Not only am I a recent J-school grad, I also have a prior liberal arts degree, one year on the copy desk of a midsized daily and was a reporting intern this summer for a weekly in Washington, D.C. Still, the closest I've come to an interview is a letter of rejection thanking me for my efforts but passing because of my inexperience.
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I agree that I need more experience, but how can I gain it if no editor is willing to take a chance? Perhaps my cover letter just sucks, or maybe my clips are dull, I don't know. Seemingly, I never will because no one ever returns my e-mails, not even to say I should go back into sales.
Any advice (or commiseration) would help me greatly.
Patrick
You have my commiseration -- and lots of company.
Of course people can get hired with less than five years of experience. That's how we all started. My guess is that you'll need to apply to smaller or more remote places.
As for the feedback, you'll get very little from editors unless they are seriously interested in helping you get to your paper -- and if they have time -- which they seem to have less and less of. That may be why the responses are so slow in coming.
I'd go back to a former professor or employer -- someone who knows you and wants to see you succeed -- and ask for a critique. Then, I would recalibrate my job search based on your responses (or lack of them) to date and the advice of your mentors.
Coming Thursday: He knows he can get an internship, but asks whether he is past the point where he should accept one.
