Thursday, February 16, 2012

How to Land a Media Job: My Takeaways

Last week, I had the opportunity to attend “How to Land a Media Job: Tips for Seniors,” a media panel co-sponsored by Tufts Career Services and the Communications & Media Studies Department. The event featured five panelists, who represented five different media professions: children’s production, advertising, film production, local reporting, and public radio. For those who didn’t attend, I thought I’d share a brief overview the event, the who’s who in the panel, and what I gathered about the state of modern media.

Before I go on, let me introduce the five panelists. They were friendly and personable, combining the serious stuff with colorful anecdotes. And they were honest, unafraid to tell us, point-blank, who they would hire and what it takes to get in the door.

Carol Greenwald: Senior Executive Producer of Children’s Programs at Boston’s WGBH. She manages the production of popular kid’s shows like Arthur and Curious George. (Who doesn’t love Arthur?)

John Davidow: The Executive Editor of New Media at WBUR Radio (and a proud Tufts alum). He oversees the content of WBUR’s hip new website.

Molly Crean: A Junior Recruiter and Internship Coordinator at Arnold Worldwide, responsible for recruiting new and creative talent to the ad-world.
Richard Lodge: Editor-in-Chief of GateHouse Media West and Metro Units, a daily newspaper that covers local community news.

Evan Mark Rimer: Assistant to the President at Anschutz Film Group, a subsidiary of Walden Media. Evan recruits new film projects and oversees film development.

At first, I figured this would be yet another helpful albeit depressing panel about the hopelessness of media. This would be temporarily confirmed by a comical film clip, featuring two cartoon characters discussing journalism. “I want to work for the New York Times,” the first cartoon robotically said. “You will not work for the NY Times,” retorted its pessimistic counterpart. “You will report insignificant stories and get laid off and move to the middle of Kansas”. (Okay, totally not the real dialogue, but you get the jist.)

The ominous mood was set. But as the event went on, and as each panelist opened up about his or her colorful media jobs, we all relaxed. What I took away instead was a much more complicated view of the industry. Media is struggling, yes, but it’s also rapidly transforming, now more than ever looking to recruit new talent.

So, the question we all want to know: what does it take to land a media job? The panelists first emphasized the importance of relevant internship and work experience. Prior experience shows that you are capable of handling professional media tasks and can thrive in fast-paced work culture. Interestingly enough, Carol also stressed prior employment, whether at your local supermarket or DQ. As she put it bluntly, employers like seeing that you know what it means to have a job.

In the vein of digitalization, the panelists—Richard particularly—said they love those with a versatile skill set. They are always eager to fill, “what’s not there”. So if you have a penchant for say, photography or slide-show making, or perhaps HTML coding, make this clear! Even if you aren’t too comfortable with digital tools, there’s still plenty of time to learn. Also, it’s always a plus to be familiar with social media and online news sites. Yes, they’re ultra-experienced, but these media veterans want to learn too. As Richard said, “I want you to teach me something new.”

The employers also touted writing as the most important skill for media success. Even more than your GPA, your clips prove that you have knack for clearly and concisely relaying information. So what to do now? Write, write, write. Publish news stories. Blog (even if it’s about your love life). Tweet. Force your friends to follow you. As these panelists stressed, we should do all what we can to cultivate our writing voice and just publicize ourselves. And it’s good practice while we work towards the days when we’ll see our byline in some glossy magazine.

Of course, the panel couldn’t end without discussing the all-too-important networking process. Each panelist encouraged us to cultivate as many connections as possible—particularly key for breaking into media, which essentially thrives on networking. In this block of time before the actual job-applying season (most media jobs have a 2-3 week turnaround period) the best thing we can do is establish a large web of contacts, which we should continue to build and build. The larger our networking pool, the higher the likelihood of being nudged toward a job.

But say you don’t have a readily accessible pool of media contacts to schmooze with. The reporter attendees, particular Richard, encouraged the die-hard journalists to try cold-calling newsroom. Isn’t that what journalism is about, anyway? Of course, it’s important to do your research—to know who exactly you’re speaking with and to plan a smart, well-planned pitch. You never know where just one phone call could lead.

The final take-away - for me at least? If you love everything media, just go for it. The panelists were honest about some of the less-than-promising trends. But beyond this, they conveyed a rare passion for their current careers and a staunch dedication to exploring its exciting future. It’s this love for communicating information—the writing, the reading, the filming, the reporting—that makes these challenges and budget-cuts well-worth it. As proud members of this next online-savvy generation, we’re the ones media is depending on.