BY ZOE WICKENS
via stmarys
It’s incredibly well known today that there are not many jobs for university graduates out there. This is quite a daunting fact, something that to be completely honest, absolutely terrifies me. I doubt there will be anything that could make me change my mind about wanting to be a journalist, but the knowledge that it can be exceptionally difficult to not just find a job but get far enough into an application to secure an interview can make many rethink their life choices.
When I decided I wanted to be a journalist at the age of fifteen, the media industry was very different to how it is now. I somewhat naively assumed I could get a good job in journalism within a few months of graduating. At the time, that was probably true but six years later, that is certainly not the case. I’ve lost count of the number of jobs I’ve applied for. I’ve widened my search for internships, almost all of which are unpaid, meaning I would have to have a part time job on the side in order to pay bills. London is definitely the place for journalism jobs, but who can afford to live in the capital on a part time pay cheque working an internship and still keeping up the search for the journalism job dreamt of at night? Not many have the money behind them to do this, I certainly don’t. Do you see the problem? It’s tough.
My three years at a London university studying to become a journalist and watching my money disappear on rent, travel and food – all of which are on the rise – has taught me an awful lot about life. I worked very hard at college in my native East Sussex in order to get to the position I’m in now, including putting myself through an A-Level in French, one of the hardest things I have ever done, because I thought it would make me stand out. It was so difficult that I grew to hate it. It’s very easy to fall into the belief that none of it matters because I am struggling just like the thousands of other soon to be journalist graduates to find a job, despite knowing that they have been well educated. Everyone who has ever been job hunting knows how dejecting this is.
The worst part of journalism job applications and actually, all types of job applications is the word “experience.” I can’t count the amount of times that I’ve read a job application description and thought: “I don’t have that exact experience, but I could learn.” So far, this has always been followed with a rejection response or even worse, no reply at all. Experience can mean a variety of things but the majority of the time, employers are trying to say that they want applicants who have had experience in the exact part of the industry the job is in. Whilst this would be very helpful, not every graduate will have that experience or have had the chance to for financial reasons or simply a lack of time. Lots of students work a part time job alongside studying, when they’re not working shifts or on essays, there isn’t much time in the day left. I can guarantee though that every single person who is not experienced would try their utmost to learn as much as they can and never stop asking questions in order to catch up with the rest of the team.
We can prove that we’re worthy of the job, I promise. We’ve just got to be given the chance.
read it and reflect 