Getting a Job

If you are lucky, your journalism course will include a regular newspaper placement and you will already have convinced them to offer you a job.

If not, then as the end of the course approaches you need to think about applying for jobs. There are lots of local papers out there and it is worth spending time researching to find out the best one for you. After all, your decision is likely to have a big impact on the rest of your life.

Which Newspaper To Apply For

The simple advice is to go to the best paper that will have you. By this, I mean one of the regional papers that covers a big city such as the Liverpool Echo or the Manchester Evening News. The reason for this is that you will be working on an interesting patch, and also working for a well-respected paper. But bear in mind that these are tough times for the local and regional press and you may not have the luxury of choice.

If there is not an opening at one of these, then try for another daily newspaper. Then look at a well-respected paid-for weekly. If you do not have any luck there, then go for a weekly free paper. Think about the area a newspaper covers, as this will give you a good idea of the kind of stories you are likely to be writing. If you have a particular interest in farming, for instance, then it would make sense to work for a paper that covers an area with a strong farming community.

Also, think about how many big stories are likely to be happening in the newspaper's circulation area. For example, I knew a journalist who had worked at the News Shopper in South East London and despite it being a free paper she got to cover stories such as the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry and the building of the Millennium Dome.

I used to cover Lambeth for the South London Press. Again, the newspaper is only published twice a week, but this was made up for by the opportunity to regularly work on national stories.

The other thing to consider is your next career move. If you want to eventually progress to being a national journalist then one of the ways to do this is to get freelance shifts in your spare time to get your foot in the door. Because every national paper is based in London, this is much easier to do if you live and work somewhere within easy reach of the capital.

It is also important to base part of your decision on who already works there, as these are the people who will be teaching you how to be a journalist. Are the editor, news editor and senior reporters people who you want to emulate. If not, then why would you want to work with them?

Finally, make sure you read the paper carefully before you apply. Are the sort of stories they run the sort of stories you want to work on? Is their style the sort of journalism you want to write?

Think About Money

Because of how poorly journalists are paid, your finances are likely to play a big part in where you work. Many trainees work at their parents' local paper because it offers the chance to live somewhere rent-free.

For many people, the thought of moving back in with mum and dad after all that freedom at university can be a sobering one. It is true that you can get by on a trainee journalist's wages, but you have to be prepared to live somewhere that is not very nice and to struggle to get by.

If living with your parents is not an option, then the good thing about the big regionals is they tend to be in areas where the cost of living in not so high. I know from working at the South London Press that living in London on a journalist's salary is hard. And this was when I was a senior reporter.

Applying For a Job

The best way to sell yourself to a newspaper is to go there on work experience and do well. Even if they do not have any work experience vacancies, it is worth writing a speculative application letter.

The other way is to look for job adverts and holdthefrontpage.co.uk is probably the best place to look for them. Make sure you explain why you want to be a journalist and what experience you already have. Also, make sure your application is well written with concise and clear sentences and absolutely no mistakes. After all, with precious few journalism jobs available at the moment, it is even more important that your application stands out.

Remember that you are applying for a job as a professional writer and as well as giving details of your experience, your application is a chance to prove that you can write well.

I have lost count of the number of job applications I have received that have listed writing ability as a strength, only for the covering letter to be littered with mistakes.

Job Interviews

The advice for job interviews for journalists is very much the same as general interview advice and there are countless books and websites dedicated to the theory of this.

But as a journalist, you also need to make sure you have read the newspaper you are applying to work for. When I was at the Watford Observer there was one job applicant who did not even know if it was a broadsheet or a tabloid.

"To arrive at an interview having not read at least a couple of copies of the title to have a broad understanding of the issues affecting a community is criminal," according to Bath Chronicle editor Sam Holliday.

Interviewees will often be asked for their views on the paper and you should have something intelligent to say. You will get bonus points if you can talk about the latest edition and comment on things like the news value of stories and whether there are any things you would have done differently.

It is OK to disagree with decisions that have been made in putting the paper together. But go easy, as the decisions you are criticising are quite likely to have been made by the person interviewing you. While it's good to include some criticism to avoid looking sycophantic, it's better to focus on the things you like.

Also, it is worth making sure you know the Press Complaints Commission's Code of Practice off by heart. Some interviewers ask questions based on it to test your knowledge.

It is also important to have some questions of your own to ask. Chris Walker, regional managing editor for Trinity Mirror North West & North Wales, believes this is important because asking questions is one of the fundamentals of journalism. "An editor will not be impressed by any candidate who appears not to be able to think of anything to ask," he said.