Make employers take notice

When discussing young Canadian journalists, many tend to
fall into the trap of referring to name brand j-schools (J-Source is often at fault too), but the reality is that there are some fantastic smaller schools out there that are graduating students just as
qualified as their big name counterparts. But what happens when your glowing
resume still doesn’t land you a job?

A recent journalism grad wrote to Joe Grimm, of
Poynter Online’s “Ask the Recruiter” column, asking this very question. The
writer has worked with 10 media organizations, including six daily news
internships, has won multiple awards, but attends a small j-school and can’t
seem to get an in anywhere.

He’s undoubtedly qualified, and Grimm wrote that he
should not fret, but acknowledged the fact that attending a small school means
that he will be less visible to employers. That is, recruiters aren’t going to
come a’knocking. But, we’re also in the middle of a recession, so recruiters
are few and far between, anyway.

So what to do? “If the recruiters don’t come to you,”
Grimm wrote back, “you have to go to them.”

“Build your network. Get active in journalism
associations that can put you in contact with people at the newsrooms you want
to work in. Attend workshops. Ask for informational interviews at those
newsrooms.”

So the moral of this story is to keep your chin up and
your ear to the ground, and perhaps take solace in the fact that students
at those brand name schools are also having a hard time finding work (trust
me).