Journalism is an exciting, fast-paced, and interesting career where no two days are the same. Journalists can work for newspapers, TV stations, websites, magazines and radio stations. Most of the time, the best way to get into a career as a journalist is to earn a relevant degree, although you might be able to get into the field through an apprenticeship. If you’ve decided that a career in journalism is a good fit for you, here’s the experience and qualifications you’ll need to beat the competition.
Qualifications:
There are two common routes into journalism, which include earning an undergraduate journalism degree, or taking an undergraduate degree in a different subject, followed by a master’s degree in journalism. You can search journalism courses at University Compare; a website where you can look at all the different degree options available, where to study them, and the differences between them. When you choose where to do your degree from this list, make sure that you opt for a course that is NCTJ (National Council for the Training of Journalists) accredited if you want to eventually work for a news organisation based in the UK. You can also choose a degree with an area of specialisation, such as newspaper journalism, multimedia journalism, or broadcast journalism.
Blogging:
While studying for your degree in journalism, using your spare time to start a blog can be a great way to get relevant experience in your career and make valuable connections that will help you when looking for work in the future. A strong blog and a large Twitter following will help you get noticed by potential employers who are looking for new hires that have a solid understanding of online journalism. And, many postgraduate degree courses will expect applicants to have blogging experience and an active Twitter account with a large following, so this will be extremely helpful if you want to go on to get a master’s in journalism in the future.
Choosing the Right University:
Most universities in the UK will offer a course in journalism, but not all of them are created equal. Along with making sure that you are only applying to NCTJ accredited courses, you might want to consider other accreditations, such as the BJTC (Broadcast Journalism Training Council) if you are considering a career in radio journalism. You should also look at the facilities, reputation, teaching staff, course content, and where journalism graduates from a particular university go on to study further or work. Bear in mind that journalism graduates who have a wide range of skills tend to have more options in the job market, so it’s worth considering a course that teaches extra skills such as data journalism, financial reporting, or video production.
Getting Work Experience:
While there will be plenty of opportunities for you to get valuable work experience as you study, the experience that matters the most is that you get after graduating. Typically, your first job will be working as a junior reporter, covering any stories that are allocated to you. Generally, these jobs are long-term contracts rather than short-term, which is great if you’re looking for a position with plenty of security, which isn’t always the case when working in the media. However, starting salaries are low, so you might want to consider freelancing for more than one news organisation, something that will become more accessible to you as you build up your experience and contacts.
Working as a journalist is a very exciting career choice. Finding the right university and course to study, however, is just the beginning; start focusing on building your network and experience as early as possible.
