‘Life Goes On’ for Suddenly Jobless Workers : Employment: Herald staffers are already picking up the pieces and getting on with their careers. For most, this means starting a job search.

Herald Examiner account executive Kevin Mallett wasted little time.

Thursday morning found the 30-year-old newspaper executive filling out a job application at a competing paper the day after the Herald announced it would close forever.

“Life goes on,” said Mallett, who had been with the Herald seven months. “I have a wife, two kids and a mortgage. You have to lick your wounds. Then you’ve just got to get up and get going.”

After an evening of emotional get-togethers at local bars and restaurants, many of the Herald’s roughly 750 employees had already taken some steps Thursday to find new jobs and begin new lives.

Meanwhile, a trio of Los Angeles investors whose bid for the Herald Examiner was rejected Thursday said they will make a new offer that includes more cash, according to United Press International.

Attorney Richard R. Hopkins told the news service that the investment group, which includes entrepreneur Peter A. O’Neil and former Herald controller John Reid, wanted to convert the paper to a tabloid, rename it the Los Angeles Post and rehire most of the staff.

The offer apparently had no impact on plans to shut down the Herald for good. The Herald’s owner, Hearst Corp., said employees will continue to receive paychecks and health benefits for the next 60 days, and a firm will be hired to help employees find news jobs elsewhere.

Employees dropped by the Herald’s downtown Los Angeles office Thursday to collect their belongings, visit with colleagues, gather job tips and pick up plans for a wake this Sunday evening at the Los Angeles Press Club.

But many were still shaking their heads in disbelief.

“I’ve been sort of numb since all of this started,” said David Limrite, 31, feature section art director. “I haven’t had time to deal with it. The first day I don’t walk in here will be when it really hits.”

If some employees weren’t ready to start looking for jobs, several companies had already launched recruitment efforts aimed at Herald workers. Reporters and editors said newspapers from across the nation had begun calling up prospects, and faxed job notices had been posted on bulletin boards.

Recruiters from the Orange County Register occupied a room in a downtown hotel to interview applicants, and other newspapers were reportedly flying in their headhunters. The Times has already hired a few Herald staff writers, who began work immediately.

On the sidewalks around the Herald’s offices, officials from financial and insurance firms were handing out flyers. “I came down here to get the last issue, and while I was here I thought I might as well headhunt,” said Dick Compton, an insurance and financial sales executive.

Several Herald employees said they believed that the paper’s demise was inevitable and had begun searching for new jobs long ago.

“I’m in the process of interviewing for another job,” said entertainment listing editor Barak Zimmerman. “If anybody didn’t see it coming, they were playing ostrich.”

But many Herald employees were in no rush to find jobs--yet.

“It will be tight for a while,” said television and film writer Nancy Randle, but “it’s been five intense years and I need a little breathing space.”