Seeking Career Advice

For his next thread, "How am I supposed to keep stats at a high school game. They did all this for me in college."

 

I actually kept stats myself during games in addition to receiving box scores.

Thanks for the help.

 

Get an MBA. Or a business degree.
Or something else that is more fun, with nights off.
Your hopes are not what this path will deliver.
It's a hard life, and there ain't any rewards anymore.

 

nursing

 

Unfortunately, that is what you need to do. We have a sports writer at the local paper. She went to Northwestern, got an internship at the Boston Globe, and now she's a sports feature writer. That is what writers are going to have to do if they want any chance of making it big-time.

If you're dead-set on becoming a sportswriter and are willing to take the conditions, go for it. But if you have doubts, I'd look elsewhere. Good luck.

 

Seriously, if I was 23 and had a print journalism degree, and wanted to go work at ESPN, I would go to TV/Film grad school and learn two things: (1) How to read a prompter and (2) how to edit on Final Cut Pro. Get yourself an on-camera reel, and add the "can produce, edit and shoot" (aka "preditor" skills) to your resume, and you'll have a leg up on the competition over the next decade.

 

It's too late for this now, but the communications degree probably wasn't a great decision. You should have majored in something like economics, international relations, or a hard science or mathematics (which could be very useful for a sports writer in the salary cap and sabermetric age).

Whatever you decide to do, don't lose the forest for the trees. I've seen a lot of people - and I've been in this boat myself - become so obsessed with just moving onward and upward that they never stop to learn how to kick ass at reporting. They think that they can get to the top because they want it so bad, then maybe learn the tricks of the trade when they're there.

There's an old Bob Knight quote that I love, even though it's kind of trite for cynics like us, but I think it's applicable across all fields: "Everyone has the will to win. Not that many have the will to prepare to win."

 

I basically agree, but there are still paths he could follow.

He could go to law school, learn about and focus on labor law. Labor negotiations are a huge part sports now. or maybe you try to get a job with a sports agent.

He could get a job in sports marketing with an eye on reporting on the business of sports. Darren Rovell (a Northwestern grad) has carved out a nice career.

He could try to work for a team to learn the ins and outs of how they operate.

It's basically the same point I've made on other threads.

Ok, you can write and have some experience. Great. So do lots of of other people.

You need to be an expert in something. A Doctor covering medical issues. A lawyer covering legal issues. A Wall St. trader/analyst covering the markets.

What expertise do you bring to the table? If you don't have any, go get some.

A generalist is a tough place to be, and, you'll have a back up plan if you don't make it as a journalist.

 

Yep, that is what I was getting at. He missed the boat with his major, but there are still other paths available. They aren't all free - they may require time, money, or both. But they are available. Right now, that communications degree and a generalist sports background makes you a dime a dozen.

 

If you need proof, just visit "Bleacher Report."

 

This x 100. I figured this out sophomore year of undergrad.