Swapping Selfies for Contacts

Networking is a crucial skill in any industry. In journalism it is considered a requirement, as news organisations hire people with an extensive source of contacts. This is a challenge faced by many University students, including myself. It is difficult to start your career not knowing anyone in the industry whilst being expected to make connections with people outside of your everyday life. My phone definitely has more selfies than potential contacts (admitting this probably isn’t helping my professional identity but I’m only young right?).

Attending a Uni that is a substantial distance (and by this I mean a couple of hours travel each way) from home is quite a limitation I have had to face recently. Last year I don’t think I was as worried about being a part of the Uni culture, but now I’m placing a little more emphasis on things that happen there.

QUT and its journalism society, JAMS, offer industry panel nights with journalists from all over Australia, but many are held late at night. This means a battle of the creeps when catching the train after 8:30pm, something I know all too well after late night tutorials in my first few weeks at Uni. For this reason I have declined offers to attend these panels and avoided networking.

I spoke to my parents about this and they decided I was turning down fantastic opportunities. So, thanks to their amazing support and the offer to drive into Brisbane to pick me up, I attended my first industry panel. I mean there have been a few in my lectures but this is the first one I have gone to off my own bat.

This meant a considerably long day at Uni. I had been there since 9:30am and the panel didn’t start until 7pm. With only a couple of classes there was plenty of time for some serious procrastination. I turned to both Twitter and Facebook to cure my boredom but they only sustained my interest for a couple of hours. After trying my best at researching for an upcoming assessment the clock finally ticked over.

I headed to the flashy new building, admiring just how pretty Kelvin Grove is at night and was meet with a bunch of student journalists that didn’t really know how to network. For many of us this was the first panel event we had been to. Nevertheless, everyone was lovely and I got to talk to a couple of students I hadn’t met before. After the awkward introductions and relaying our degrees I felt at ease and it was time to hear from the experts.

This particular panel focused on freelancing and feature writing as Benjamin Law, Bonnie Stevens and Andrew McMillen talked about their careers so far.

Whilst each of them were unique in their approach to interviewing (although they agreed face-to-face was by far the most important), their passion for the industry could not be clearer. As their eyes lit up it when talking about people they had meet and stories they uncovered, it was obvious they couldn’t see themselves doing anything else.

Apparently there is no such thing as a typical day and as a freelancer and you have to acknowledge that you are running your own small business, marketing yourself that way from the beginning. You have to be willing to work like an ox and produce work on the back of your own curiosity. If you don’t know what someone is talking about just ask, people tend to help those that don’t know too much. In regards to commission, if anyone offers you money to write, take it, no matter what the amount.

The final advice to us as students was this...

1. Exercise – you have to step away from the desk and let your body take some of the power away from your mind

2. Go to your lectures and tutes – the people you meet at Uni will be those working alongside you for the rest of your life, so stay connected now

3. Don’t let other people’s successors be your failures – just because someone is going places doesn’t mean what you’re doing isn’t important too

4. Get a good chair – although it sounds stupid it could be the best investment you have ever made

5. Email the writers whose work you like – writing is a lonely place so let people know when you appreciate their stories

6. Be nice to people – you aren’t going to get anywhere if people don’t want to talk to you

In the end I was extremely happy I had made the effort to show up. There are things that can’t be taught in a classroom and hearing from people that have already been there is not only engaging but very inspiring.

#ashleighdwan #beyondthestory #journalism