Q. I'm 25 and coming out of
law school (no degree) after working from ages 17-23 in various capacities at a well-run college newspaper and as a columnist at several professional newspapers.
I had originally gone to
law school to protect myself in the shrinking field of print journalism, but with my relative lack of experience, I'm having trouble even getting an employer to talk to me now.
I suppose the biggest hole on my resume would be an apparent lack of "real-world" experience. How could I best shore this up while earning enough to live? I'm also interested in just knowing, broadly, who in this country is hiring and for what?
I understand that, short of getting an entry-level position through a personal contact at my hometown paper, I don't have a very good chance of getting a decent job. But journalism is what I want to do with my life. Any information you might provide would be helpful.
Thanks in advance,
Garrett A. I have to be honest with you. I have been calling lots of people recently who have been asking
for help through
Poynter's Standing Up for Journalism. A lot of people who have a whole lot of experience are having trouble doing exactly what you want to do. And some of them have great skills and experience.
With thousands of experienced newspaper people losing their jobs this year, it would be foolish to bank on breaking into a well-paying newspaper job when you know you don't really have much of the real-world experience that editors typically hire for.
Instead, broaden your aims to embrace more forms of journalism and look for ways to dabble or experiment that would give you experience as well as some satisfaction. The local newspaper editor might not even let you in the door, but perhaps your town has or needs a good blog or Web site. I would experiment with some of that. Or, if the editor is accommodating, I would offer to start as a freelancer -- and I would go in with some well-developed story ideas to pitch.
The trick is getting you to do some more journalism as an interim step toward doing it full-time, and being open-minded about the platform you work on.
Coming Thursday: An upcoming marriage has her thinking about a leap from broadcast news to a Web site -- for which she has been freelancing -- that serves up stories to private clients. She wonders: Should she go all the way with this transition?
Wow. My dad always told me not to go to...
