Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Gina Pogol Woke Up!


GINA POGOL WOKE UP AND FOUND BIDER AND POSTED THE FOLLOWING COMMENT IN RESPONSE TO HARDKNOCK'S INQUIRIES:
Gina Pogol said...
Hello, I wrote the article and I do earn six figures editing and writing. My research is all from government sites and verified data, not anecdotal, which is what you guys are supplying. I also earned $80k as a paralegal with a finance degree and a paralegal studies certificate which took me six months to get. And I never say online schools get you six figure jobs; I say what education is required, online or on campus, what the growth possibilities and median salaries are per the US Dept of Labor. I think that's better than your sources which seem to be the personal experiences of disenchanted unsuccessful types. Clearly you have not "done everything right."
THANKS FOR THE WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT. I'M HAPPY THAT YOU'RE HAPPY.


Then she toned it down by saying:

Gina Pogol said...
Lawyers with business or mortgage expertise can earn excellent money writing for online publications. It's also a great way to promote yourself and drum up business. In the past, you had to go to a fancy private college, then slave for a decade before you could get a good editorial job in a publishing house. Today, publishing is cheap, demand for content is high, and good business writers are hard to find. My finance degree and research/writing experience as a paralegal helped me get my first editorial job and it's the most fun you can have with clothes on. The $ is great too. Sorry to be a little sharp with some of you but I don't like being called an imbecile for completing a writing assignment as requested. Yahoo content is more infotainment than serious stuff, but I'd be happy to offer up my sources to anyone who wants to supply an email address. They are reliable, government or edu or business sites.

TUESDAY, APRIL 6, 2010


Yahoo HotJobs: Legal, Advertising, Writing??


Yahoo should do their homework before posting another article like this one on the front page of their website. Unsurprisingly, the article which includes law, online journalism, and advertising as future hot careers is written by Gina Pogol who works for Find the Right School, another scam-like website that takes your email address and spams you with junk mail from University of Phoenix, Devry University, American Intercontinental University, and Kaplan University. I looked up this "journalist" and discovered that her past job before she became an editor was loan officer at CTX Mortgage Company. This is what the former loan officer turned third tier toilet shill had to say:


Not hot: data entry, customer service, and collections
As companies look for ways to save on labor costs, more of them are off-shoring entry-level "knowledge worker" jobs such as customer service, collections, and data entry. Many of these jobs can be handled remotely from countries like India, where English is widely spoken and the educational system is good. The trend is for English-speaking countries with low labor costs to pull these formerly lucrative jobs out of North America.


The writer doesn't seem to realize that a lot of our legal jobs are beingoutsourced to India too.



Prepare for top careers
The top careers of the future are not entry-level positions. They require career training in the form of an on-campus or online degree to get started. Here are five careers that are most likely to offer interesting work, loads of opportunity, nice paychecks, and job security.


Anyone who tells you that an online degree could lead to a six-figure legal job or online journalism career is clearly a scam artist. Guess what, Ms. Pogol? Most of us here have professional or graduate degrees from top schools and even a few years of work experience and we're still considered to be "overqualified" entry-level candidates. I don't thinklegal temping for $12/hour or doing freelance writing for $20/hour part-time in Manhattan with no benefits qualifies as interesting work with loads of opportunity and job security.

Writing
Most working writers have bachelor's degrees in English, journalism, or communications, but other degrees are acceptable in many industries if applicants demonstrate good writing skills. Many work on marketing, instructional, and technical materials; online journalism is popular, too. (Only a few writers pen bestsellers and award-winning screenplays.) Many writers work as freelancers, so business courses can come in handy as well. In-demand professional writers and editors can earn six-figure incomes. There are many opportunities, but competition is keen because many people want to enjoy this career.
Yes, an editor or regular columnist at the New York Times or Newsweek makes a six-figure salary. But for every Paul Krugman or Fareed Zakaria, there are millions of unemployed journalists making pennies a day on their personal blog hoping to be the next Julie Powell. Newspapers and magazines are shutting down all over the country and the online journalism market is as saturated as the legal profession. Most freelancers and online writers live at the poverty level. The luckier ones who work for reputable online newswires make around $40k a year in New York City and DC.

Legal careers
Legal careers can allow you to work in any area that interests you, including environmental law, estate planning, personal injury, and politics. And there is a career for every education level--from legal-assistant certificate programs to bachelor's degrees in paralegal studies to Juris Doctor (JD) degrees for attorneys. Despite excellent growth in these professions, the BLS states that competition will be tough, and you'll need formal training to grab the best jobs. Earning potential for top-level pros ranges from about $60,000 for legal secretaries and assistants to about $75,000 for paralegals, to hefty six-figure salaries for lawyers.
Do I really need to go into this one? The legal profession is shrinking, not expanding. Most lawyers do not make a six-figure salary outside of BigLaw. Thousands have been forced to make a career out of temping for $20/hour and no benefits. The author also forgets to mention the six-figure debt to get a JD.

Advertising
Advertising is a sexy profession and a "highly coveted" one, according to the BLS. So of course there's a lot of competition. Advertising, marketing, public-relations, and sales managers are responsible for their companies' market research; marketing strategies; public image; print, online, and TV ads; and more. This job allows a lot of creativity but also brings pressure, long hours, and frequently a lot of travel. Most employers prefer candidates with a bachelor's degree in business, an MBA, or a degree in communications, public relations, or journalism. If you can take the heat, you can pull in a cool salary--top dogs earn over $120,000 a year.

I don't know a ton about the advertising biz, but several of my friends who have worked in advertising say it is anything but glamorous. Starting salaries are around $30k and this is in cities like Los Angeles and New York. Just look at any big city's craigslist under marketing and pr and you'll see internships that require a college degree that are unpaid or offer $20 a day for lunch and travel expenses.

12 comments:

  1. haha, great scoop BIDER! This woman and her "on-line journalism" career are total train wrecks.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I wouldn't say I'm the "disenchanted unsuccessful type". I graduated top 20% from a pretty good school, and, at this point, the stigma of not having worked in law is almost a complete barrier to (You guessed it, love.) working in law.

    You know, Gina, I do understand the ad hominem attack on whoever wrote the post calling you a "former loan officer turned third tier toilet shill". That is, to be fair, quite harsh. That said, though, I don't think that that gives you any occasion to take a shot those who might commiserate here in the comments about having been swept aside by misfortune. For a lot of us, there is very little blame that can be assigned to personal responsibility. Sometimes you just get fucked, and, I only speak for myself, but I could do without your self-aggrandizing celebration of it.

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  3. HAHA. She didn't even have the nerve to email this to me directly. So she's calling the people from Harvard and Georgetown Law who didn't get a job this year "disenchanted unsuccessful types"? I don't regret my post about her article. She makes her "six figure salary" spreading disinformation during a recession and writes for a site that publicizes the for-profit college scam. It's also false that it has become easier for professional writers to find a good salaried job writing for online publications. I have good friends from those fancy colleges with degrees in journalism and can't find any work because all of their local newspapers and magazines have shut down. And Anon, what I said was true. She is a former loan officer who now shills for for-profit college sites. Check it out for yourself.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hey, Gina! Take a look at these posts! You see all of those charts and tables, that's data! And it's more real time than 2 year old DOL wage and salary info:

    http://angryfutureexpat.wordpress.com/2010/05/19/always-ahead-of-the-curve/

    http://angryfutureexpat.wordpress.com/2010/05/17/bernakes-inflation-fail-now-with-pictures/

    http://angryfutureexpat.wordpress.com/2010/05/09/hic-sunt-dracones-here-be-dragons/

    http://angryfutureexpat.wordpress.com/2010/04/30/havent-fled-the-country-but-did-make-some-beer-money-win/

    http://angryfutureexpat.wordpress.com/2010/04/14/from-the-department-of-people-who-know-what-the-fuck-is-going-on-haiku-edition/

    http://angryfutureexpat.wordpress.com/2010/04/08/squaring-circles-economic-recovery-edition/

    http://angryfutureexpat.wordpress.com/2010/03/31/yo-ben-wheres-your-fucking-helicopter-i-needs-me-some-inflation/

    http://angryfutureexpat.wordpress.com/2010/03/28/come-and-get-me-mortgage-and-student-loan-edition/

    Feel free to poke around my site for some more DATA!

    Here's two other pieces of data:

    U6 unemployment rate is at 17.1% in April 2010;
    Employment to population ratio is at historic lows - Here's a chart - DATA! http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pMscxxELHEg/S7X1U0Ub0hI/AAAAAAAAH8A/uusb2PKww98/s1600/EmployPopMarch2010.jpg

    Of course, I have some "personal experience" posts too:

    http://angryfutureexpat.wordpress.com/2010/02/14/a-special-valentines-day-message-from-angryfutureexpat/

    http://www.youtube.com/user/angryfutureexpat#p/a/u/2/tsmNMp0slWE

    But feel free to submit me your data at angryfutureexpat@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  5. No problem, HardKnocks. She may. I have no idea, but, frankly, despite the fact that I do have a luxury of time, she's probably not worth any of it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. These shills really grind my gears, especially all of the Yahoo! HotJobs fluff pieces or whatever they are. They essentially paint a rosy picture of every field and encourage people to trundle off to a school--any school--so they, too can "start making 60k a year!"

    Thanks for calling this shyster on their crap, BIDER.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I actually read that article. Yahoo is my mail so I go to that page everytime I get online. I laughed a little bit when I read the that legal assistants/sec make 60,000 to 75,000. I want one of those jobs! I don't mind posting what I currently make because honestly it disturbed me when I actually figured it out. I have two degrees a BA and MA in poli sci (I fell for the more education better job prospects) I have a lot of administrative/clerical experience so thats mostly the type of jobs I get. (And with the job I currently have they did express concern over me having an advanced degree) Over the past 2 yrs my take home pay has been just over 15,000 and estimated thats what it will be this yr. I'm surprised that I lived off that. Granted I live in a low COL area. I'm currently working as a temp to hire admin assistant for a law firm and I am pretty sure they are going to hire me on (I hope) and I'll probably get more money, somewhere around 24,000 I think. Believe me I know it is not much but I did live off 15 so. I looked at the US Labor stats and for thoses in the "median" making 50,000, yeah how many years experience do you need for that?

    I don't have any paralegal experience (hopefully with this job I will gain some experience) But I do have a question in regards to paralegal studies. A friend of mine just went through Boston University's paralegal program (he is still considering law school too) and suggested I get some type of paralegal cert but I wasn't sure if it was even worth it. I've looked into it but if I ever did take some classes, they would probably be have to be online. Just kinda of wanted to throw that question out there.

    ReplyDelete
  8. It's pretty funny. Lawyers always say you shouldn't judge them by their clients. Just because you defend an ax murderer doesn't make you one, etc. Yet you're perfectly willing to judge me by ONE assignment I wrote for ONE client. To answer one of your questions, I got into the paralegal gig after being hit by a drunk driver and being so brain damaged that even with my finance degree I could no longer balance a checkbook. I admired my attorney and got interested in legal studies and I was very happy as a paralegal and worked really hard for our clients. I began freelancing as a writer from home when I was diagnosed with liver cancer. Turned out I don't have liver cancer but I am XMRV positive and have chronic fatigue, which precludes me from working in an office. I am bedridden much of the time but I have overcome many obstacles to have this career and I encourage others to do the same. Before you trash me, do your own homework -- hsh.com, which is quoted by business publications nationwide, and mortgagecreditproblems.com, where I am proud to help people who are intimidated by the whole mortgage experience. Finally, if you guys are so hard up while being so talented, my offer stands. I'd be happy to introduce anyone interested to the company I do most of my writing for. No strings, just willing to help.

    ReplyDelete
  9. "so brain damaged that even with my finance degree I could no longer balance a checkbook"

    This is sad, but explains a lot.

    ReplyDelete
  10. That's nasty. Which explains even more.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Why do any of those professions?

    A professional baseball player can earn $25M a year! A professional football player can make $15M a year! Look at Lebron James the basketball player, he is a billionaire!

    Or, if sports aren't your thing, why not become an actor? Or possibly better, be a director! Michael Bay is doing very well!

    I am using real sources, not anecdotes. For anybody that is interested I will share my resources. You can check Nfl.com, nba.com, mlb.com. I don't ask for any compensation in return, I'm just doing this to help people out.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Well, when any of you summon the guts to post your actual names (or, God forbid admit that I have some valid points, like the fact that no one, writer or lawyer, who isn't shoving people into gas chambers for a living is defined by their work assignments) I ** might ** take you seriously. It's easy to criticize when you can hide out in the blogosphere. I put myself out there every day and I take pride in my work. Too bad some of you would rather take cheap shots than improve your attitudes and get somewhere yourselves.

    ReplyDelete

 

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