50% of journalists got their jobs using THIS one tip
Your network of friends and contacts
By JAMES SWANWICK
DID you know that only ten percent of people find a job by applying directly to an employer?
By that, I mean sending in a resume and hoping for the best.
Ten percent!
But a full 50 percent of people find their job through a personal connection or referral.
So wouldn’t it make sense to increase and improve your personal connections?
Use your personal connections
Do you want to know how to become a journalist?
Ask any working journalist today how they got their job, and I promise you half of them will say it was through a personal connection or a personal introduction.
So how do we use our personal connections to get a job? Well, for starters, ask your friends if they know anyone who is a journalist. Then connect with that journalist and offer to buy them a cup of coffee. Ask their advice.
Ask who the editor is at the newspaper, radio or TV station you want to work at. Then contact that person. Make that person your friend. Then, when the time comes for the media organization to hire, they know you. Your chances of getting a job this way can literally multiply by 500 percent.
Most journalism wannabes will spend hours or days writing a nice resume, sending it off to countless media organizations with a nicely-worded cover letter asking to be considered for a position. But the truth is that countless studies have shown that more than 50 percent of jobs are filled through referrals.
Employers fast-track job candidates who are recommended by current employees
In the networking book, Never Eat Alone, author Keith Ferrazzi, says: “Personal contacts are the keys to opening doors. Often the most important people in our networks are acquaintances. Weak ties are more important than those you consider strong. Acquaintances represent a source of social power and the more acquaintances you have the more power you have.”
Post on your facebook page: “Hey, I’m looking for a job in journalism. Anyone work in journalism or know any journalists?”
Do the same on LinkedIn and twitter. See who comes back to you. Maybe someone will refer you to a friend they know who just happens to work at the New York Times or CNN or ESPN or Vogue. That’s all you need. That’s your in.
Then you contact that person, saying that your friend suggested you contact them. They are more likely to take you seriously then and are almost obligated to speak to you.
Offer to buy them a cup of coffee to ask their advice. Ask them if they’re hiring in their organization. Offer them story ideas. Become that person’s friend. As Ferrazzi says, “people do business with people they know and like.”
People do business with people they know and like
So, start to get interested in the journalists and editors and people who do the hiring in the jobs you’re going after.
If that’s the producer of the TV show you want to work on, find out what his interests are, so when you do get to talk to him about a job, you can chat to him about his interests. Be genuinely interested in these people, and be likable.
Talk to you soon!
James Swanwick
Author, Insider Journalism Secrets
P.S. Do you want to know how I landed my dream job as a sports reporter in London by using my personal connections? Turn to page 37 of my book, Insider Journalism Secrets and you will learn how you can do it, too!
