Is it true that journalism is becoming elitest because many graduates can’t afford to work for nothing?
“Definitely. 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. But some people do manage it – I know someone juggling work experience with a temping job and she’s really close to getting a permanent, paid job now. Other people do what I did and juggle bits of paid freelance work with unpaid internships. 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. It’s a constant battle that requires enormous stamina and determination. It’s no coincidence that journalists are such terriers – you have to be, to get into the industry.”
Isn’t journalism in a real mess at the moment, with people being laid off? What sort of response can eager young graduates expect when starting out?
“There is panic about the way that journalism – especially print – is going. There’s a general mood of unease. I’ve also noticed there aren’t enough people in editorial teams, due to cut budgets and a few redundancies, which means bigger workloads and longer hours for staff. On the up-side, that means newcomers are being given more opportunities to write or produce stories. It’s also exciting for junior journalists to see how the industry is reacting to social media and the internet – and to be here to witness all these huge changes. So the actual work is still great, it is just the lack of payment and security that’s the problem.”
NEXT: Rose’s tips on standing out from the crowd
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.
Journalism seems like one of those awkward careers where you have to do free stuff for a period of time before people take you seriously. Good for you for getting the job, but it’s a career process I’ve never really understood.