There are two key ideas you should keep in mind as you navigate the journalism job market in these tough times – versatility and flexibility. Let’s talk about each.
Versatility
Versatility in this context means having as many skills as possible to help you succeed as a 21st century journalist. We talk more specifically here about the skills - such as digital photography, webpage creation and page layout – that you can acquire to make yourself more marketable.
But in a broader sense, versatility is about more than just learning to blog or shoot digital video. It’s about being open to new challenges and being open-minded about the changing nature of the news business in general. It means understanding - and accepting - that the news business is very different today compared to just five years ago, and that it will be even more different five years from now.
Change, in other words, is the name of the game right now. Being versatile means being ready to meet the challenges that change brings.
Flexibility
Flexibility in this context has several meanings. In the broadest sense it means understanding that the journalism career you actually have may end up being very different from the one you had planned.
For instance, you may have dreamed of a career as a writer for a big magazine. But with newspapers and magazines in decline, you may find yourself working at a website instead. Or you may dream of being a photo journalist but find yourself doing layout and graphic design.
In other words, your first, second and even third job in journalism may not be your dream job. But being flexible also means being open to the possibility that your dream job may end up being one you never dreamed you’d be doing.
Geographic Flexibility
Geographic flexibility is also important. You may dream of working in New York City or Washington, D.C. But if jobs are scarce in the Big Apple and the nation’s capital, you’re going to need to look elsewhere.
Likewise, you may tell yourself that you can never leave your hometown and the family and friends you have there. But to be realistic you must understand that journalism can be a transient profession, and that in the end you have to go where the jobs are.
