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Career options for current and soon-to-be-graduating journalism majors?

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by Sneed, Dec 27, 2008.

  1. I work with a kid about 24 or so. Good kid. Good school (not Northwestern or anything, but a good Big Ten school with a journalism major).

    My advice to him is the same I'd give to you: Give yourself a deadline. Pursue this with vigor until then. Take risks. Take a part time job at the metro. Work for Rivals perhaps. Don't try to work your way up from a preps job at a weekly. Fuck that. Get in the fast lane ASAP.

    If it doesn't happen by your deadline, go into something else - law school and business school, obviously, are the most popular options because they dovetail nicely with our skills. But there are Ph.Ds out there. There are MDs. We're smart people, largely, and the world can be our oyster if we play it that way.

    Me? I think - knock on wood - that I've been able to position myself where I'm going to get a law degree AND be able to pursue journalism the way I want to (books and, hopefully, magazine writing). I'll miss working a daily beat, mostly because of the camaraderie between the guys on the beat with me. And in a sick, twisted, self-loathing way, I guess I'll also miss the control freak football coach that I cover. For entertainment purposes largely. But also for the front row seat to the activities and impulses of a person who turns out to be immensely more complex than the public and national media realizes (that is probably true with just about every sports public figure - and that doesn't always mean the real person is better, either).

    I think Chuck Klosterman wrote recently that the definition of success was how much control you have over your own life. Always keep that in mind.
     
  2. Sneed

    Sneed Guest

    Thanks man. Some of the most helpful advice I've heard -- sounds good to me, anyway.
     
  3. No problem. It's all in what you want. If you're someone who won't be happy in this industry without reaching the big-time (and I'm one of them, so there's no shame in it), you have to come up with a plan. If you're someone who just wants to do this, even if it means a lifetime of financial belt-tightening and drives to prep football games in towns you've never heard of (and there's definitely no shame in that, either. In fact, on some days, it can be immensely more satisfying than dealing with millionaire players and billionaire owners - and conducive to better journalism), you have to come up with a different plan.

    It's not a one-size, fits-all profession. That's for sure.

    Best of luck to you.
     
  4. jfs1000

    jfs1000 Member

    I am sick of new grad threads. Go work at McDonald's. We need a mid-professional what the hell am I going to do thread.

    Every year the glut of wannabe sports writers goes into the market further taking jobs and depressing salaries, brilliant career choice.

    Anyhow, good luck with the job hunt.

    ;D

    On second thought, i'll take the PR job, you can have my under paid high prestige position any day.

    Are there jobs for us all?
     
  5. jfs1000

    jfs1000 Member

    After my snide, sarcastic remarks, I will say this is good advice above. I have a several talented younglings who are looking and I told them pretty much the same thing. STAY AWAY FROM WEEKLIES. The graveyard of aspiring sports writers.

    I haven't seen a guy come out of a weekly in my area since...me...and that was only luck eight years ago. I would say part-time at a metro is a good bet, and also if you are young, perhaps trying an internship at a major paper and working yourself in that way.

    One other things -- NETWORK. I have my current job because I got to know some of the guys when I was on the road. I was over my head working for a small daily covering a DI team. I was wandering downtown on the road one day, saw a fellow writer who asked me to join him for dinner. Six weeks later, when a job opened up, I was in.

    In review. No weeklies no matter how much you need a job (hacks need jobs to, let them have the cock roaches of papers). Make sure the paper covers a major pro or college sport even if you aren't the one doing it (eventually you will get the opportunity to do some), and lastly, set a deadline. If it doesn't happen it isn't talent, it's the market.

    Luck has more to do with it than anything. If I took right instead of a left, I would have never made it to that dinner.

    And forever, little league would be my future.
     
  6. Sneed

    Sneed Guest

    Thanks dude.
     
  7. daemon

    daemon Well-Known Member

    I've said this before, I'll say it again: go to grad school and get your Masters. Don't give up on the industry, but get an advanced degree first. My reasoning is three-fold: First and foremost, you'll have a back-up plan, one that will allow you to teach and freelance if necessary. Two, you might be able to avoid some of the growing pains the industry is experiencing right now. I firmly believe that there will be a medium for sports writers' work, but somebody has to figure out what it is. Until they do, young grads are going to be stuck in shitty jobs with nowhere to go because nobody is hiring and those that are will have a surplus of a ready, willing, and able applicants. Third, it's a lot easier to go to grad school first than it is to step away from your life and career to go later.

    If I was doing it over again, that's how I would have done it.
     
  8. PopeDirkBenedict

    PopeDirkBenedict Active Member

    The business world loves workers with excellent written and verbal communications skills. I would try to get my foot in the door of a business, probably as a technical writer and work with them about getting my MBA. Then, wherever you end up, go to the local sports editor, get your resume in his hands and let him know that you are available for freelance jobs as a way to keep contacts in the industry. The skill set required of journalists: strong, clean writing, good verbal communication skills, ability to analyze information and work on deadline will always be valued in the business world, even if the newspaper industry isn't exactly valuing them right now.
     
  9. I would suggest a JD instead, if you're going that route. Very transferrable to journalism. And also gains you entry into a back-up career, if need be.
     
  10. Cadet

    Cadet Guest

    A lot more entry than a master's in journalism/communications/PR will. You can take that JD, make an entry-level lawyer's salary and increase your earnings by 100% when you get done with this journalism thing.

    I've had bosses tell me to my face: a master's degree, no matter where it's from, doesn't mean jack. Don't waste your time or your money or your credit rating. If you must go back to school, get an MBA or a JD.
     
  11. PopeDirkBenedict

    PopeDirkBenedict Active Member

    A JD is ridiculously expensive unless you are on scholarship. You cannot pay back a JD by being a journalist at 98% of the newspapers in this country. Do not get a JD unless you want to be a lawyer.
     
  12. And a scholarship isn't that tough to get, depending on where you want to go.

    Again, this is all in the eye of the beholder. If you're happy covering high school football and basketball, maybe sojourning over to the local Division 2 university on occasion, then obviously a JD may not be for you.

    If you want to chase Pulitzers, if you want to work at Time or the Wall Street Journal ... then you should seriously think about it.
     
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