10 tips for journalism students who’re job hunting

1. Know why you are interested in the job — is it the money, the work, the people, the company name or something else? In all likelihood it’ll be a combination of factors. Remember to factor in your passion.
2. Be web-savvy even if your job description doesn’t demand it.
3. Know that journalism jobs, as glamorous as they might look, don’t pay much to start off with – you really have to love the field to stay in it.
4. Remember your starting salary dictates future raises – don’t apply to jobs that do not meet your basic salary requirements; it will only cause heartache and frustration.
5. Research the industry — know the trends, have your finger on the pulse of the next big thing but also be knowledgeable about the history of progression.
6. Keep yourself updated –- in today’s day and age you cannot use excuses like “technology scares me” to get out of a situation. Use your free time to learn new skills and find new opportunities to use those skills. Self initiative goes a long way…
7. So does a portfolio of clips.
8. Create a website or blog to showcase your skills. Just like you google your prospective employer, they google prospective employees. Let there be something in cyberspace that leaves a good impression and lets your personality come across. And, remember, to make those “photos of a personal nature” on your social networking accounts private.
9. Think about your career path, not just this specific job at this particular moment.
10. With good basic writing skills, you can do a variety of things –- it doesn’t have to be the end of the world if you didn’t get that much coveted newspaper/magazine job to start off your career. Hang in there and continue to polish existing skill sets while acquiring new ones.

Five tips for journalism/PR newbies

• Love writing: If you don’t absolutely love writing, don’t take a job in which you’ll spend more than 75 percent of the time working with, and around, words. As with everything else, writing becomes second nature with practice but if you don’t enjoy it to begin with, there’s no reason for you to get yourself stuck in a job you’re going to hate. Remember, even fields like broadcast journalism, PR and marketing require a significant amount of writing expertise – you may not have to write flowing prose, but you have to be a good writer to discern the mediocre from the awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping, eye-opening, heart-pumping story for the camera, sales pitch or news release. Remember: Good writing compels action.
• Take genuine interest: Whether it be a full-length magazine feature or a short piece in the newspaper, you have to take a genuine interest in the subject. Only then will you be able to have the person, or the gadget, or the place you’re writing about come alive for your readers. Remember, it’s not about you – you’re merely the story-teller, the conduit between the reader and the subject…step back and focus on your subject.
• Decide the focus of the story: Think about what the reader will take away from your story – are you imparting information? Is the purpose of your story to inspire someone to donate? Do you want the reader to buy a product? Is the story one that evokes thoughtful discussions? Or is the purpose simply to give the reader a feel-good moment? Once you know what you want to achieve with your writing, you’ll know the right questions to ask.
• Don’t miss the deadline: Missing deadlines is sacrilege. Publications run on a tight production cycle and you’re a major cog in that wheel. If you miss your deadline, it holds up the art, designing and proofing are pushed back, time-sensitive material that may have had to be included cannot be anymore, you’ve lost a certain amount of professional respect and all in all just messed up the process. That said, there will be times the stars are not aligned for you to meet those deadlines – make sure you talk to your editor and get an extension, or have an evergreen story you can plug in if that hole in the magazine absolutely must be filled by XX date. Yes, these are times when your story might be killed. Meet that deadline!
• Don’t let writer’s block get to you: It happens to all of us – we have great interviews, excellent quotes, wonderful stories waiting to be told and we just don’t know where to start. Maybe you know what the ending will be…perhaps you’ve figured out the middle….just start writing and when you’ve finished your selective rummage through the quotes, step away. Take a walk, exercise, log on to Facebook (or not, if your company discourages visiting or has blocked social networking sites) or simply do something else to take your mind away from your story. When you look at it with a fresh pair of eyes you’ll see it all coming together for you. Don’t be afraid of rewriting – a story often goes through several drafts before it reaches the epitome of perfection.

Bonus

• Read every day: You not only get a chance to learn something new stylistically or even add to your ever-increasing vocabulary, but your mind actively analyzes and critiques, helping you on your way to becoming a better writer. And when I say read, I don’t mean just scrolling through your friends’ Facebook status messages and tweets.