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Finding your first job in journalism – Part 2

Posted by JournoJobs | May 9, 2011 | First job series

It’s no secret that journalism is one of the most difficult industries to break into – so we’re bringing you a 5 part series on how to land that elusive first job. The author of our guide is Laurence Cawley, a professional journalist who has worked in the regional and national media for the past 10 years. A dedicated shorthand practitioner, he is also the editor of http://www.shorthandworld.co.uk.

You can find Part 1 here.

Part 2: Getting work experience

If you don’t have a cuttings file (a selection of stories published in a newspaper written by you) then getting work experience is a vital step. Not only does it give you invaluable experience of trying your hand at journalism it also gives you the opportunity to: 

  • See how a newsroom operates and how a newspaper is put together 
  • Learn from experienced journalists and see how they handle different jobs
  • Work out whether a career in journalism is really for you. 
  • Show a potential employer what you have to offer 
  • Develop a cuttings file of your own work under your own name

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    Getting work experience is reasonably straight forward. In most cases all you will have to do is ask. But you need to make sure you ask the right person so it is usually best to telephone the newspaper or newspapers you are interested in doing some work for and asking for the name of the person who deals with work experience candidates. Sometimes this is the editor, sometimes the news-editor and sometimes the chief reporter. When you write your letter asking for work experience, remember two main points: 

    1. Check and double check for any spelling mistakes – it is often a good idea to then get somebody else to check it a further time before sending it off. I have always avoided offering work experience to candidates who cannot be bothered to check their spelling before sending something off. 

    2. Keep it simple. Tell them you are interested in a career in journalism and tell them that, in the longer term, you would love to work for their paper. Highlight any skills you currently have that could be counted as a journalistic tool and tell them what your intentions are regarding training. 

    Usually this sort of approach will get you a period of work experience – usually a week or two. Sometimes, because newspapers have a lot of people wanting work experience, you may have to wait sometime before either hearing back or being offered a short term work experience placement. And if you’re lucky enough to have a number of titles in your area, apply to them all!