A Career as a Journalist - Is it For You?

Journalism is an exciting profession and today there are many people that are interested in starting a career as a journalist themselves. While the career choice is an exciting one, the competition is definitely fierce and breaking into this type of a career is definitely difficult. There are both pros and cons about starting out a career in journalism, so it's important that you learn as much as possible about this career before deciding to pursue it. Here is some helpful information that can help you to make your choice of whether this is a career that is a good fit for you.

All About the Job
First of all, it's important that you take a look at the job that a journalist has. Essentially journalists not only write the news stories, but they also spend the time gathering up the information needed for these stories as well. Stories that are written by journalists can end up being published in magazines, newspapers, and even on the web. There are also journalists that are involved in radio and television.

In order to get the information that they need, journalists spend much of their time observing, taking a close look at related documents, and interviewing persons of interest. Some of the events that a journalist often covers can include rallies, accidents, political news, and more.

Meeting deadlines is very important to journalists, whether they work in private offices, or at a cubicle in a large room. The hours are often long in this line of work as well, and the hours can be odd too. Traveling is often a part of the job, and often in order to make deadlines, it requires extra time at work or even changing their schedule around in order to follow a story that they need to cover.

Preparation for Becoming a Journalist
If you are interested in becoming a journalist, you are going to have to spend some time in preparation. To break into the career, usually it is preferred that you have a BA degree in journalism. Experience is important, and can include working at the newspaper while in college or at the college's broadcasting station. There are internships available with various news organizations that can be pursued, which can help you to land a great job in the future.

It's important that you learn to speak and write in a clear and effective manner. You must be able to use a computer efficient, and in some cases the ability to speak another language can be important. Some of the college courses that are definitely helpful include computer science, speech, and writing classes.

Potential Earnings
Before you decide that becoming a journalist is the career for you, you probably would like to know a bit more about the potential earnings. Well, the earnings for a journalist can vary greatly. Usually journalists that are younger make quite a bit less. Most journalists between 20-24 only make about $600-700 each week, while those with more experience come closer to making $1000 a week. However, in some big time journalism jobs, there is the ability to make substantially more each week, depending on the company that you work for.

The Job Market
The job market for those in journalism is about average. While it is not growing at a huge rate, it is not on the decline either. Since the job market is not growing, it does make the field a highly competitive one, making it more difficult to get a job in the field.

Tips for Getting a Job as a Journalist
Since there is so much competition out there if you want to land a job as a journalist, it's important that you are prepared for searching for a job. Even a great education is not enough today. Here are a few tips that can help you to land a good journalist job.

Tip #1 - Start Networking - Networking is going to be one of the most important things when trying to get a career in journalism started. Make friends with people in the business. It can help you land a job in the future.

Tip #2 - Write a Killer Resume - When you're searching for journalist jobs, your resume is going to be one of the most important tools to help you land the job. You have only a short time to impress a prospective employer with your resume. This means the resume has to be job specific, it must highlight your qualifications, and it must grab the attention of the reader.

Tip #3 - Use the Internet - Today more and more job postings are on the web. This makes it much easier for you to find the job as a journalist that you want. Check out job boards and actively search for journalism jobs on the web.

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