Ideal Job

Ideal first job in Sports Journalism

When I started this course I came in with the idea that a job in print would be ideal, as I have long had a passion for it and to this day I still believe this is the case. Yet looking it from a realist angle, jobs in print are had to come by, even for work experience. Therefore a role in a broadcast company would be more suitable as having studied the certain angles in both radio and TV classes I feel I have something to offer in that role. The roles are less exclusive and a role such as a member of the production team in the mould Skysports would be beneficial.

Having said that I still feel I have the capabilities to be a sound print worker. I would work great in a print environment and use the ability of working under pressure to good effect. With most of the national press based in London, and with me not living far from Central London. A job in print would again be more suited as the place of the publication is never a train journey away. Incidentally that would allow me not to move from my current residence and help me financially without having to think about paying rent etc.

In print, roles tend to be limited as only so much can go into a paper, only certain amounts of features would be allowed in etc. Yet in the field of sport a lot of matches are on the weekend which is the main days for sport, which allows a number of opportunities to cover certain matches, that means publication will be looking for a number of people to cover matches up and down the country. The print environment is often hectic with x amount of copies being subbed or written, my role would involve me typing up my reports/feature and sending it out to the subs. I will often be asked to interview people, therefore I might be out of the office more with my notepad and writing down quotes. Which I thoroughly enjoy.

The main issue of getting that job, is exactly that. Getting into the industry. I have to be able to put myself around whether that is writing for different publications or getting contacts. Journalists stress the issue of ‘right place at the right time’, and I have to find the places or people that allow inroads into that field or I will find myself in a no better position when I started the course. For me the main skill that I lack, is the ability to type fast, it may seem trivial but you always need to be quick with the copies and slow typing does not help the progress. Yet there is an easy solution to that, that is practice and that goes for most journalistic skills such as teeline and subbing. Self-improvement has always been important to me and I feel that people never stop improving and learning, therefore I feel all my current skills can be improved, over the past year I have improved my people skills vastly, that is due to the work that I have been involved with such as talking to people I don’t know.
Work experience is an important learning curve and I shall be working hard to able to receive opportunities to get placements. The experience of working in that journalistic environment will prove invaluable in years to come. The important thing is motivation, journalists have to get used to people saying no, and that will happen a lot when looking for a placement.