• what you did
• how you did it
• when
• what paid off
• and what you wished you’d done.

It would be great to share top tips with those trying to break into the industry.

I’ll go first… After graduating with a degree in Journalism Studies from the University of Sheffield, I was working as the managing editor for their student newspaper. It was an interviewed-for and paid position (not one of those elected officer ones). It was a year-long position but I consider my ‘media’ career to have started after that.

I was looking for a starting position, something like editorial assistant, junior/trainee reporter and had half a mind to look into HR.

What did I do?

• Wrote to about 50 local newspapers asking for a position as a trainee reporter
• I quite liked the Internet (it was 2004, it still had a capital i) so when I was on a site I’d look at the about us/careers information section to see if they had jobs going
• Applied for internships when I saw them (usually from those careers information sections)
• Religiously bought the Guardian on a Monday to scour the jobs bit.

Did any of this pay off?

• I drove my Citroen AX across Yorkshire and the Midlands in my only suit for about ten interviews at local papers. I even had a trial somewhere – got a byline but no pay
• Occasionally I would get a call from a job I’d applied for. They’d sound you out before inviting you for interview
• Emailing people rarely resulted in a reply
• I didn’t know anyone in the media but my journalism lecturers gave advice and support
• One day I was called up by the recruitment people at Yahoo!, I was invited to interview after filling out an application to be an intern

And bingo, you got the job at Yahoo!

Actually, no. I went for an interview in the mobile division. It was quite technical so in the week before my interview I made a website using DreamWeaver. It was a language-learning site; you had to drag a picture of an animal to the word. If it stayed you were right, but if it snapped back you were wrong.

Proud puppy though I was, the lady interviewing me thought I wasn’t quite right for the role. I was disappointed but carried on looking for my next job. A couple of weeks later I had another phone call from Yahoo! because the intern for the homepage team had been offered a job somewhere else.

They were re-interviewing so on went the suit again and I was back in London clutching the Guardian and the Metro.

I’m all about news, me!

I’d seriously swotted up on news rather than technical bits and I remember answering the question: “What would you put on the homepage today?” With the question: “Do you mean this morning or this afternoon? Because obviously this morning it would be David Beckham’s goal but that’ll be old news by this afternoon…”. My interviewer’s smile told me I’d got it. I started less than a week later.

What I wished I’d done

It took ages to get a job, I was looking for about six months, so I wish I’d put more applications in. All the job interviews I had were great – although I didn’t get a job, it made me a better interviewee.

More bylines and clippings would have helped an I definitely should have been more clear about what I wanted to do. I wanted to work in news.

More success stories

Ouch! Pete’s painful career path

Chris Wheal: My 1987 CV

Mic Wright: Work experience, internships and navigating journalism’s snakes and ladders the hard way

Ben Hazell, web publishing editor at The Telegraph

Marie Kinsey, senior university teacher, Sheffield University

Marie won Financial Broadcaster of the Year in 1990

Joke de Winter, freelance web designer

Serious accident

On a mate’s 21st birthday in Blackpool I unfortunately threw myself down the stairs of a local B&B (it had nothing to do with any alcohol or the fact it was £1.50 for a triple vodka and Red Bull). I ended up splitting my kidney into several pieces and spent the next month in Blackpool hospital.

Pete Woolford and Melinda Messinger at the BBC

While I was there I was told I was likely going to fail my final year due to the time I had missed. By that point I had more than enough of uni so was adamant I was not going to spend another year there.

I decided, from hospital, to write letters to over 80 production companies, editing houses, broadcasters, voice-over companies… anyone I could think of who may be able to offer me work experience or some guidance about finding a job in the media.

My parents bought me copious copies of ‘Broadcast’ from home for the addresses (I’d been keeping these since I was about 15!).

Fitting the job spec

I got a few replies, most saying thanks but no thanks. But two pushed me in the right direction. One was from Planet 24 as a runner on The Big Breakfast and the other was from BBC recruitment. The BBC one said try using our recruitment website and apply there. I found a role of ‘Presentation Librarian’ at Television Centre, getting all transmission material ready to be broadcast on BBC ONE and BBC TWO.

I thought I could more or less fit the job spec, so I applied for it.

I had an interview and subsequently had a phone call to say sorry I had not been successful.

In the meantime I had secured the runner’s job on The Big Breakfast. In my second week I had a pre-arranged holiday with some mates. Whilst in Slovenia I had a call from BBC recruitment asking if I was still looking for a job as the position I had applied for had come up again and I was next in line… so I snapped their hand off!

Openings and opportunities

I started the week after I came back from holiday, on 4 July 2001. I was so excited I even forgot to negotiate terms – something you really should do!

Any job in the media is incredibly competitive and the openings are often so narrow. It definitely paid off to be persistent, taking the time to keep in touch with people. Nowadays I wouldn’t write 80 letters, but I would certainly email/phone/Facebook anyone I knew to see if there is an opening or opportunity. In such a competitive industry persistence really does pay off, as does being flexible – I really didn’t know what I wanted to do – I would’ve gladly swept floors if it meant a way in. Keep an up-to-date CV and really build on any experience you have.

Even if you have shadowed someone for a day at a local radio station, use it on the CV to show you are keen and have an understanding of the industry.

It will pay off in the end!

The piece has been nominated for a Canadian Online Publishing Award.

Chickens to roost in Vancouver backyards

There’s no denying it’s a good piece of journalism – but is it web video? In Marie’s words: “Look how closely it follows broadcast conventions.”

I subscribe to the web rule that ‘simple is best’ and show the web students this video on pocket-sized journalism (from the BBC College of Journalism) as a guide to best practice.

So where does this leave web video? Is it different to broadcast video? What makes a video piece ‘web’?

I’ve been proofreading, copywriting and getting lost trying to find people in their huge building. It’s great fun and I’m expanding my experience all the time. The main thing I’ve noticed is that the style guide is king.

With this is mind I’ve tracked down a guide on how to create your own style guide. Any good web copywriter will create a bespoke one for your site when they send you the words for your site. Even a basic list to keep you consistent is a good place to start.