31: Leaving journalism: When you need to change industries

Chances are you need to make a career switch if your industry is in trouble. Maria Azua was just starting her career to become a magazine editor in 2016 when she realized print journalism was unstable.

In this episode of Career Switch Podcast,  Maria tells us how she made the tough decision to leave publishing and switched to search engine optimization, or SEO, in digital marketing.  She offers advice if you need to change your industry, too.


Resources:

TheMuse: 5 Steps You Need to Take if Your Company’s Feeling Even More Unstable and Shaky than Usual

Harvard Business Review: Worried You Might Be in a Dying Industry?

Yahoo News: 8 Ways to Escape a Dying Industry

The Muse: How I Shifted from a Dying Industry (and Landed a Job I Love)

Music credit: TimMoor from Pixabay

Podcast info:
What's your career switch? What do you think about this episode and the show? Tell us at careerswitchpod.com. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Transcript

Lixandra: Hi, everyone. I'm Lixandra Urresta, and this is Career Switch Podcast. This show is here to encourage you to take action with whatever career change you're considering or working on. Maybe you're trying to switch industries or professions or break out on your own and start a business. In some episodes, I talk to people who've made their own career switch, whether by choice or circumstance. They share the good, the bad, and the truth about their journey, including what worked for them and what didn't. In other episodes, I speak with experts who offer their best career advice on challenges that can come up during the process of making a career change. After all, it takes guts to switch things up, and it's not easy. However, it is possible. 

So, I hope you hear something in this episode, an idea, a suggestion, a piece of advice that'll spur you into action with your own career switch, whether it's taking that first bold step or trying something new. Welcome. I'm glad you're here. 

A career switch can happen for many reasons. One of them could be that your industry is in trouble. Maria Azua grew up wanting to work in magazines. She majored in communications and media studies in college, interned at Cosmopolitan and Seventeen magazines, and landed her first job in publishing as an editorial assistant around the time she graduated in 2016. She was on her way to starting her career as a magazine editor. Unfortunately, print publishing is on the decline. So many magazines have folded now that digital is where it's at. In this episode, Maria tells us how she made the tough decision to leave her unstable industry and switched to search engine optimization or SEO in digital marketing. 

Hi, Maria, thanks for joining us today. Let's dive in. What were you doing before your career switch?

Maria: Before I switched into working in SEO and digital marketing, I was mainly involved in print and web editorial. I interned with a few women's lifestyle magazines in college and transitioned into an editorial assistant for a magazine publisher focused on Hispanic media in the career path to eventually becoming an editor for PrinterWeb, specifically women's brands.

Lixandra: What did you do as an editorial assistant?

Maria: Becoming an editorial assistant is a pretty common first step. So this means that I was supporting the media department by, um, managing calendar, setting up photo shoots, calling in samples for photo shoots, proofreading copy for the magazines, and working on various projects. Every day can be pretty different, and this was around 2016 when the landscape of print media was especially starting to pivot into social. The way people consumed media was changing in digital magazines, and online articles definitely seemed more promising than print.

Lixandra: Had you always wanted to work in publishing?

Maria: Uh, yes. So when I was younger, I was like a big reader. I loved reading books and magazines. My older sister would always get subscriptions to magazines. Um, so I always had access to magazines, like 17, Teen Bowl, Cosmopolitan. And then as a child and a teen, I liked brainstorming my own article ideas. And I always knew I wanted to play a role in creating stories. I always thought that's where my career would lie. And then during college, the internships that interested me the most lied in magazines and web. Like I said, specifically women's wellness, beauty, health, and fitness. And I actually ended up interning for Seventeen and Cosmopolitan just because these opportunities came up and I really wanted to learn about the process of creating a product that I used to read when I was younger.

Lixandra: You also majored in communications and media studies in college, and then you landed your first job as an editorial assistant at a big national publisher around the time you graduated in 2016. So there you were in your early 20s, starting your dream career in magazines. When did you first realize that the industry was in trouble?

Maria: I began to notice the layoffs were pretty common, even in the most stable brands and departments. Those of us just starting off in print were encouraged to consider online content, but it seemed that even online sites were having trouble staying afloat. So whenever I did have a supervisor leaving, either on their own to freelance or during a layoff, they encouraged me to think about freelance so that I could have more control over who I worked with and who I branched out with.

Lixandra: Now, you saw a lot of layoffs at your company, and like you said, your supervisors were laid off too. Did they warn you that the industry was unstable?

Maria: I definitely did have people tell me that, which is why I seriously considered freelancing and copywriting and getting involved with other projects.

Lixandra: So based on the layoffs you saw happening and all the advice you were getting, did you start prepping to freelance? Was that already in your head or were you taking their advice?

Maria: I think it was a combination of both. I did definitely take their advice. But I always knew that in addition to like online articles and print, there's other ways to get involved with freelance writing. So when I did start freelance writing and copywriting, it gave me another way to work with various brands and also branch out on the type of projects that I was working on. So in addition to writing articles, for example, I was also able to work on site copy, product copy, and descriptions and social copy. for a wide range of brands, including beauty, wellness, and health brands. So even as a freelance writer, I was able to make connections with editors and publicists and expand my network that way. I also began to focus entirely on online and digital content that was optimized for search. Eventually, that's where I would end up, search engine optimization within digital marketing.

Lixandra: And you eventually left the big publisher in mid-2017.

Maria: Yes. So at the time I was focused on freelance writing, copywriting, and I did come across a digital marketing agency in New York City that was looking for a full-time in-house writer for the SEO team. And although it was a digital marketing agency, they were looking for someone with a deep experience in writing. So during the interview process, I walked the team through my method for discovering trending topics, using keywords throughout my copy and creating content optimized for search. And it really aligned with what they were looking for. So I ended up joining the agency and was able to pick up more structured SEO skills. I was there for about two years before I left to join a healthcare startup as an SEO manager. Now I'm fully focused on content SEO, which focuses on creating content optimized for search.

Lixandra: Let's take a step back for anyone who's unfamiliar with SEO, which stands for search engine optimization. Can you give us an example that explains what it is and what you do?

Maria: When we think about, you know, an SEO article versus just like a traditional article, there is a big difference in how an article title, for example, will be phrased. There is an emphasis on answering questions, like frequently asked questions. we would use like keyword tools to figure out what are the highest and the most searched questions. If we take like a topic like sunscreen, for example, if the highest search questions are around like, what SPF should I use or how do I apply sunscreen properly? These are more informative and, you know, just like non-branded questions rather than an article saying like, this is why you should use the sunscreen from this brand. It's more about education and just providing resourceful, accurate information and answering questions like how do I prevent a sunburn rather than talking about a brand and why you should use the specific sunscreen from a specific brand. So this means that I'm creating content around what questions are being searched, creating content around how these questions are being asked, and optimizing content for Google features like answer boxes and frequently asked questions.

Lixandra: And which publishing skills did you bring into SEO?

Maria: So a few of these transferable skills from my days in print and web for content-specific SEO include copywriting, research, understanding what your audience is looking for in your content, pitching an editorial calendar, and making a case for why you want to address certain topics. For example, for content to rank on Google, it's also important for your content to be informative and accurate and up to date. Something that we would always focus on print with proofreading and fact-checking.

Lixandra: I see the connection. So tell us, how have you grown in SEO and digital marketing? Is it a more stable industry and do you plan on staying?

Maria: Uh, yeah. So I really feel like my transition in SEO has been a natural fit. Coming from an editorial background where I focused on wellness, beauty, culture, fitness, there are a lot of brands in the landscape who are looking for people who are able to create copy and draft the content strategy for specific audiences. And it's always helpful if you have an interest in what the audience is looking for. I've learned a lot more about creating an SEO content strategy specifically for editorial teams and then presenting my recommendations in clear and concise ways. I think any industry has its ups and downs, but I do feel like I'm able to focus on content strategy in a more stable environment. And I am prepared to focus on SEO going forward.

Lixandra: So happy to hear you had a smooth transition into SEO. However, every career switch has its challenges. What would you say were some of yours?

Maria: So there were a few challenges when I first transitioned into SEO. I was familiar with different content management systems, but I was not familiar with a lot of the different tools that other SEO experts were very familiar with. So in a short amount of time, I did have to challenge myself to pick up using different software and different platforms like SEMrush, SEO Clarity, Google Search Console, Google Analytics. These are a few tools that I had to completely learn from scratch. I think it was very worth it. And I was able to get on the job training and mentorship for how to use some of these tools.

Lixandra: Were you afraid to move into a new industry when you basically had to do it because you needed to leave publishing?

Maria: There was a slight fear in like, you know, hopefully I can make this work, but I think that can come from any change, any big change. And I think just focusing on like my strongest skills and how I can put them to use elsewhere, that really helps with the fear. Knowing that I had a few transferable skills and that I can jump into something, knowing that I was going to be comfortable with the majority of it.

Lixandra: Okay, Maria, you're now an SEO manager. You're also 29 years old. Looking back, how do you feel about having to leave magazines and not being able to continue a career in the industry that you grew up wanting to work in because it's suffering?

Maria: Yeah. So it's always tough letting go of something that you put a lot of energy into, but I'm still glad that I was able to do internships at some of my favorite magazines and online brands and learn so much. from the mentors that I met over time. Although I did ultimately decide not to pursue magazines with SEO, I'm still creating content for women and focus on the topics that resonate with me, such as wellness, beauty, fitness. The audience is still there. It's just that they're no longer flipping a magazine. They want to like Google something. And that's where, you know, SEO content comes in. The need for content hasn't changed, but the way it's found and consumed definitely has. And I think it's important to be adaptable and be able to take different paths than you actually imagined before. I also learned over time that certain skills are much more valuable than I thought they were. Like copywriting for various audiences, proofreading and, you know, just presenting to different stakeholders.

Lixandra: Great. What advice do you have for our listeners who are working on their career switch?

Maria: When you come across a job description that you're interested in, look for those transferable skills and then make a case for them when you're interviewing or presenting like a case study to them. You can create like a mini project to present or spend time speaking about those specific skills to really put a spotlight on them. And I think it's also helpful to just find where your friends are working and ask them if they're really enjoying what they're doing, if they think it's a promising field, and getting that firsthand narrative of how they're doing and whether they like what they're working on. Because even though it might be very different, you might find there's an overlap in what your friends and your network are doing and what you want to do I think it's important for people to, you know, get familiar with different platforms and tools. Look through like LinkedIn and see the people who currently have the roles that you'd like to have and see what tools and certifications they currently have. You know, if you're able, you're able to get a trial or a demo for those platforms, you can actually become familiar with these tools as you're interviewing and you'll have an edge and, you know, you'll be more familiar with the tools that they're talking about, which is always tricky during a transition because you're not quite there yet and you don't have access to tools. But whenever you can, you know, like get a demo or a trial, I think that's always helpful. It'll really, you know, make you feel more comfortable talking about certain tools.

Lixandra: And lastly, you're very big on mentors. You had mentors in publishing. Do you have mentors now in SEO?

Maria: Yes, I definitely have a few mentors, and surprisingly, I feel like The mentors that I'm closest with at the moment happen to be, you know, coworkers in SEO. You know, I was lucky enough to meet people who are really passionate about the SEO industry. They're very familiar with, you know, like the latest trends, the latest tools. I think it's really helpful to meet people who are passionate about the industry as much as you are. You know, the idea of a mentor. In my head, it's always seemed like someone who's way older than me, way wiser than me. But I think specifically with SEO, my colleagues and my coworkers, we've just been able to make the strongest connections. And I can, I feel like I'm always able to go to them with like questions about certain tools or what they think about a certain industry updates. It's like a combination of having mentors and friends, like all in one.

Lixandra: Thanks to Maria Azua for being our guest today. Check out the show notes for resources if you too need to leave your unstable industry. You can find links to the resources mentioned in this episode and more helpful information in the show notes and on our website, careerswitchpod.com. 

So, what's your career switch? Are you motivated to take action after listening to this episode? Tell us at careerswitchpod.com. We'd love to know, along with any feedback you have about the show. Let us know too, if you'd like to be a guest. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn at careerswitchpod. And please rate, review, and share with your friends and colleagues. It'll help get the show out there. Thanks for listening today. Till next time.