Job Responsibilities
I am responisible for expanding the distribution network of The
New York Times throughout the country. This is done primarily
through partnerships with other local and regional newspapers.
My time is broken down into the following categories:
Research and identification of new potential partners - 10%
Calling for appointments and setting up meetings - 20%
Market research to determine sales level based on potential
partner's distribuition footprint - 15%
Meetings and travel time - 25%
Follow up and contract negotiation - 20%
Coordination of new market launch - 5%
Administrative duties (activity reports, internal conferance
calls, filing, expense reports, etc.) - 5%
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Uppers
I am my own boss. I set my own travel schedule. I work from home so everything
is very flexible. As long as I submit my activity reports and show progress I am
meeting or exceeding my requirements.
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Downers
To a certain extent I miss the day to day interaction of the
office. I also enjoy being in a leadership role, but in this
position I do not have any staff. Also, the company is very
hierarchical. Jobs are very specialized. I would like to be
involved in more aspects of the process.
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Lifestyle
The people I work with are very intelligent and driven, but friendly and
easy-going. My position is not typical of what the work experience is like as
most individuals work in the company's main office at Times Square, Manhattan.
The social scene is not very active, except among small groups of employees.
Interaction is encouraged through training sessions and formalized discussion
groups designed to better the individual on a professional level and promote
understanding among employees interdepartmentally. Diversity is greatly
encouraged and managers are judged by the opportunities they give to people of
varied backgrounds. The atmosphere is professional intelligent, but casual, as
is the dress code. Business casual is worn by most employees with the possible
exception of advertising sales staff, especially when going on client meetings.
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Compensation
Commensurate with experience. Newspaper publishing does not pay
exceptionally well.
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Advice to Jobseekers
Personally, I would avoid working in the newspaper industry as it
is not a growth area. Newspaper circulation is on the decline
nationwide, with more and more people getting information for
free from the Internet. The newspaper industry as a whole has
yet to address this problem and will continue to see declines in
circulation and advetising sales until they can solve this
problem. Online newspaper publishing is a growth area, but so
far, few publishers have figured out a business model that was as
successful as the newspaper model of the mid to late 20th
century. The Wall Street Journal has shown some success with
their subscription based online news service, but it is not the
industrial powerhouse of past decades.
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