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Here at Fargo INC!, we want to do more than just deliver
quality, area business-related content. We want to
make a difference in our readers’ lives. That’s why we'll
occasionally be featuring one local job-seeker in our
"Career Finder" section. They’ll have the opportunity to
be seen by thousands of local employers, with the hope
of actually landing a position – or at the very least an
interview.
·· NAME Nathan Stacken
·· CURRENT POSITION Service coordinator at Daktronics
(Aug. 2011 – present)
·· SEEKING Sports writing or radio position
·· EDUCATION Bachelor of Arts, South Dakota State
University
·· YEARS ATTENDED 2006-2010
·· MAJOR Broadcast journalism
NATHAN'S STORY
or a lot of millennials,
it’s less about being
unemployed and more
about being underemployed.
Nathan Stacken of Fargo
fits that description.
After studying broadcast
journalism at South Dakota
State University for four
years, Stacken hoped to
pursue a career as a sports
journalist once he graduated
in spring of 2010. Like a lot of
fellow Gen Y-ers, though, he
says he was too picky.
By Nate Mickelberg | Photo by J. Alan Paul Photography
F
“You have to be willing to
start out maybe doing a job
that you don’t necessarily
want to do,” Stacken said. I
had an opportunity to work
at KEYC (TV) in Mankato
(Minn.) as a reporter. I was
trying to explore the radio
field and I wasn’t quite ready
to make that jump yet. I do
think there is some of that out
PHONE 507-530-6446
72
FEBRUARY 2016
there, where people are like,
‘Oh, I’m going to wait for a
job that might be better,’ and
they don’t take the job right
there for them.”
Stacken interned at a local
TV station and wrote for
SDSU’s school paper – both
while in college – but after
graduating, he didn’t have
much luck applying for
numerous reporting and
digital media jobs, mostly in
the Twin Cities. So he moved
back home to Marshall,
Minn., where he waited tables
for a little more than a year
before eventually taking a
position in Brookings, S.D.,
as a service coordinator at
Daktronics, a South Dakotabased electronic sign and
billboard company.
He’s now been at Daktronics
for almost four and a half
years – the last seven months
EMAIL [email protected]
in Fargo working remotely
– and while he says he likes
his job and appreciates the
opportunity Daktronics has
given him, he’s ready to really
pursue his passion: sports.
really wish someone would
spot me, find me, hear me,
something, and realize,
‘Hey, this guy could be really
good.’ It just hasn’t led to any
tangible results.”
Stacken produces a weekly
sports podcast, The Sports
Block, where he recaps the
top sports stories of the past
week, as well as a sports
blog, which is called The
Stack.
Stacken said that while a
sports job is the ultimate
goal, he also has interest
in marketing, preferably
something in customer
relations.
“That’s why I’ve kept
doing my podcast since I
graduated,” he said. "I’ve
kept doing the blog. It’s
almost like a pipe dream. I
BLOG stackattack.sportsblog.com
If you’re interested in
speaking with Stacken about
a potential job opportunity,
you can find his contact
information below, as well as
a link to his blog.