I've been a freelance court reporter in Southern California for about four years, and although it's always been a "feast or famine" type of work, I've earned significantly less every year. And it wasn't that much to begin with. This year I've stopped getting any work at all. I'm down to one or two jobs a month and not making anything I can begin to survive on. At first I thought it was my lack of experience or maybe it was my agency, but for the past several months I've reached out to every reporter I know and any that I happen to come across and no one's working. Not the 30-year veterans and certainly not me. Many of them have told me they've never seen anything like this in the 20-30 years they've been reporters. And like me, many of them are looking for a new career.
I know this is an odd place to seek guidance, but I don't have any idea where to start, and I thought some of you might have some ideas that wouldn't occur to me.
It's an especially difficult situation for me because I have no education and no experience. All I have is a GED and apparently useless vocational training. In fact, going back to school probably isn't an option for me. Unfortunately, just as my work stopped, my husband was in a bad car accident. Now on top of everything else, we're trying to figure out how to pay for his surgery and how we'll ever replace his totaled car. He was at fault for the accident and we only had liability coverage, so there won't be any help from the insurance company either.
I really don't even know where to begin, but obviously my chosen career path is not working out. And honestly, it makes me feel really bitter because I worked very hard to finish school in record time. I made a lot of sacrifices to go to school in the first place, and I'll still be paying my student loans for another seven years.
I'd been working on repairing our credit for the last few years and had made good progress, but just when it had turned around life happened, and now everything is falling apart again.
I'm not even sure if anyone here can be of any assistance. Maybe I just need to get it off my chest. I don't know. But if anyone has any suggestions on how to get started in a new career, I would appreciate it very much.
Thanks for your time.
EX 695, EQ 703, TU 681 (1/17)
Thanks so much for your suggestion. I'll check that out right now.
I figured as litigious as our society is, finding work wouldn't be a problem. I guess I was wrong. No one seems to know exactly why it's so bad, but supposedly the insurance companies don't want to spend money on depositions and started pushing for more settlements.
Im sorry your going through a hard time. I have been there too and I understand how you feel it can be so overwhelming at times. Are you able to maybe move if a postition comes up somewhere else? I actually did this about a year and a half ago and I actually was able to write it off of my taxes for all of the moving expenses it was worth it since DH was laid off at the time. I am sorry I could not be more help to you. All you really can do is pray that things will get better and sure enough it will. I have been down this road over and over again seems like soon as you get things on track then your back to square one again. Just remember things can't stay horrible forever for you and there is always something to help you along the way.
Starting Score: 574Every court near me has been on a hiring freeze since before I left school, but even to get hired as a per diem reporter, you have to have courtroom experience, and I don't. Thanks for the suggestion though.
As you can see, it used to be a really decent job. I often hear, "You sure picked the wrong time to enter this field." I guess so.
I don't think moving out of the area will be an option for us. Things are so bad I expect we'll have to suck it up and move in with my in-laws very soon, but I'm holding out as long as I possibly can. The only thing we have going for us is that DH's boss is letting him do what he can with his current physical limitations, so he definitely can't leave his work behind. He doesn't make very much, certainly not enough to support us on his own, but I don't know what we'd do without his income. And, of course, everything's further complicated by the fact we have to share one car now.
Thanks for your suggestions. I'm trying to tell myself it can't go on like this forever.
Is moving an option? I don't know what's going on in California, but I'm in Colorado and a paralegal and our reporters are working. I know the big national agencies are hogging a lot of work, but my firm tends to go for the smaller local reporting agencies, and I know back east there is megawork.
New goal 675There's generally no reciprocity between different states as far as licensing is concerned, so I'm kind of stuck here. Thanks though.
And kudos to your firm for hiring local agencies.