is somewhat (not much) better in terms of location, but it's still in the middle of nowhere West Virginia. The plus side is that the school seems MUCH better run than my old one, and the colleagues and students all seemed great. My plan is to spend all breaks back in Rochester, and possibly supplement my income/get more options by getting a realtors' license.

TL/DR: As a fellow mid-40s humanities field person, I feel for your friend and wish that I had some suggestions.

It's really rough in marcomms (marketing and communications), especially for visual designers and creative professional. Like you said, companies think AI can do it, along with DIY platforms like Canva. I've got ex-teammates in those areas who are still job hunting.

 

[Takeahnase]

It's really rough in marcomms (marketing and communications), especially for visual designers and creative professional. Like you said, companies think AI can do it, along with DIY platforms like Canva. I've got ex-teammates in those areas who are still job hunting.

I mean if the young marketing graduates are all like the Jaguar ad agency goofs, then companies should be having AI do it.

 

[will1066]

I mean if the young marketing graduates are all like the Jaguar ad agency goofs, then companies should be having AI do it.

Yeah that was bad

 

[will1066]

I mean if the young marketing graduates are all like the Jaguar ad agency goofs, then companies should be having AI do it.

Here's an example of what happens when you let AI do the work:

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