How can I land my first job?

An award-winning journalist nine years out of college, who has applied for 400 to 500 jobs, and is yet to get one? Where are you applying? If you have as many clips as you've collected in those nine years -- with a few having won awards -- I'd think you'd have to get a shot at a weekly paper or something low-profile like that, at least.

If you haven't already, I'd suggest reaching out to an editor you freelanced for ... and asking them 'What's missing, where do I need to improve?' Just trying to be helpful.

 

Also, what are you applying for? Sometimes, I think people apply for any job they see without looking at the job responsibilities. Are they looking for layout experience or just writing? Experience covering a beat? Multimedia?

 

For Jax and the OP: One thing to keep in mind is that a lot of guys who want to be sportswriters will go into the news side to get into the business. We have a few of these at my shop right now.

They bide their time doing news and then pounce on inside job postings for sports when they happen. At my paper over the past few years, we have probably brought in a half-dozen news side reporters and editors. But not one person has been hired into sports from the outside in at least the last 10 years.

My advice is to be open to news side jobs. If might not be what you love, but you can always keep applying for sports gigs, and you will also be expanding your skill set, getting valuable experience, and getting your foot in the door.

 

This question applies to the OP as well -- where are you applying? Are you sending out resumes all over the country, trying to stay in one specific city or area, or what?
Even though the business and job market have gone into the crapper in the last 10 years, there are still a lot of small dailies out there that have regular openings. If you don't mind relocating and living in a small town for a while, that's your best bet to get your foot in the door. I'm generally leery of a lot of web sites, but these days that's not the worst option, either, if you can catch one that will let you work a college beat and actually pay you.
If you're only applying to bigger papers right out of the gate you're going to be waiting a long time for a variety of reasons, some of which have nothing to do with you. A lot of positions have a couple hundred applicants. Some places have gone into a hiring freeze or eliminated positions. Or they just decided to see how many plates a small staff can spin simultaneously.

For the OP, I know you can start to get nervous as summer drags on and you haven't gotten a nibble yet, but try to keep your chin up. If you weren't able to line something up pre-graduation, it's never been uncommon to spend a few months searching. After I graduated in the late 90s, when the job market was a hell of a lot better than it is now, I sent out about 25 resumes before I even got a rejection letter. It was early July before I happened to get two interviews in the same week, both at small papers about 1,200 miles from home.
If you have one thing going for you, it's that some papers are going to get desperate here in the next few weeks as football season looms. Keep applying and putting your best foot forward. Send some e-mails or make a phone call as you're doing it -- don't overdo it and don't be stupid, but find some small question to ask about the job -- to make a connection with the SE. Again, if you don't mind where you live, don't be picky. You might land at a smaller paper and it turns out to be a good thing and you're still there 20 years later. Or, you go and get your foot in the door and move on within a year. Either way, this process takes time and patience before you get your break. Good luck. Hope it happens soon for you.

 

Indeed. Blood banks and prostitution are always options.

 

I've applied for everything, from preps positions to beats and everything in between. I figure someone will bite at some point of time. Lol

 

When someone asks if you want to cover preps, don't turn your nose up like it's something dangling from the dog's ass. [/crossthreading]

 

If you have "award-winning" clips, it shouldn't be a problem.

 

The advice you need is the one you are not going to get from most people here. After nine years trying to get a full-time job in the business, it is time to move on to something else. Not the answer you want to hear, but it is time to cut your losses.

 

Don't forget sperm banks as well, although they can be picky.

 

If you have applied for 400-500 jobs and haven't gotten any interest at all, you need to find an independent editor to review your resume and, more importantly, your clips. Many SEs may read one paragraph of a clip and toss your resume out. Or just look at your resume see a small typo and throw it out.

As for no job a few months out of college, to me it's funny how much the younger generation thinks the degree automatically means a good job. It just ain't the way it is, especially in sports journalism. Companies are cutting back staff left and right, and the jobs you apply are being filled by the Joe Blows with 10-15 years experience, because for every fresh out of college guy out there looking to get in this field there 3 Joe Blows looking to find employment.
I'll tell yo my career path: I took a job as an obit clerk. Did that for about a year. Added on some sports clerk stuff (mainly track agate...fun) then got a job opening at a major metro for a part-time phone/agate clerk. It was pure grunt work, the pay sucked, but after a year, I sent out my resume to three companies. All three called for interviews, I interviewed all thee places, one called the day after the interview and offered a full time sports writing job. The other two called later that week and offered. The only clips I had were still from college, but the grunt work was enough for these three. Sever decades, a few dozen SE and MEs and 100s of coworkers later and I'm still in this biz.