I remember back in college, it was a tricky time for my graduating class. Us journalism kids were in school during the whole financial crisis in 2008, and journalism was quickly changing and transitioning towards a digital world (although we were mostly still getting taught the old school print journalism way).
During my senior year, I’ll never forget being told: “Are you sure you want to major in journalism?”
“Well, geez,” I thought.
It’s a little too late to change my major now since graduation is around the corner. Plus, I've always wanted to be a writer or news anchor. So, we’re gonna make this journalism thang work!
And make it work is what I’ve always done throughout my career.
I also recall in one of my journalism classes, we took this class trip to The Star-Ledger, and half of that newsroom was empty. I was excited to visit the Ledger because it was my first time in a legit newsroom but seeing a mostly empty newsroom made me worry about my future. There were major layoffs happening during that time and it wasn't a good look for us who were graduating soon.
I always say it’s hard out in these journalism streets. You have to have a type of hustle in you, you have to network, you have to be patient, and you have to really want it. We all usually start out as young, energetic, aspiring journalism students. But the road to get to a somewhat successful career in journalism is draining, I'll admit.
A lot of people I went to school with changed course and don’t work in this field... didn’t even start in it. I’ve also worked with some people at The Record who went on to work at weekly newspapers and then either went back to school to study something else or they totally changed career paths. Also, depending on where you work, the pay may not be as glamorous as you think. I've made $11 an hour once at a part-time job.
My journey has not been easy at all. I've handled tons of rejection, came across editors not believing in me, have been overlooked too many times when applying for higher positions, I've been laid off and furloughed, I've taken a bunch of freelance gigs to generate some sort of income when my bank account was in the negative, I've gone years without health insurance, and the list goes on.
Shoot, applying for jobs in journalism is a huge job itself. It's very time-consuming. Not only does your resume have to be on point, but you need a cover letter, references, clips of your work, you need an up-to-date website that shows even more clips. Then if you're lucky and actually land an interview, sometimes you have to go through different stages of talking to the different higher-ups. And if you pass this part, then there may be some sort of written test(s) or editing test(s) (depends on what you're applying for). If it's a reporter position, you may even have to go out in the field and write up some sort of test story. It's a lot of time and a lot of effort.
When I applied to CNN, I went through three stages before not getting the job. I first interviewed with the hiring manager. Pass. Then interviewed with two higher-up editors. Pass. Then came the edit test which included four different parts and I finished with eight pages which took a couple of days to complete. In the end, they went with another candidate.
And this is not to discourage anyone considering a career in journalism. Everyone's career path is different. Not everyone has to go through this struggle to finally land a decent job in this field. I'm just explaining my own journey and keeping it real with what I've been through.
Also, it’s not always about what college you went to or your background experience, but sometimes it’s who you know which may be the reason you get a foot in the door.
My foot in the door was all thanks to two of my former Rutgers professors.
My very first journalism gig started off as an internship at an FM radio station, WBGO in Newark, New Jersey. This internship turned into paid freelance work where I was able to build up clips, get some real hands-on journalism experience, plus I was getting paid for my work (always a plus).
While at WBGO, I was told by one of my former journalism professors, Allan Wolper, about a part-time editorial clerk position at The Record in Woodland Park. Wolper also let me use him as a reference plus I named dropped him in my cover letter. My former manager at The Record told me some years later that my cover letter was one of the best he has seen in a while. Also, he said he hired me because I was a former student of Wolper's.
And this was my foot in the door. Even it was just a clerk position and working my way up from the bottom of the totem pole. I’ve always been a hard worker but it was also more about who I knew which landed me my first newsroom job. Fast forward ten years later and I’m now a digital producer for USA Today Network.
Coming next: Digital producers make the magic happen behind the scenes in newsrooms. Here's what we do