Jessica Haney | Nov. 17, 2010
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| Photo by Jessica Haney |
| Michael Koretzky talked to SPJ members and other students via Skype about ways to find journalism jobs in unexpected places during a Tuesday night meeting. A journalist and former university adviser, Koretzky operates South Florida Media Jobs website. |
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“I guarantee that you’re going to have one job in your life that you didn’t even know existed right now,” said Koretzky, who has worked as a journalist and a university publications adviser, and who operates South Florida Media Jobs, where he tracks the job market and provides leads for that region.
Speaking via Skype in the Ernie Pyle Hall lounge, Koretzky presented a version of his talk, “Weird Careers in Journalism,” which he has given at journalism conferences and workshops around the country. IU SPJ members heard his talk at the recent SPJ national conference in Las Vegas and decided other IU students needed to hear his advice, too.
Koretzky suggested looking beyond traditional print publications. For example, the best sports journalism jobs are in sports, not journalism, he said. Places like PGA hire journalists more often than sports sections of newspapers.
Alternative papers like those of Village Voice Media are also looking for staff writers, restaurant critics and calendar editors. Business wires, industry and niche magazines, and public relations jobs also offer places for journalists to use their skills. A drug counseling company’s PR department may seek journalists to write gripping Intervention-like stories to inspire donations, for example.
“Don’t be elitist if you want to work,” said Koretzky.
The traditional journalism hubs still are hiring, he said, but not for the traditional jobs. Rather than hiring a budding reporter, dailies might be more likely look for a “home page producer.”
“Your youth actually works for you, not against you,” said Koretzky, as some young people may be more tech-savvy than older, displaced professionals.
In the second half of Koretzky’s presentation, he offered resume and interview advice.
“You resumes aren’t going to get you a job,” he said. “They get you a call back.”
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| Photo by Jessica Haney |
| Students filled the Ernie Pyle Hall lounge for the meeting, where they heard resume suggestions as well as tips to find jobs. |
- Employers assume you have education, so list experience first.
- List computer skills in two ways—what you’re proficient in and what you’re knowledgeable in. Proficiency requires a complete understanding.
- Do include retail jobs, under one condition: You worked there for a really long time.
- Do include at least three references, two of which are from professionals.
SPJ members who invited Koretzky thought his advice may be especially useful now.
“People are doing internship applications now and seniors are starting to look for jobs,” said Stephanie Doctrow, IU chapter secretary.
Doctrow found Koretzky’s speech helpful because it highlighted options.
“You might not get that job in New York right out of school,” she said, but there are lots of places to start.
Junior Amelia Chong also felt better about the possibilities after hearing a variety of career paths. “I think there’s hope if you think out of the box enough,” she said.
Koretzky was on the board of national SPJ and worked with campus chapters, including devising the First Amendment Free Food Festival, a free speech exercise used on many campuses in the last few years, including IU and IUPUI.
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