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Sub-editor: Jim

This Case Study belongs to Newspaper journalist.

After my undergraduate degree, in English and French, I headed straight onto a postgraduate course with the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) at Highbury College and graduated in 2002. From there, I got a job straight away on the sports desk at the Reading Evening Post, where I worked for four years. I got some good experience, then left in 2006 to go to New Zealand travelling for a year. When I returned, I got my current position as a sub-editor.

When I was at school, I chose to do work experience at a local newspaper, which I really enjoyed. At university, I joined the student newspaper and became the music editor, which had some great perks attached to it - free CDs, concert tickets, etc. When I finished my degree, I didn't really have much of a career plan in mind, but thanks to my experience, journalism seemed like the obvious choice.

To be a newspaper journalist, you need to be versatile, have good general knowledge, be able to get on with your work, and be self-motivated. You'll also need to be prepared to work long hours now and again, and perhaps weekends.

The best part of my job is the people, and the variety of the work. The worst is the long days that crop up now and again.

You don't go into journalism for the money! You've got to really want to do it, and get yourself on a decent course. Get the proper qualifications, persevere and get work experience where you can if you want to get into the industry.

Case Study sourced by Rowena Forbes of University of Manchester, 30 October 2007.