I have a good friend in Virginia who is a fantastic journalist.

I’m keeping this person’s name anonymous. We’ll call him/her Morgan. Morgan’s real name doesn’t matter as much as the cautionary tale that I’m about to relay.

I met Morgan more than a decade ago. Morgan is a multiple award-winning editor and should be leading a large staff at a major metropolitan newspaper. However, Morgan’s career came to a screeching halt because of one bad decision. Morgan, who was struggling to keep bills paid, took a job at a newspaper where the top editor was, let’s say, less than encouraging.

Morgan took the job thinking it would be a step up in his/her career. However, six months later, Morgan realized the position was a dead-end job – one that offered no raises, no room for promotion, and no opportunities to learn new skills. Morgan was smart enough to see impending doom, so he/she began secretly applying for other jobs.

Because Morgan is very talented, he/she got second and third interviews for some management-level editor positions. I know this because Morgan asked me to be a job reference. Every time someone called about Morgan, I bragged about his/her accomplishments and skills as a leader. Weeks would go by and I would ask Morgan how the job search went. However, Morgan kept getting turned down.

Turns out, every potential employer had called Morgan’s current newsroom and asked for comment, and, unfortunately, Morgan’s editor bad-mouthed him/her every time. In essence, Morgan’s current job torpedoed every opportunity he/she had to leave. Morgan had enough with that newspaper and left. He/she hasn’t worked in journalism since.

Now, there are other wrinkles to this story that I’m not fully explaining: like that Morgan is geographically stuck in Virginia for family reasons and that he/she only applied to publications that were in the same company umbrella as his at-the-time employer. Still, Morgan’s exit hurts my heart because he/she is talented and shouldn’t in this situation.

I understand that Morgan’s situation is unique. Most times an unhappy yet talented journalist can find a way to a new newsroom. However, Morgan’s story illustrates two unspoken and ugly truths in our industry.

First, it shows just how impactful (or detrimental) your boss can be on your career. How well you perform at your job and how well you get along with your boss could be the difference between moving up or moving on. From what I understood, Morgan wasn’t the best at his/her job, but he/she didn’t make mistakes that warranted an early exit from journalism. But perhaps more importantly, Morgan’s tale shows just how important it is for job seekers to really get to know a newsroom before they start working there. It’s important to work at a place that you feel you can grow and to work under a boss who wants to see you succeed.

Otherwise, a few months down the road, you could be out of journalism way before your time.