TheGiantTribble
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| posted on 15/4/14 at 07:26 PM |
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OT - job advice
OK since this is the accepted fount of all knowledge :-)
A friend of mine passed his exams in November, and wants a job in the newspaper/magazine/editing/publishing writing business?
He's got a 2:1 degree in English and a first class degree masters in English literature and language, and is 26 years old.
So far 80 job applications gone in a nothing, zip, zero :-(
So has anyone here got any experience or advice they can give.
Thanks in advance.
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joneh
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| posted on 15/4/14 at 07:44 PM |
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No experience in this trade but if he's done 80 applications and not even had an interview either:
His CV and covering letter need a lot of work
Or
He's aiming too high. Most places will be getting tons of graduate applications, experience is what employers want.
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dickie b
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| posted on 15/4/14 at 07:55 PM |
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Speaking from experience ... Write to editors explaining you are looking for work experience. Offer yourself for free (yes free)
I did just that - taking any offer, as far afield as Plymouth , London and Watford . But it formed a cv and showed willing .
Led me to a magazine job that paid peanuts but got me in the door.
Keep at it but be willing to take on any old thing. Even making the tea!
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Not Anumber
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| posted on 15/4/14 at 08:11 PM |
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He needs to think beyond CV mailbombing and start to make his name. He would be wise to submit a number of free articles to different magazines and
papers. Keep copies and when he says he has written freelance articles he doesnt have to mention whether or not he was paid. If he writes several
articles for a publication and gets to know the people who run it he will be able to count on them for a reference too.
Local papers are always a good place to start but also try journals for the bigger car owners clubs, institutes, different industries. Some of these
journals run on a tight budget so if he can use commercial DTP software and edit other people's work it will help.
I have part ownership in a medical equipment magazine that is distributed in the middle east. We do have someon in place now to write and edit but
remarkably though we often have people trying to sell us SEO services, accountancy etc no one has ever contacted us to say ' how about a few
quid for contributing interesting articles that will make the magazine more interesting which will increase your readership' or similar. If
someone had made that approach at the right time they would have walked away with our editting and pagesetting work.
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skodaman
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| posted on 15/4/14 at 08:33 PM |
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As said above freelance. Write about whatever he knows enough about. If he's any good he might not need an employer.
Skodaman
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Rod Ends
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| posted on 15/4/14 at 08:54 PM |
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He's trying to get into a dying industry!
He'd be better off learning HTML, CSS, JavaScript, etc.
Probably not what he wants to hear but that's the reality.
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SteveRST
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| posted on 15/4/14 at 10:22 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Rod Ends
He's trying to get into a dying industry!
He'd be better off learning HTML, CSS, JavaScript, etc.
Eh? He doesn't want to get in to web design, he wants to get in to writing copy for publication. Any media platform, whether it's physical
or solely on line, needs quality written content. HTML/CSS doesn't make the best reading.
[Edited on 15/4/14 by SteveRST]
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TimC
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| posted on 16/4/14 at 06:51 AM |
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Blog, start writing for the parish newsletter, 750 Motor Club Bulletin (always looking for content!) and as stated, offer yourself for free. All
about proving that you can write and getting experience from what I can gather.
I know a couple of folk that have chosen this career - one older chap now writes for the Independent and one twenty-something who's working her
way up through the local papers. I'm sure that they both had to make it the hard way as it were.
Best of luck!
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BenB
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| posted on 16/4/14 at 07:42 AM |
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Work experience (unpaid) is the way in- if he is any good. A paid advertised job will require experience....
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Irony
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| posted on 16/4/14 at 08:17 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Rod Ends
He's trying to get into a dying industry!
He'd be better off learning HTML, CSS, JavaScript, etc.
Probably not what he wants to hear but that's the reality.
I deal with web designers all the time and they are not writers/journalist or graphic designers. In fact they are responsible for some of the worst
stuff on the web. Writing/journalism is in no way dying industry.
I am a full time Senior Designer and I know what it is like to apply for 80 jobs and not get a reply. Trouble is everybody seems to want the same
job. My best advice is this
1: Apply to companies that you want to work for, get the name of the person directly and send a CV plus covering letter directly to them. Follow up
with a phone (not a email, emails can be ignored) a few days later. If they are not interested ask them if they know of any businesses that might
have a position available. If they do know of someone - theres your next lead.
2: As said above - work for FREE. Tell a company that you require work experience and you want to work for them full time for free. Be totally
amazing and have a brilliant attitude for 3 months and then say 'I love it here but I just can't afford it anymore and I am off to get a
job at Tescos'. If you've been amazing they won't let you go.
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Rod Ends
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| posted on 16/4/14 at 10:12 AM |
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Just had a quick look on Monster.co.uk - 1000+ web developer jobs in London, 40 journalist jobs.
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Irony
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| posted on 16/4/14 at 12:55 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Rod Ends
Just had a quick look on Monster.co.uk - 1000+ web developer jobs in London, 40 journalist jobs.
So what? Web developing is a relatively new career/technology, there's bound to be lots of jobs. It doesn't mean being a writer or a
journalist is a dying profession. The two professions are not related.
[Edited on 16/4/14 by Irony]
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motorcycle_mayhem
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| posted on 16/4/14 at 01:33 PM |
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Whatever, just be a good listener when everything gets too much.
Finding 'work' is not easy, finding a start on a career path is soul destroying. Plenty around him will state that for them it was all too
easy, but the reality he sees will be far from that. 80 applications is a part-time approach, my latest redundancy experience took many hundred such
approaches and (where the employer could be bothered) rejections.
I'm over 50 now, so pretty much on the scrapheap, but he has youth on his side. Keep going!
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