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Are there still jobs for trainee journalists? Yes, says Rose Hamada, 30, who has just bagged one at Reuters.
But pursuing a career in this popular industry is not for the feint-hearted, she warns. Risk and uncertainty are part of the deal now, as journalism faces huge challenges…
Congratulations Rose! You’ve achieved the impossible – a permanent job in journalism. What’s the role?
“Thanks! In a couple of weeks, I start work as the new assistant news producer on Insider TV, an economics and market show at Reuters. It’s a permanent job and it’s pretty well paid so I’m happy. I’m particularly pleased because my career suffered a ‘false start’ when I first graduated [from the University of Southampton with a 2:1 in Economics, in 2002]. I took a job as an actuary and then a financial analyst for a couple of years, which I soon realised wasn’t what I wanted to do forever. So I switched and studied for a Journalism MA at Brunel, which finished in October 2009.”
So tell us – how did you get your new job?
“I juggled unpaid work experience, freelance cmmissions and shifts. I knew I couldn’t afford to work for free for long, so I was really focussed and first targeted all the places I’d like to work permanently. Then I kept moving and building my contacts. I worked for about four months completely unpaid, which I had to borrow money for. Then I was offered some paid shifts at the Guardian, which paid £85 per day. They’d call me in when permanent staff members were on holiday – or just when they were extra busy. I was on a month’s placement at Reuters (which paid expenses only) when the role came up there. I was lucky – I’m sure the fact they already knew me gave me a big advantage over other applicants. I did dozens of formal applications too – and got absolutely nowhere that way. Every ‘break’ I’ve had has been through meeting people, networking and using my initiative.”
NEXT: What about applicants who can’t afford to work for free?
Spot the difference:
“NEXT: What about applicants who can’t afford to work for free?”
“I found it really tough to make it work financially – so it must be close to impossible if you can’t afford to work unpaid at all.”
I also liked this bit:
“I know someone juggling work experience with a temping job and she’s really close to getting a permanent, paid job now…What’s really difficult is you have no way of knowing how long you’ll be doing that for. You may get offered proper, paid work tomorrow – or never.”
Thanks Alex – but could you just clarify exactly what you mean by this Comment?
Well it’s nice to know that at least ONE person has managed to get a permananent staff job!
It would be interesting to know about all the people who tried as hard as this, yet still havn’t managed to get a paid job out of it.
There must be many people who have had to give up on their journalism career dream because they have not been as lucky as this.
Apologies for being a little negative, but I am very disillusioned with the whole journalism/work for free/who you know not what you know network.
It seems the industry is very much an elitist and exclusive one, and excludes many people, yet media companies, publishers etc, are doing very little to change this.
@Lynsey Barber
I’m very aware that it is EXTREMELY difficult to get a full-time paid job in journalism right now – and by publishing this story I certainly did not mean to imply that it was easy!
However, Rose got in touch with me directly to tell me that she had managed it, despite the circumstances and I thought it was important to show that although it is FAR from easy, occasionally some people do manage to get through. Running a careers advice website, it can be difficult to strike the right balance between ‘Go for your dreams!’ and ‘Be realistic’ – but I never like to tell anybody to give up on something they really want to pursue. Just as long as it’s an informed decision and they understand the risks.
And as you know from the blog, I’m well aware of journalism’s widespread use of unpaid interns – which we all know is totally illegal… Hmm, could this be why the story isn’t given more coverage, I wonder? ; ) xx
Oh, I hope I didn’t come across as sarcastic with my comment! It really is nice to hear that people do make it, and gives me some encouragement!
I’m just jealous
You were spot on saying ‘Risk and uncertainty are part of the deal now, as journalism faces huge challenges…’. The whole industry is changing and inevitably that is affecting recruitment and training. It is both risky and exciting.
Sorry to be a pedant Rose, but you couldn’t have just ‘taken’ a job as an actuary after graduating first time around. It’s something you have to work your way up towards over many years – unless you got exemptions for every exam in your economics degree. Well done on getting the position though
I note that Rose is not a media graduate – at undergraduate level, anyhow – and she has specialist experience in another career path that would undoubtedly be highly valued by Reuters. I imagine it is these unusual qualities that make her such an attractive prospect to employers, setting her apart from the crowd. This would not only be in respect to the insight gained, but also her maturity and commitment. She is clearly hard-working, yet only taking on her first permanent post in the industry at 30. The delay can be partially attributed to her entry route, but then it is this route that (likely) allowed her to get a job. I can imagine this might in fact be rather troubling to a 21/22 year old, fresh out of university, and hoping to go straight into a career in the media.