i need some journalism career advice

[mrjohnseager]

i am writing to you to all on here to ask for some advice about my career as a journalist.

My name is John and i have been working for free both as a sports reporter based in the Medway area and as a newsreader for a radio station. Before this i graduated in 2009 as a journalist from Nottingham Trent University. at the time of my course i did some work placements at 2 ITV regional news companies and at a couple of radio stations.

But since then i have found it very difficult getting my first paid job as a reporter, I have some job shadowing days at the BBC within the past 6 months but this has also failed to get me any contacts within the desired work area as a video journalist.

although the free work will look good on my CV, i am beginning to feel that the free work will not get me anywhere in the future when it comes to job interviews for reporter jobs.

so with that in mind, can anyone help me with advising me of what to do next

kind regards

[John Thompson]

I think you have answered your own question. You are nearly four years out of university and you have not had a paying journalism job yet. You need to get one soon or consider following another career path.

To do that you will probably need to lower your sights and consider entry level roles in print journalism. Depending on the requirements of such roles, you might even need to get further training if your studies have not equipped you with basics such as shorthand, media law knowledge etc.

You will also need to be prepared to re-locate if necessary.

I would also recommend getting some advice on application and interview techniques. Your post here is not grammatically perfect, for example, so you might want to consider what sort of impression that will be making on potential employers. Do your job applications also contain mistakes? It's the quickest way to the rejection pile.

Good luck.

See also: How to: write a covering letter and CV

[mrjohnseager]

I think you have answered your own question. You are nearly four years out of university and you have not had a paying journalism job yet. You need to get one soon or consider following another career path.

To do that you will probably need to lower your sights and consider entry level roles in print journalism. Depending on the requirements of such roles, you might even need to get further training if your studies have not equipped you with basics such as shorthand, media law knowledge etc.

You will also need to be prepared to re-locate if necessary.

I would also recommend getting some advice on application and interview techniques. Your post here is not grammatically perfect, for example, so you might want to consider what sort of impression that will be making on potential employers. Do your job applications also contain mistakes? It's the quickest way to the rejection pile.

Good luck.

See also: How to: write a covering letter and CV

I am happy to start in print journalism & relocate but i haven't got a clue of where to start.

I have got some self help shorthand work but i know it wont be good enough.

Is it worth me going back to uni to refresh my chances of getting a paid job.