Flashbacks to the 2008 Crisis
An essay on recessions, writing, and just getting by
“I’m sorry. We had a journalist with 20 years of experience apply for the role,” the editor said when he called about a week after my job interview for an entry-level journalism position. “Any other year, I would have hired you. Any year but this year.”
If I remember correctly, the position paid about $25,000 a year and didn’t include a gas stipend for travel to interviews. The interview had gone swimmingly, and the editor had excitedly praised my collection of clips, which I’d obtained through internships and practicums while still in school.
Any year but this year.
It was a sentiment I heard several times in 2009.
I’d graduated from a public university with a degree in mass communication and was searching desperately for a “real” job while working at a mall in another city for minimum wage. The high gas prices and 45-minute drive–combined with my brand-new student loan payments–left me with little to no cash for rent, food, or other necessities.
I put in hundreds, if not thousands, of applications to all types of jobs that year, applying to everything from entry-level journalism and marketing positions that utilized my degree to customer service gigs. I had…
