Your first journalism job can be both exciting and overwhelming. On the one hand, you’ve stood out in the job market and you’re finally getting experience, but on the other hand, day-to-day tasks can overwhelm you and make you lose sight of the bigger picture.
An entry-level job is often your first chance to make a good impression on leaders and potential mentors and to build your professional network. NBC News, MSNBC, Telemundo, NBC Sports and NBC Olympics experts share their best career advice in the above video and the following comments.
What advice do you have for looking for your first job or starting your first job?
Emilie Ikeda, NBC News Correspondent: Don’t be afraid of rejection. I remember I made an Excel spreadsheet when I was applying for my very first job and I literally included dozens of different local news stations across the country. I maybe got three interviews from that, and it landed the job. It’s about getting your foot in the door, getting that first job.
Brie Jackson, NBC News Channel Washington Correspondent: When applying to your first role in the industry, I think you should keep in mind that just as much as someone is interviewing you, you should be interviewing the company. Make sure it’s a good fit for you, it’s a good culture for you and it fits your goals.
Jack Felling, NBC Sports VP and Coordinating Producer, Original Content: You’re probably not going to get a road map on your first day. There’s a lot of smart people who want to do this for a living. Make yourself indispensable, make it so that your boss can’t imagine doing this job without you.
Lauren Peikoff, MSNBC Live Events Executive Producer: Create a network of people that you can rely on for advice. It should be people in all different levels of their career. You should be always looking to build those relationships. Build your own network, your own council of advisers if you will, that you can go to for guidance for support. And you can rely on one another.
Molly Solomon, NBC Olympics Production Executive Producer and President: It takes a village. But it also takes leaders of a village to seek you out, help you along the way to give you lessons and really honest feedback. You need people out there to advocate for you, but sometimes you need to seek them out too.
Marquise Francis, NBC News Digital Reporter: Don’t wait for someone to give you an opportunity; create opportunity. If you want to be on video, open up your cellphone. Flip it around and start a YouTube report on the news as if you were at an anchor desk. When the opportunity does come, you have something to show for it.
Jane Timm, NBC News Political Reporter: It’s important to write the stories that you want to read and to chase the stories that you’re interested in.
Allie Raffa, NBC News Correspondent: Never underestimate the value of each and every conversation you have. Whether it’s through a story or just learning more about a topic, it will help you long-term. Always be willing to raise your hand for that extra shift, that extra task that you may not feel so comfortable doing. If you learn those extra skills, that will all pay off long-term.
There are a million paths to get to the same destination in this industry. Some are more conventional and some are more unconventional. But don’t get bogged down and stressed out comparing yourself to others when everyone’s path is different.
What traits do you need to succeed in your career?
Jose Cancela, Telemundo Station Group President: If you want to be in journalism or the broadcast business, the one takeaway that you need to bring to the table every day is to be responsible. The word “responsibility” will carry you, no matter what aspects of business or journalism or broadcasting you decide to follow.
Peikoff: Just take a step back. Be humble, know what you don’t know.
Mike Tirico, NBC Sports Primetime Host: The ability to listen. Communicate clearly and be fearless about going forward and accomplishing a task are all very essential.
Darryl Jefferson, NBC Olympics Engineering and Technology SVP: Being a good person and being as helpful as possible to the people around you kept getting me hired. We’re all in our own ways problem-solvers. Some of those opportunities lead to fantastic storytelling.
Monica Alba, NBC News White House Correspondent: Have an insatiable curiosity about why the world works the way it does. Then have a clarity of purpose, because this job is a responsibility. And it is one that we take really, really seriously.
Steve Patterson, NBC News Correspondent: You learn a whole lot more from failing than you do from succeeding. No matter how hard [journalism] is, it’s a worthy pursuit. It is an actual job in which you are doing something where you can affect change.
