Kirstie Nicols is working in sales for now, a year after leaving uni. Off the sofa Life has suddenly become very hectic. I’m spending my time in many different places; but very rarely in my natural habitat, being the sofa in front of a marathon evening of TV. I even found I couldn’t join in on a recent conversation about the week’s events in Albert Square!
When I’m not at work, I’m now to be found at the gym most nights a week. I’ve really got into this whole running idea (although it could just be that I’m competitive and want to beat the girls at work). If I’m not there I’m found recuperating at Pizza Hut with one of my training buddies, or propping up the local bar with a school friend (this is of course absolutely necessary, as my social prospects need expanding just as much as my career prospects do). This has left very few sociable hours to look for new opportunities to get into journalism, which means I am now sending email queries at three in the morning. I’m starting to get the feeling it’s not always my best work. I am also regretting my rash decision regarding the London job offer. I fully understand that I can’t just decide I’d like to work in journalism out of nowhere; walk up to the nearest newspaper/magazine/publishing house and declare myself as the best thing since toasted bread. Even though it would have been about as exciting as watching paint peel, it could have been my ‘first rung on the ladder’; and at least it would have shown willing, right? Investigating journalismSuddenly clutching onto a completely new and previously unconsidered career, has also involved a bit of research. Despite having to do this at some point for every one of my pieces of uni coursework, I obviously still haven’t grasped the idea as I seem to be getting more confused as I go. You don’t need a degree or qualifications to get into journalism; in fact some of the people I’ve spoken to have warned me off the idea completely; yet there are hundreds of journalism courses being offered across the country, each different. Surely someone somewhere has to know what they’re talking about? Then there is the typical student Catch 22 situation; you can’t get work without previous experience and you can’t get experience without being offered work. Except now, this also seems to apply to work experience placements as well; you can’t work for free to show commitment, unless you’ve shown commitment by working for free. Luckily this whole dilemma is solved by the idea of freelancing, where you get paid for one-off pieces in order to get some experience. However, if you type ‘freelance writing/journalism’ into Google, you suddenly find yourself offering to write essays for the student with far too busy a social life to comprehend doing it themselves. Sheep rampage shock!My one silver lining at the end of the tunnel (or am I mixing sayings), is that one of my local newspapers has allowed me to apply for a place on a week’s work experience. Unfortunately, the application involved finding three interesting and relatively newsworthy stories in my area, and writing short pieces on them. Luckily, someone left a field gate open, and all the sheep escaped causing widespread panic across the nation; or at least causing the local pub to be filled with gossiping villagers. I’m not sure how much the newspaper's editor will enjoy my desperate ‘cat stuck up tree’ story though… “A writer is a person for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people” – Thomas Mann. This is something, I’m learning, that seems to be true in more than one way. Not only will it take me five hours to write something (yes this is the 17th draft of this sentence); but no matter how enthusiastic I am, so far no one has been willing to let me write for them (except of course, Prospects!). So for now, I’m going to keep sending out my queries for work experience of any kind, keep my fingers crossed that my ‘cat up tree’ story entertains the local newspaper editor enough for him to let me into his offices, and concentrate on attempting to get some freelance work. Anyone have an essay they need writing? Read Kirstie's previous blogs Kirstie's job log 4 - All at once Kirstie's job log 3 - Two buses - and a choice of directions Kirstie's job log 2 - American studies - what's that? Kirstie's job log 1 - A year of learning If you would like to become a Prospects blogger and you left uni either this year or in 2006, please make contact. | 
