I am a recent college grad beginning the early stages of my job search for an editing position. I must live in a city -- New York, Los Angeles, Chicago -- because I have found myself to be miserable in smaller places/cities I have tried (not at the newspapers, necessarily, just the general scene), and I also feel that if I don't try and make a move now with nothing holding me back, I never will.
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However, I am fully aware that I will not be getting my first job at
The New York Times,
Los Angeles Times,
Chicago Tribune, or anything of the like. Do you have any advice on what other sorts of journalism jobs are offered in cities like these and how to get them?
I know that magazines are always an option, but my experience is exclusively in the newspaper field. (I worked for four years at my daily college newspaper and have had three newspaper internships, including one with the
Dow Jones Newspaper Fund.)
Also, in your opinion, is it possible to get jobs in these cities without first moving there? Discouragingly, I have been hearing that it's not. Thank you for your time and advice. Your columns are a great help to recent grads like myself!
Brittany
How about a reverse commute?
You live in the big city, but take the train or commute to a smaller suburban newspaper? That way you find a paper appropriate to your experience level, but still get to live in the big city.
Magazines and Web sites -- in the city or nearby -- can be options, too, as journalism expands.
I don't agree that you can't get a job in a place unless you're already there. Perhaps some companies are reluctant to foot the moving bill. Perhaps they want to meet you face to face and don't want to bring you in until they get very serious about you.
I would get some "face time" by planning job prospecting trips to favorite cities. Devise a plan to visit two potential employers -- one in the morning and one in the afternoon -- in a city where you might want to work. Your initiative should make a good impression.
Coming Thursday: She is ready to return to copy editing but worries about her job history, which includes three jobs and grad school in a seven-year period.
