Joe McGrath appointed new editor of Niche Personal Loans

You have got to learn the crappy jobs, no matter how unpleasant, if you want to get ahead, advises Joe McGrath, the newly appointed editor of Niche Personal Loans magazine.

Mr McGrath commenced his new role this week, which will involve editing the magazine and the online daily news service.

"The biggest challenge is to maintain the market-leading news service online while simultaneously maintaining the reputation of a magazine that has done so well in its first 18 months of existence," he told journalism.co.uk

Mr McGrath got his first taste of journalism through work experience at the Today newspaper in 1995.

In 2004 he joined the Basildon Yellow Advertiser newspaper. In March 2005 he joined FT Business, working on Financial Adviser, which fed his passion for "a fast-paced, investigative news environment".

"The competition between the independent financial adviser (IFA) press is phenomenal and a great pace for reporters who like the trill of the chase."

After leaving the newspaper in autumn last year, he freelanced for various titles such as the Scotsman, Pensions Week and New Media Age before landing the editor job at Niche Personal Loans magazine.

His advice to those starting in the industry is to work your way up and not let the knocks hold you back.

"Everyone in the industry has some knocks at some point, but the ability to bounce back is a must.

"It sounds dead cheesy but listen to your editors while you are a reporter and do the crappy jobs, no matter how unpleasant (death knocks, late-night meetings, etc). It really is surprising how much you can learn."

Mr McGrath completed a degree in corporate communications at Southampton Institute and also has completed his NCTJ preliminaries at Harlow College and shorthand course at City of Bath College.

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