Work Experience

12:28pm Wednesday 5th September 2012 in Blogs 2013 Photograph of the Author By Amy PW

To get a job today you need a degree of some sort, let's be frank. To get a degree you need to go to university. To get into university you need to have good A levels, GCSE's, and work experience in the area you're hoping to get into. The grades are up to you, you are going to get out what you put in. However the work experience? Much harder than it sounds!

   I want to do a media journalism course, however the university I want to do it at requires you have some sort of experience in the media world. This is understandable, I guess it rules out those people who are really interested in the world of media, and those who aren't sure which course to do and are hoping for the best.

   Having said this, I have contacted many media organisations (by e-mail and telephone) and they just aren't interested unless you are already a university student working towards a degree. How am I supposed to get the experience FOR the course if the companies only want students already ON a university course?

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Comments(12)

walkerno5 says...
12:14pm Thu 6 Sep 12

I believe the usual answer is "nepotism". In your case, you might have to remind said universities just how much they're going to make out of giving you a place with the now exorbitant fees.

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FlipC - The Mad Ranter says...
11:56am Mon 10 Sep 12

So someone writing a blog for a newspaper is having trouble getting work experience in the media?

Amusement aside this is a catch-22 that's been applicable for quite some time to many trying to get a job. Welcome to the real world :-(

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stour67 says...
7:42pm Mon 10 Sep 12

just what this country need more journalists ,get a real job ie doctor nurse etc.

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Rosemary Lobley says...
8:05am Tue 11 Sep 12

Are you a doctor nurse etc, stour67? Journalists perform an important function in society, keeping the public informed and educated (unless they work for the Mail or the Sun, in which case they perform the important public service of fuelling racism and promoting 20th Century Fox movies, respectively).

Amy - journalism is a viciously competitive field, which if you're serious about getting into I'd recommend you start putting money away now to fund your inevitable unpaid internships. (I finished a journalism degree last year. I now work in a pub and a shop.) Maybe if you got in touch wih the uni they might be able to suggest places their current students did work experience, you can't be the only one having this problem; tbh I'm surprised the Shuttle wouldn't take you on - you already write for them, after all.

If you do run out of newspapers and local radio stations, it might be worth looking at press relations and PR departments, especially for local charities; or if you're any good at That Internet Thingy you could offer to design or maintain a website for a local company or something? I don't know how broadly your uni stretches the idea of 'media' work experience, but PR and online are far more growth industries than print media. Good luck!

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FlipC - The Mad Ranter says...
9:01am Tue 11 Sep 12

Perhaps worth pointing out that if everyone got a "real job" half of them would be unemployed due to the glut in the market. Also could someone define "real job" in this instance? Is it different to the "proper job" that MPs never seem to have had?

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Gobby Robby says...
9:08am Tue 11 Sep 12

Good luck Amy.
Stour67 says get a job as a doctor or nurse, is he one of those? No, obviously not. Ignore the fool.

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Amy Poduval says...
5:48pm Tue 11 Sep 12

Thanks very much for the advice Rosemary Lobley - very helpful to me so thank you. Also thanks to FlipC and Gobby Robby :) having said that, I still appreciate all the comments, constructive criticism will only improve my writing skills for my next blog - as I'm only 17 and have a lot to learn yet - so thank you! :)

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stour67 says...
8:52am Wed 12 Sep 12

rosemary has proved my point she now works in a pub because there a glut ,i worked as an engineer for over 30yrs,now as a carer,24/7,always go for degree where there's a shortage.

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FlipC - The Mad Ranter says...
10:01am Wed 12 Sep 12

Stour67 - not really; consider - There aren't many nurses around so I'll take a degree course in nursing. However everyone else has come to the same conclusion. I finish my course and enter a job market packed with newly qualified nurses creating a glut.

You need to pick a course for which there will be a shortage by the time you qualify; and if you can accurately do that you're probably better off as a stock-broker. :-)

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stour67 says...
9:02pm Fri 14 Sep 12

All my working life 35+ yrs there been a shortage of doctors and nurses why do you think half the time we cannot understand what there saying to us,because there coming from other country's to fill the spaces.

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maverickuk1 says...
8:39am Sat 15 Sep 12

Can i add my ten pence worth here, in response to the comments above why pick a course purelly on the basis of it being whats needed? errr hello youll be doing a job you hate and next thing you know youll be doing a poor job due to no job satisfaction and then you'll be unemployed as youll leave said job and then have to spend more money on retraining to do the job you wanted to do in the first place. I speak from hands on experience! enough said, good luck Amy hope you get into Uni.

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FlipC - The Mad Ranter says...
9:51am Tue 18 Sep 12

Out of interest if there's always been a shortage of doctors and nurses how come the Conservatives have managed to fire 42,000 NHS staff in two years?

I'm not saying there were all doctors and nurses, but who has to pick up the slack?

@maverickuk1 - yes you're correct; but it's a balancing act. Find something that you enjoy and look for the gap in the market that aligns with it.

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