Student journalist of the year: "Journalistically, I wouldn't really say I'm surviving"

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Azeem Ahmad, the winner of Birmingham University Student Journalist of the Year award sponsored by Trinity Mirror, cannot find a job, he told Journalism.co.uk.

Ahmad, who specialised in journalism for his BA in Media and Communication at Birmingham City University, told Journalism.co.uk that he is not 'surviving' journalistically despite picking up the Trinity Mirror award .

"It's not that there is a lack of job opportunities, but there is definitely a lot of competition for the more interesting roles, naturally," he said.

"I believed that achieving my award would set me apart from the competition and make potential employers take more notice of me, but I'm still finding myself just as unsuccessful in getting my foot on the ladder as I did before I won the award."

Ahmad said that his module in online journalism helped him acquire skills in podcasting, video filming and editing for the web, RSS, geotagging, mapping, and online communities.

"I have a presence on several social networking sites where there is a heavy media presence, and I am constantly using Twitter to microblog , see what my network are doing, find out information on new products/technologies - but more importantly, to make sure my network see and understand that I am still active online."

Despite developing a passion for digital journalism, Ahmad said he has found it 'difficult carving out new territory'.

He is currently re-employed in a non-media related temporary job, which means he has less time to spend online.

Nonetheless he said other student journalists should be encouraged to engage with online communities.

"Blog as often as possible; subscribe to and read the key influencers/speakers in your chosen field - and comment too," he said.

"Let the author know you've read what they've written and agreed or disagreed with it; start and get involved in the discussions, engage with the community online and create one around yourself; join Twitter and become a networked journalist.

"Engage, engage, engage - I can't stress that enough."