Advice for a young sportswriter

Thanks for all the advice. How often do you guys post new jobs on here?

 

There are some sports editor openings up on the board right now. Just not right in your area...

 

Yeah, I saw some of those. There have been a few in Indiana recently, too. I guess I'll just keep my eyes open.

 

Tall:

Good advice here. I'll just add my two cents and advise you to keep your options open. I've been all over the country , and it's made me a more well-rounded journalist. It's definitely a tough market out there.

At my last shop, where I was SE, I had a great kid from a situation similar to yours... would have loved to hire him, but there wasn't a spot. He's stringing to get his foot in the door, and I know he'll be the first guy they call if something opens up. Try to do the same. Get some clips, get some networking, and good luck to you.

This board was a good first step. Welcome.

 

There are plenty of openings if you are willing to move and switch to news for now. JournalismJobs.com and state newspaper association Web sites are good starts for jobs.

The toughest part of the job hunt is not wanting to move. Sometimes it's just time to go on to something different. Living with roommates or parents?

The longer you wait to get a full-time job, the harder it will be to get one. Editors will see that you graduated two years ago and wonder why you couldn't land a job somewhere.

 

Hey Tall, I'd say stay near Chicago because there are going to be lots of other types of job opportunities in a metro area than there would be if you go off into the middle of nowhere. As someone else said, think about PR or marketing so you can start drawing a full-time check while you continue to freelance.

It's true you can get pigeonholed as "just a stringer," but I think whether or not that happens is somewhat in your control. As you freelance, make sure you're constantly looking for story ideas. I have a college kid who works for me who is extremely good at finding his own stories. I send him out to do a game and he comes back with a game story and an idea for a feature. He's done a few good takeouts for us and come up with some really good in-depth ideas. He's out there talking to people, finding things out and constantly looking for his next story.

Now, that's not going to help him at our place because when he graduates later this year, we're probably not going to have an opening, which is a damn shame, because I'd hire him in a heartbeat if I had a spot. But he's got a whole bunch of clips of really good stories that he found on his own. And that's the kind of thing that separates you from the rabble when you go to look for a job.

 

I still live at home in a very, very small house with my parents (rent is pretty high here and a lot of my friends have been laid off from the steel mills, etc., which doesn't help in finding a roommate) It's obviously not enjoyable, so I'm really considering a change. I just want to be within driving distance because a lot of my family has had health problems.

 

Maybe once we can keep a thread like this with real answers? I always see these threads and cringe because I'm wondering what's inside.

 

Re: Advice about whether to get a full time job or keep stringing

It's what you make of it, man.

You can disappear in Podunk producing small time stuff for a small time paper or you can beat the bricks in the big city covering JV softball for the big paper and end up cleaning bathrooms for a living.

Or, you can go to Podunk, maintain your contacts, kick ass, win a bunch of dumb press association awards, improve your writing and move on in a few years the same way you can string for the big paper, be ambitious, suggest big ideas and be in line for the next full time job.

If you are alert, ambitious and dedicated, you can make it following either road.

 

I don't know how long you've been stringing at your current place, but you would think there would be an opening for you in two years' time. Resume bomb every SE or editor in the Midwest.