How can I land my first job?

[SnarkShark]

My question was always, these job all want years of daily experience. How does one get the experience of no one will hire you due to lack of experience in the first place? I've done a lot of freelance and correspondent work over the years and had a part-time gig at a bi-weekly for about 5 years, winning awards and all that good stuff, but it's still not sufficient experience for anyone. I've applied for probably 400-500 jobs over the years and not once has one expressed interest in me. And yet I still try....

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

 

[JohnHammond]

Wish I had an answer. I graduated 9 years ago and have yet to find one.

My question was always, these job all want years of daily experience. How does one get the experience of no one will hire you due to lack of experience in the first place? I've done a lot of freelance and correspondent work over the years and had a part-time gig at a bi-weekly for about 5 years, winning awards and all that good stuff, but it's still not sufficient experience for anyone. I've applied for probably 400-500 jobs over the years and not once has one expressed interest in me. And yet I still try....

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.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

Indeed. Blood banks and prostitution are always options.

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

 

[joe_schmoe]

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.

 

[Ace]

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.

Yes, Joe, if they are still hiring clerks, that's a really good way to get your foot in the door. You gain experience, meet people and if you aren't tapped to move up to a job you want there, the clerk duties can sure sound good on a resume and lead to lots of other "communication" jobs.

 

[Chipper]

Longtime lurker but I finally got an account confirmed.

OP, I wouldn't get too discouraged this early after graduation. I would say that in my case, building relationships during my internships was huge. My boss during my internship introduced me to a VP at a major market media property, and he forwarded my info to the SE.

I was fortunate enough to get a job in a top-10 market out of school as an online producer. I used that as a way to get my foot in the door. Editors knew I wanted to write and when I got my chance a couple years later, I went all in. 2 months after that chance, I was moved to reporter and even covered the Super Bowl at age 25.

Reach out to any editors or reporters you've met during your stringing and internship experiences. They can introduce you to the right people. I would say don't be set on a writing job. Given the digital first philosophies of newsrooms, being an online producer was a great learning experience.

Don't let the negativity on message boards get to you either. Yeah, this business can suck sometimes, but if you love what you do, it's all worth it.

 

[MNgremlin]

By not doing this: Recent sports stories from MN Daily found to be fabricated | mndaily.com - The Minnesota Daily

 

[Dan Robrish]

I got my first job by going somewhere nobody wanted to go to: Ely, Nevada. The town had a five-day-a-week afternoon paper back then (it's now a weekly) and was 200 miles away from the nearest larger town. People would drive 200 miles just to shop at Kmart and drive right back. After that, I had daily newspaper experience, so it was far easier to get the attention of editors.

So my advice is to apply for jobs in the middle of nowhere. Those papers usually don't have applicants beating down their doors.

 

[Riptide]

Don't wear jeans to the interview.

 

[YorksArcades]

I enjoy this set of responses.

I do have a couple of questions. Do some of you retype your thoughts, or do you copy and paste from similar threads?

Also, will there ever be a compilation of the helpful tips? It would make a great pocket publishing option. "Apply everywhere" could be the header for the first section.

 

[Fredrick]

Keep us posted on your job search. You did get a lot of experience on your college newspaper. I would think in this market you will eventually be hired because a lot of newspapers right now prefer candidates who are just out of school, for financial reasons. You do realize you picked a profession that is trending downward, however (at least in terms of making a living). This profession's stock is crashing. You sound like a hard worker. Good luck. I predict you'll get a job.

 

[Ace]

Keep us posted on your job search. You did get a lot of experience on your college newspaper. I would think in this market you will eventually be hired because a lot of newspapers right now prefer candidates who are just out of school, for financial reasons. You do realize you picked a profession that is trending downward, however (at least in terms of making a living). This profession's stock is crashing. You sound like a hard worker. Good luck. I predict you'll get a job.

I think newspapers are trending downard, but the opportunities are out there.

There used to be a pretty firm line between print, TV and radio. Now the print folks are being hired at TV stations, host radio shows and all the web opportunities.

So if this is what you want to do, I would look at starting out in newpapers as the opportunity to write, make connections, learn to report, cover a beat, etc., and see where that takes you.

Lots of newspaper folks move into web. Others know so many people they end up with a variety of communications jobs.

 

[awriter]

I graduated with my Bachelor's degree in journalism May 9th. I was a stringer for a weekly newspaper for three years, I spent a year writing for the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Yankees (now RailRiders) writing feature stories on the players, and I have been a stringer for a daily newspapers since January. I also have a ton of clips and an online portfolio I built. Why am I having such a hard time finding a job? Any tips?

I'll echo pretty much what everyone else has written. I will also add that you need to make sure you are following AP style and that there are no copy editing mistakes in your posts or anything else you write. I see a few here -- "May 9th" instead of "May 9" and "for a daily newspapers."

 

[cjericho]

I got my first job by going somewhere nobody wanted to go to: Ely, Nevada. The town had a five-day-a-week afternoon paper back then (it's now a weekly) and was 200 miles away from the nearest larger town. People would drive 200 miles just to shop at Kmart and drive right back. After that, I had daily newspaper experience, so it was far easier to get the attention of editors.

So my advice is to apply for jobs in the middle of nowhere. Those papers usually don't have applicants beating down their doors.

People drove 200 miles to KMart? What did most of the people in the town do for work, pan for gold, rob stagecoaches?