The Atwood Guide to Exploring Opportunities

In Publishing or Print-Related Industries

 

Mantra

You are not looking for a job. You are exploring opportunities.

 

Next

When leaving one opportunity for another, do not burn any bridges. Even if the previous opportunity treated you unkindly, thank them for the opportunity you did have. I was job eliminated once from a job. I went out of my way to be respectful and appreciative. That same manager who eliminated me years later helped get me an interview at the company he presently was at, and I ended up working there.

 

Don’t Close Doors

One of the best pieces of advice I received when exploring opportunities was when a friend said to me, “Don’t close doors on yourself!” I thought of myself as doing a specific job, interested in specific companies. But you have to think broadly about what you know, what you can do, and picture yourself doing things you wouldn’t have considered five or ten years ago. I was only interested in Production or Operations jobs in Publishing. A friend approached me about an opportunity in Procurement. Normally I wouldn’t have considered it. I said, “I don’t even know what Procurement is!” But I had worked with suppliers—so I translated that into being versed in “vendor management.” I had solicited printing bids—so I was then knowledgeable in “sourcing.” I kept track of paper supplies, and magazine distribution—so I could then say I directed “supply chain.” Re-imagine your current knowledge and experience and reapply it to other areas.
 

Broadcast

Despite what some people might say, tell everyone you know you are pursuing opportunities. The more people who know, the more they may have ideas or leads you can’t think of. Some close family members may think it’s embarrassing to advertise you are out of work, but if people don’t know, they can’t help. It’s tough to navigate this, but really put the word out. But be careful not to sound desperate. Desperate people get taken advantage of.

 

Marketability

Make an assessment of your marketable skills and then see how you can apply them to other industries. Publishing production is a very specialized, industry-specific job. In the simplest terms, what does a production manager do? He/she:

• Manages vendors

• Performs customer service

• Creates schedules

• Manages budgets

• Generates analysis

• Works on distribution

• Etc.

 If presented correctly, these skills are applicable to any industry. Breaking free from your “existing industry mindset” opens the doors to significantly more opportunities.

 

Project Management Certificate

Everyone needs a good Project Manager. I’d recommend anyone go for a Project Management certificate. I hear more and more job descriptions that ask for Project Management skills.

 

Purchasing Manager Certificate

I became a Certified Purchasing Manager (CPM) through the Institute for Supply Management. But I did that because I had a contractor opportunity in Supply Management and needed the certificate before they would hire me permanently. Knowing Print, I bought and contracted printers for a bank while working there. So, I worked toward, and succeeded in getting my CPM. I set myself a timeframe of a year and did it. (ISM has since changed the certificate to something called CPSM.)

 

First Contact: Salespeople

The first people you should contact when looking for opportunities are Salespeople. They are great resources and contacts. Have you ever worked with any printer or supplier salespeople? Salespeople know what’s going on in the business. They are constantly in touch with people all over the industry. They know how to network. They know who’s coming and going in companies. Keep in contact with them, meet them for coffee, lunch, a drink. If they are smart, they’ll want to help you get a job, because then you’re their inroads to a new company that they may be able to sell to later.

 

Network

Get out there. Join Industry groups. Go to meetings. Volunteer at these groups. Call and email colleagues and ex-colleagues. Get together with them for coffee, lunch, an after-work drink. Whatever it takes. Talk to people not about jobs, but about the industry. People love talking about themselves, and they love to show how much they know about the industry. Listen to them. The point is to keep yourself in their awareness, and to show you are smart, hardworking, and that you care.

 

Knock on Doors; But Not Random Doors

When I was a production manager for a small printer, I learned how to use a computer-based typesetting system, which was a new thing at the time. When that job ended, I contacted our Salesperson for the equipment, and he supplied a list of all the businesses in New York that had that piece of equipment. It wasn’t a very long list, so I decided to drop in on each name on that list, resume in hand. The second place I visited, I walked in and explained to the admin that I was familiar with this equipment. “Wait a minute,” she said, and disappeared. A few minutes later, the owner of the company—a small design firm—came out and said, “How did you find out our typesetter left yesterday?” I explained I didn’t know that, and how I got his name. He hired me that week. (I worked there for about a year before the original typesetter came back and they gave him his job back, but it was good while it lasted. And I learned some good design skills there.)

 

Smile

A salesman friend of mine gave me a sage piece of advice. Although it may sound corny, it is important: “Remember that smile before you dial.” Before you call someone on the phone—or meet them in person—smile. It changes your attitude and somehow comes through to the person on the other end of your communication. Or so I’m told.

 

Outreach

People are not going to reach out to you. People will forget about you very quickly. You have to reach out to them.

 

“Lack of Experience”

When it comes down to it, Advertising/Direct Mail/Publishing/(fill in the blank) Production isn't much different than any other Production. Production is a set of skills to get a job done. Knowledge of each particular industry is helpful but can be learned. When you talk to people, perhaps during an interview, you may hear

"You don't have direct experience in X or Y.” And then they go and hire someone who lacks direct experience some other area you would think would be important. Having heard it enough times applied to myself, I think I've figured this out. A hiring person is looking for, in this order:

1. Someone they know and like working with; but if he does not know the person, then

2. Someone who comes with a good reputation, through sources they know; but if not this then lastly

3. Experience as documented on the person's resume.

Hiring managers say "lack of experience" as a convenient excuse not to hire someone who doesn't have one of the first two items. That's why it's important to meet a lot of people and get people familiar with you. Then you can come closer to fulfilling requirement 1 or 2 above.

 

Best Blogs/Vlogs

Read Eli Amdur’s column Every Sunday in The Record newspaper or online (http://amdurcoaching.com/career-coach/). He is inspiring and gives many helpful tips and ideas. Many of the ideas in this document I stole from him.

Also read Bob Sacks (http://www.bosacks.com). He’s the smartest man in the industry and he’ll keep you informed.

Also, Dead Tree Edition: http://deadtreeedition.blogspot.com/. Has great insights.

And if you are into folding, subscribe to the 60-second Super-cool Fold of the Week: https://www.youtube.com/user/foldfactory. If you are not into folding, you will be.

WhatTheyThink? (whattheythink.com). Sign up for WhatTheyThink?’s weekly email and watch Frank Romano’s vlog. Incredibly fun and informative.

 

Classifieds

Classifieds are the least likely way to find opportunities. Still browse them, but they are long shots. Best bets will be through staying in contact with people you know or want to know.

 

Business Cards

Make business cards. Either go to a print shop, or you can do a decent job on your home printer with special paper from a stationery store. Once I went down to the print shop at the South Street Seaport and had letterpress cards printed. They cost a bit more but were beautiful. When I presented them to people, I thought it showed how I cared about print.

 

Keep Records

Create a spreadsheet in Excel to keep track of all your contacts. Name, company, phone, email, date of contacts and notes for follow up, or facts about their personal life that you can recall and ask them about the next time you speak to them. Identify in three groups: high priority that you want to periodically come back to; lower priority of almost anybody you contact or is in the field; and third, reference sources or companies or websites you want to continually look into or learn from.

 

Also, keep records of your job-search expenses. They may be tax deductible.

 

Broaden the Search

Don’t just look in the Publishing or Printing Industry. Museums, colleges, libraries, press organizations (AP, Reuters), foundations (Carnegie, Ford), hospitals--all publish or print catalogs, newsletters, directories, direct mail. Find out what they publish or print and contact them. Check with printers or suppliers; they may need people on the other side of the fence to act as liaisons, or customer service reps, or sales support for their organizations.

 

Beyond Full-Time Work

Be open to contract, freelance, or part-time work. Sometimes that’s a way to get in the door of an organization, and it may lead to other opportunities.

 

Volunteer

And if paid work is not coming your way, consider volunteering time with a trade organization or non-profit, or something that might be related to what you are looking for. This sometimes leads to a paying job, but at least it keeps you active and involved in the industry. I joined and became Secretary for the Greater New York Independent Publishers Association. I learned a lot about independent publishing, honed organizational skills, and met some interesting people.

 

LinkedIn

Use LinkedIn. If you don’t know how to best use LinkedIn, take a course or check the internet for tips and tricks. Connect with people you know and try to reach out to others you want to know. But don’t go overboard and try to connect with everyone. That becomes burdensome to manage. Unless you’re a salesperson. Then you want that large contact list.

 

When you become aware of an opportunity somewhere, use LinkedIn to find out who works there. Reach out to them, or people in your network who might be connected to them. Before I had the interview with Human Resources at my current job, I looked on LinkedIn to see who worked for this company, or who was connected to the person I was interviewing with. Sometimes you may not be directly linked to that person, but you can see if you are two links away. Then you reach out to your direct connection to get introduced to the secondary connection. I found two people I knew who were connected to the person I was interviewing with. I reached out to them and asked them to put in a good word for me. At the end of my interview, the HR person said, “Well, I don’t need any references for you, because two people already reached out to me to put in a good word.” Those little connections help.

 

Another time I again reached out through secondary connections before I had a phone interview with a company. When I called the person, right away she said, “Boy, you know a lot of people here! A few people contacted me.” Actually, I didn’t know anyone there, but I knew people who knew people there, and all were willing to help me out. But they’ll only be willing to help out if you have a good reputation, and don’t burn bridges. For people to help you out, you have to help them out throughout your career. Once you are searching it’s hard to ask for favors if you haven’t helped other people out in the years prior.

 

Organizations

Consider joining, or at least check out their websites on occasion:

• IdeAlliance (Printing industry group, closely aligned with Publishers and Printers)

• Book Industry Guild of New York (Used to be called Bookbinders Guild. Great speakers, focused on print books)

• Advertising Production Club (Monthly learning sessions or networking opportunities not specifically focused on Advertising)

• Institute for Supply Management – Even if you are not involved in Supply Chain/Procurement/Sourcing (it goes under several names), there are industry people that go to these meetings—printers, publishers, print outsourcing companies. And learning Sourcing and Supply Chain is helpful.

• Book Industry Study Group (Lots of interesting committees and learning sessions, focused on the digital aspect of book publishing)

• Guild of Bookworkers

• Printing Industries of America

• American Book Producers Association (Focused on what used to be called “book packagers,” small companies that produce books usually under someone else’s imprint)

• Book Manufacturers Insitutute

 

Subscribe

Subscribe to, either in print, or email version:

• Book Business magazine (Present yourself as a Publishing person and you can get it for free.)

• Folio magazine

• Publishing Executive magazine (Also free with the right credentials.)

• Publishers Weekly

• WhatTheyThink newsletter

• Bob Sacks’s newsletter

 

Browse

• aupresses.org – Association of University Presses

• Abpaonline.org - American Book Producers Association

• Bisg.org – Book Industry Study Group

• Bookbusinessmag.com

• Bookjobs.com

• CASE.org (Council for Advancement and Support of Education)

• Chronicle.com (Chronicle of Higher Education)

• Cip4.org – printing

• Editorandpublisher.com

• Foliomag.com

• HERCjobs.org – Higher Education Recruitment

• HigherEdJobs.com

• Idealliance.org

• LinkedIn – connect with people you know or want to know, receive career emails

• Literarymarketplace.com

• Magazine.org – The Association of Magazine Media

• MediaBistro.com – browse the website, sign up for email newsletters

• Nonprofitjobs.org

• Pspcentral.org (Professional Scholarly Publishing)

• Publishers.org – Association of American Publishers

• Publisherslunch.com

• Publishersmarketplace.com

• Publishersweekly.com

• Publishingtrends.com

• Tag (was Williams Lea; one of the largest print management and outsourcing companies)

• WhatTheyThink.com

• Wnba-nyc.org – Women’s National Book Association

 

Education and Proactivity

Don’t just look for jobs. Learn about the industry. Browse, learn about topics and trends in the industry. You want to stay informed. This helps when you can imagine different opportunities for yourself. For example, I read about a guy who started a Small Publisher consortium, helping small publishers buy mostly office products in bulk. I thought maybe he could offer these publishers production/operations help also, and I could be the person who did that. I contacted him about the idea. He liked the idea, and we met and talked about it. It didn’t pan out in the end, but it could have been an opportunity.

 

Another example: I had been reading the Bergen County newspaper The Record for years. One day I was browsing a local Barnes & Noble, and I saw a series of books about different local towns published by a small publisher, and I thought, why isn’t The Record doing this? They must have vast resources of pictures, stories, histories. I drafted a letter to the Managing Editor of the Record proposing they publish books, or special occasion issues or bookazines, and that I could manage the production/operations of this. The Editor called me, and we had a talk about it. Again, it didn’t pan out in the end, but it could have.

 

Act Quickly

When you see or hear of an opportunity, act quickly. Call, email, send a resume within hours. I had stayed in contact with a Printer Salesperson, and once, when between opportunities, I received a call from him. “Ed, I just had lunch with the VP of Production at XYZ Publishing company, and she has a Production Director who is retiring soon. Reach out to her.” As soon as I got off the phone, I called the VP. “Boy, news travels fast,” she said. And she called me in for an interview. I got that job. This is a great example of how a network works, how important Salespeople are, and how you have to react quickly.

 

Interview Homework

When—and I didn’t say if—you get an interview, do your homework first. Research the company, see what kinds of materials they publish, browse the website, read some recent press releases. See if you can get the name of the person interviewing you, look the person up on LinkedIn and the internet, see what that person's history is. It helps to have a little background information. Look up the company on LinkedIn, see if there is anyone there you know or are connected to. If so, contact that person and ask him about the interviewer, the department, the company, etc.

 

In Sum

Patience. Use your search time wisely and productively. Set a daily routine. Get out of the house. Exercise more. Read more. Learn more. Spend more time with the family—if they’ll tolerate you. Expect to spend some money—for travel to businesses or meetings, to buy lunch or drinks, for education—as an investment for the opportunities to come. It’s difficult to hear this at this time, but think big, think about what you want to do, reach out to outlandish opportunities, while being practical and reaching out to what you know as well. Something will click.

​

With invaluable contributions from Chris Marcantonio and Glen Johnson.