I want to keep on learning...
February 23, 2010 6:57 PM   Subscribe

In the past I have worked as a staff writer for a newspaper. The process of learning about something first-hand, then distilling it into everyday language was something that was totally enjoyable. It was so cool to be continually kinesthetically learning from "the horses mouth," so to speak. Print journalism has reduced its numbers drastically, and jobs are now few and far between. Are there any other vocations you can think of that would let someone actually go out in the field and talk to people and get their story then share it with others? How about jobs that let you learn all the time?
posted by srbrunson to Work & Money (20 answers total) 30 users marked this as a favorite
 
Business consulting, especially on the Human Resources side of things.
posted by DrGail at 7:00 PM on February 23, 2010


Usability testing is kind of like this. Or when marketing groups do group and individual interviews to get peoples' perspectives on things.
posted by amethysts at 7:04 PM on February 23, 2010


insurance adjusters get the best stories of anybody, and boy do you have to learn stuff all the time. you'll be as overworked as you were at the paper, but you'll only have 40 hours to do it in - but you usually can't take work home, which may or may not be nice. the potential for great fiction is staggering.
posted by toodleydoodley at 7:10 PM on February 23, 2010


I've got a pal who works for a health insurance company, writing for the journal/magazine they send to their members. He's a journalist at heart, too, and while I'm not sure he's in his dream job he seems to like it. That is, he's not just a corporate shill, but actually "goes out into the field, etc., etc.,".
posted by lex mercatoria at 7:15 PM on February 23, 2010


Heritage Interpretation is entirely about distilling primary source materials into stories.
posted by carmicha at 7:15 PM on February 23, 2010 [1 favorite]


PR and media relations are like this. Since losing my job last fall, I've been doing contract PR writing for large institutions. They want to tell a story aimed at a specific audience, about a specific initiative. Often, all of the people involved in the initiative at a large organization like a university are working together, but doing their own thing as well, and you need someone with a bird's eye view to pull together the pieces to create a compelling narrative. This work involves a lot of research, a lot of interviewing, and a lot of synthesis, plus fine writing skills.
posted by KokuRyu at 7:17 PM on February 23, 2010


Communications consultants: focus groups, messaging research, writing taglines that encapsulates somebody's practice, that sort of thing.

Lots of policy research positions involve calling practitioners to hear about case studies, best practices, the biggest challenges, etc.
posted by salvia at 7:18 PM on February 23, 2010


Journalism is still a viable career if you really want to do it.

Did you know you can still make buggy whips for a living? Really, you can if you want.

Right now journalism is having its ears boxed, but I'm assuming you don't have a typewriter welded to your lap? I mean, are you adverse to working on film, or online? That should make your search a bit easier.

Amusingly, a site like Metafilter is full of people who think so far ahead of themselves that they sometimes run out of carpet. I catch myself at this all the time.

"You're a web designer? What, are you from 1999 or something?"

That, don't think like that.
posted by circular at 7:22 PM on February 23, 2010 [4 favorites]


Litigating, believe it or not. You get to become an expert in whatever topic you're litigating, talk to people and learn their stories, and share them with the court. It's not as human interesty as journalism, but the skills of a journalist are very, very useful especially for interviewing and deposing clients. (Many lawyers aren't very good at listening to people because they're so used to getting their information legal-style instead of messy human being style.) Plus there's tons of writing, and clarity is a bonus. (Again, many lawyers are so used to writing for lawyers they can't write clearly anymore!)
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 7:27 PM on February 23, 2010 [2 favorites]


Being a reference librarian at a busy library. It's true don't do so much telling of others' stories (more listening), and "the field" usually comes to you, rather than you going out in it... but is one of the best careers for meeting all kinds of people and learning a lot every day.
posted by pantarei70 at 7:39 PM on February 23, 2010 [2 favorites]


You could sell note-taking services, or take up stenography (my friend really enjoys providing CART services). You're always learning, and you're helping people get the info they need.
posted by brainwane at 7:40 PM on February 23, 2010


"It's true YOU don't do so much...." doh.
posted by pantarei70 at 7:40 PM on February 23, 2010


Communications consultant as per salvia's suggestion.

I'm one and just about the best thing about my job is taking complex information and packaging it into simple language.

You'd have to watch which industry you get into though. I'm in finance and that's not so much about getting peoples' stories. Having said that, there's a lot of pleasure to be gained in trying to get into the heads of the people for whom I'm writing, particularly around fairly complex financial topics.

You might try not for profit, or some sort of corporate social responsibility role (that involes PR/comms/writing) within a large organisation if you're looking for something more people-focused.
posted by prettypretty at 7:52 PM on February 23, 2010


This is exactly the kind of stuff I do on good days, in my nebulously-defined, low-paid assistant curator/volunteer coordinator/newsletter writer/exhibit-developing position at a public natural sciences museum.
posted by Coatlicue at 8:06 PM on February 23, 2010


I transitioned from print journalism to criminal law, and I find that I still use some of the same skills. Instead of writing a story for 10,000 plus subscribers, however, I'm crafting the story for 1 judge, or 6 or 12 members of a jury. You still get the human interest angle, you get to be a storyteller and the job is never boring. Also, people do really fascinating things in criminal law. You really can't make this stuff up.
posted by Happydaz at 8:10 PM on February 23, 2010


Technical writing can be like this, depending on what industry you get into. Specifically, companies that put in turnkey software. I had this kind of experience working for companies that wrote and implemented auto dealership management software and with pipeline modelling software for common carrier petroleum pipeline (batch shipping and leak detection). Doing implementation work or usability work, which sometimes falls under business analyst positions, for a turnkey software company might also be interesting for you.

I also found that I did a lot of learning on the job when I worked as a legal assistant to a corporate immigration attorney. Every week brought me a new case, even if I was writing primarily for an audience of a single INS (now USCIS) examiner.
posted by immlass at 8:16 PM on February 23, 2010


The brightest man I ever met is a patent attorney and he said just about what you pose as a question: "every time I meet a new client I learn something and distill it into a valuable filing".
posted by jet_silver at 9:15 PM on February 23, 2010


Any legislative assistant or policy analyst position will have you learning something new every day. Meeting with constituents, going to hearings, briefings, etc keeps you constantly on your toes and writing the information in easy to understand ways (press release drafts, website language, constituent letters).

You can work at the county, city or state level, or even try your hand at a position on Capitol Hill in D.C. The turnover is really quick.
posted by timpanogos at 9:18 AM on February 24, 2010


I do this, with a title in "business development." Specifically, I go out to (potential) clients, ask them about their business, what they are making (food products), what problems they are having, what they want to get into next, etc. This information is distilled and sent on to the people who are only technical, who come up with a technical proposal. Me and a sales guy, we take this back to the client, and take it from there. So it's a lot of picking out key information, and even verbalizing things that come out only half-way in the initial discussions. Somehow it makes me think this is what factory therapy would be like... In any case, "business development" is a field you might want to do some googling on.
posted by whatzit at 11:17 AM on February 24, 2010


Grant writing
posted by Jacqueline at 4:45 AM on February 25, 2010


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