How to get a journalism job

How to get a job in journalism in seven easy steps, based entirely on my own experience and reading far, far too many job adverts:


1) Get qualified – Be it through training, work experience, freelance – whatever. You need to have certain skills, so make sure you’ve got them. A bit of experience, a course or two, and some specialisation will go a long way to making you stand out from the crowd – especially for entry-level journos. If you're good at what you do, you'll never have a problem finding a job; no matter what the market is like, there's always call for talented people.

2) Explain yourself – Make a shit-hot CV, detailing your experience, and leaving off your pub work (unless you’re applying for a pub mag, that is). If you’re going to claim you can do layout, why not show them with a fancy design? For more advice on journalism CVs, go here. But then come back, please. And seriously: proof it. If it's got spelling errors, you won't get the job.


If you want to show off your web skills, make your own website to go along with your CV. (Only do this if you’re actually any good, or use a template. Don’t show yourself to be a faker and behind the times.) And don't forget to put together a portfolio of your best pieces, as many adverts wil ask for such proof and its handy to bring along and leave behind at interviews, too.

3) Sign up for recruitment agencies – They may or may not accept you as a potential, but if you’ve done the first two steps right, they likely will. They don’t always know what they’re talking about (I was quite recently told to go get more work experience, right before being offered a well-paying job as a writer...ha ha! suck it!) Be clear about what type of job you want and remember you can say no to any job – another will come along. It's not like you're employable to only one person, right? All they want to do is fill jobs; it's up to you to be picky.

4) Apply for advertised jobs – This site’s a good start, I think. Do apply for jobs you’re not quite qualified for… you never know who else is applying, right? And what does "two years of experience" really mean? Does that include school and freelancing and the student paper?


Also make sure you write an essentially fresh cover letter specifically for each job and don’t hesitate to tweak your CV so it focuses on aspects highlighted in the advert. Apply as soon as you get the chance after seeing the advert, and remember that many are held open for as long as a month, so do check out jobs from that far back. Then, repeat 100 times.

5) Apply on spec – What’s your favourite magazine? What type of publication would you like to work for? Send out CVs on spec to these places, asking them to consider you for any positions about to come open. They may have none and chuck your CV. But they may keep it on file, forward it to a friend or be about to post an advert themselves. I’ve had interviews from doing this, so it really is a good tactic. Editors like that you've sought them out; it shows a genuine interest in their publication.

6) Be willing to freelance – Don't call yourself unemployed or a student: you're a freelance journalist. Sounds better already, doesn’t it? Being flexible means you might get last minute, short-term jobs which will not only help pay the rent, but will boost your CV and skill set. And, if you freelance for a place, and don’t suck, they may offer you a regular freelance gig or take you on full-time.

7) Be patient – Easier said than done when the rent needs paying, I know. Trust me, I really, really do know. But the average amount of time it takes to find a job – based on completely unscientific anecdotal evidence gathered by me – is two months. So give yourself some time and don’t panic or give up… and find yourself in a career as a PR or in media sales – not that there’s anything wrong with that. I have friends in PR, I’ll have you know.

For more advice, from people who probably know better than I do:

• JournalismUK - FAQs
• Sean on Being a Journalist
• E-how's method
  

Is my advice rubbish? Probably. Can you do any better? Then leave a comment.