What I wish I’d known when I was starting out as a journalist

You will never have as much time as when you’re at university. Use it wisely.

1. Don’t be in it for the money. If you want to earn a decent salary at some point you’ll wind up in a role that’s more PR, marketing, management or commercially-orientated. That doesn’t make you a sell-out, by the way. Definitely aim to be the next Malcolm Gladwell, but don’t bank on it.
2. Write for anyone who asks. And then some. Everyone you work for offers you the opportunity to a) one day land the dream job; and b) learn something new. Turn nothing down at the beginning.
3. You don’t need to pick a speciality. When I went to university I was only interested in politics. Reality really hit when I got my first job and had to write about healthcare, then about small business, then about education. Now I oversee a huge range of content, and write about everything from US elections and cost of housing to why I hate music festivals and whether or not Clueless is a feminist movie. Maybe back in the physical publication days you had to pick a path and stick with it but that’s not the case anymore. The more you write, the better, and if you’re versatile that can only be a good thing.
4. Blog as much as you can. Make sure you have a blog which showcases your work and is updated regularly with new, high quality content. If you’re not great at editing your own work, make a deal with a friend or colleague to proof-read for each other. I won’t commission writers with typos and spelling mistakes in their blog posts. It’s unprofessional and lazy — a look to avoid at all costs.
5. Business cards are pointless. For the money it would cost to get them printed buy a portable phone charger instead, so that you can find people on Twitter the instant you meet them, get them to follow you back so that you can DM them and send people emails on the spot. Which brings me to my next point…
6. Network, but do it properly. It’s great to go to as many events as possible, but it’s not enough. You need to be ready to hold interesting, intelligent conversations. Make people remember you and always, always follow up. I’m still *slightly* bitter about vague connections I made when I was at university that I failed miserably at following up. I met amazing people like Joanna Geary, Mehdi Hasan, Laurie Penny and Patrick Smith and just couldn’t muster up the confidence to maintain the conversation. Don’t have those regrets.
7. Learn to market your content. If you can prove that you know how to create content that drives thousands of people to your site, imagine what you could do with the resources at your disposal at a media org? That’s exactly what interviewers will be thinking. Understand basic SEO, learn to use analytics, watch webinars, read sites like Digiday, Econsultancy or the Guardian Media Network to keep up-to-date with latest trends. It’s always been a writer’s job to get people to read and talk about their work, it’s just that now it’s easier to prove how good you are at it.
8. Understand social media. If you’re younger than everyone else in the room, you need to turn that into a positive. “Getting” social media is crucial, and I don’t just mean posting everything you write on Twitter and Facebook and hoping for the best. Understand what works where, beyond the obvious channels — how can you harness Instagram and Snapchat? What are the key communities Google+? Why did that one article get 70% of its referrals from Pinterest? This kind of information is gold dust, don’t think it’s beneath you, regardless of the type of content you’re creating.
9. Pitch well, often and to the right people. My ratio with pitching features and comment is: a third will never get back to you — it’s fine to follow up, but only once; a third will get back to you to reject the idea, almost always because you pitched to the wrong person, the story didn’t fit with the publication or they’ve already run something similar; a third will be accepted, of which only about half will be paid. Honestly the best way to learn to pitch well is to be on the receiving end. Do as much research as you can, pitch as well as possible, don’t be annoying, ask for feedback and do NOT count on freelance income unless you have a contact book the size of a dictionary and a hefty savings account.
10. Consume the kind of content you want to create. If you want to be a BuzzFeed reporter, don’t exclusively read the Daily Mail. (Actually, don’t read the Mail full stop if you can possibly avoid it. Please.) Do vary your intake though. The best possible way to be inspired is to consume and you should do so as much and as broadly as possible. Read the headlines every morning without fail, read non-fiction books, listen to Radio 4 and NPR, watch VICE documentaries, follow bloggers from around the world. It’s all building up in your mind and will lead you to something great.
11. Everything is copy. No, but really, it is. You need to start thinking about life differently. Every day something will happen to you that could be a first-person piece. Every person you meet has a great story you could turn into a cover feature. Your job is to find them.
12. Don’t focus on the big names. It’s awesome to work at a big publication that people have heard of and admire, but it’s much harder to evolve as a journalist and learn new skills. Don’t dismiss smaller independent sites where you’ll get the chance to broaden your scope and really understand what you enjoy and what you’re good at.
13. Get a thicker skin. It does hurt a bit when you’re really proud of something you create and then you get comments telling you to just go and kill yourself, that you are fat and ugly, that you are “literally a cancer” (true story). This is sadly particularly true for women and people of colour (the internet sucks sometimes). You just need to learn to let it wash over you. Same with the disappointment of rejection. It’s all happening because you’re being pro-active with your life, and it’s definitely worth it.
14. Have a lot of goals. When I was 17 my dream was to be the editor of the NY Times, but that dream dwindled away pretty quickly. I now have a spreadsheet with a list of publications I want to write for, which is currently on 82. The good thing is, that everytime I can highlight just one out of those 82, I’ve succeeded in a goal, and I can do that a lot quicker than I can become the editor of the NY Times.
15. Remember how it feels to get your first byline. If you’re not exhilarated, overwhelmed, bursting with pride, short of breath and beaming like a Cheshire cat, then this might not be for you. But if you are, then keep at it because that feeling keeps getting bigger and better and more and more addictive and it’s what will make you get out of bed everyday and do it all over again.

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