The Job Fair

I had an interesting chat with Bob, a friend in Birmingham, last night.

Bob and I both love writing and photography, though Bob is light years ahead of me in the latter department. But we are in the same boat nonetheless in terms of figuring out what we want to do after we graduate. We both have a ton of things we'd like to do.

The conversation came to an end as Bob said something incredibly true.

"If you do what you love and you do it well, somebody will find you."

I couldn't agree more. While I would love to go into magazines because they allow more space to write and opportunities like photography that newspapers don't, I realize that it's not a medium you just hop into. It's competitive and takes work. Since most of my experience is with newspapers, that's the most likely route I'll take to better my writing and get into magazines.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to attend the Alabama Press Association Job Fair on Samford University's campus. It was a full day of interviewing with newspapers from around the state for about 15 minutes a piece. 

I was able to talk to the big three: The Birmingham News, The Mobile Press-Register and The Huntsville Times. I also spoke with some smaller papers, but to be honest, the larger ones were way more encouraging in regards to comments on my resume, and actual possibility of a job. The economy has really hurt my field, smaller papers especially. This means cutting back on jobs and hiring less people.

However, for bigger papers, things are better somewhat. The representative from Birmingham told me that they were offering a summer internship, which I told him I would gladly accept if offered. We had a good chat that ended with him saying he will be handing my resume over to the executive editor with a recommendation. Huntsville and Mobile were good conversations too and delved deeply into the online world of journalism and my skills other than writing, which is pleasantly refreshing since I love photography and design as well.

Overall things went pretty well and if nothing comes from it I got a lot of good interview experience in. I'm going to take Bob's advice and stop stressing so much. Why should I when I know that I am good at and love to do so many things like music, writing, etc. There's no reason.

They are gifts from God, not burdens, and if I perform them to the best of my ability He will provide.

Cheers.