Employers' rough times cost alums

By Elise Puritz

Gary Burandt, left, talks with Phil Yates at a New Career Series event. Below: Jenny Herring, left, and Mary Ann Lopez.

For some CU J-school alums who have recently lost jobs due to the troubled economy, it was a matter waiting for the inevitable. Others never knew what hit them.

Jenny Herring (’82) worked in marketing communications for Des Moines-based Principal Global Investors until she lost her position last year after a reorganization of the company. Although Herring was aware of the company’s restructuring, she said her layoff came as a surprise.

“It was shocking to me,” Herring said. “I knew there were changes to the department, but I didn’t realize that it was going to affect my position.”

For others, their job loss came as less of a surprise. Mary Ann Lopez (MA ’00), former community Web site coordinator of the Sun-Times News Group in Chicago, said she knew her company was in financial trouble and noticed a decrease in her workload and communication with her boss before she was let go.

“I think I was fairly mentally prepared,” Lopez said. “But still, when it happens, even if you’re semi-prepared, it still stinks.” Another SJMC alum faced a situation similar to Lopez’s. Steve Lipsher (’89), former news editor at the Summit Daily News, lost his job after his paper made budget cuts because of a drop in advertising revenue. The former mountain bureau reporter for The Denver Post joined the Summit Daily News last May.

“I saw it coming,” Lipsher said. “Things were moving at the wrong direction at that paper. With each month and each announcement that we were going to lose another employee, I thought, ‘I dodged a bullet for this month, but I might not dodge it for another month.’ ”

Jenny Herring

Although Herring wasn’t completely ready to leave her job, she said that without work obligations she is able to spend more time with a friend who was diagnosed with cancer, and they help guide each other through their struggles.

“This is the third time in my career I’ve been looking for work, but I’ve come through it before, and know I’ll come through it again,” she said.

Lopez said she views her layoff as just one of many of life’s challenges and agreed that being laid off was “not an entirely bad thing.” Losing her job has helped her discover what she enjoys about the workplace and also has helped her grow as a person, she said.

“I got more into the managerial and Internet side of things,” Lopez said. “I would like to have more of a balance and probably more writing. I miss writing.” Although she realizes that losing a job is never a favorable position to be in, she said she is making the best of her situation. “It sucks to be out of work, but it’s a learning situation,” Lopez said. “You learn from it and you move on. It’s about how you deal with the situation.”

Mary Ann Lopez

When alum Phillip Yates (’04) lost his reporting position with the Glenwood Post-Independent, he said he maintained a positive attitude. “I would like to land a job in my preferred field,” Yates said. “The job search has been difficult, but it’s definitely going in the right direction for me.” He said he has been doing some freelancing.

Others are less optimistic. When Lipsher was laid off, he said he was devastated and worried. Although journalists are versatile in a number of fields, he said he fears that it will be difficult to find a career that he respects as much as his love for the newsroom. “Journalism for me has been such an incredible passion,” he said. “I want another job I can take that type of pride in and that type of passion towards. But I’m beginning to think I might be better off just getting a job.”

Lipsher said he is concerned about the job market and that when he applies for positions outside of journalism, he does not have an advantage against hundreds of other qualified applicants with degrees in that field. “You want to make yourself as versatile as possible,” Lipsher said. “A couple of years ago, I picked up a master’s in education. I also have worked in other media and have learned a bunch of different computer programs from layout and design to publication software.”

Outplacement services can help ease unemployment anxiety. Herring, who has been doing some contract work, said her company’s support has made her search easier by keeping her motivated and accountable for reporting progress to peers. She speaks to an outplacement counselor who provides resume and networking assistance and attends a weekly support group where she and other group members discuss progress in their job searches.