Navigating the Waters of (Un)Employment

So we enter Medill, bright eyed and alight with the passion and goals of making a difference with our work. Who knows what story we might crack that would lead to the downfall of political empires (and perhaps win a Pulitzer on the way?) Who knows what story we could write that would be seen by millions and cause someone to see a country, candidate or a issue a different way?

And then the quarter system descends on us like vultures to a carcass. Hair begins to fall out, the work load seems impossible and psychotic professors act like they are the only ones who assign work in the universe. Or maybe that was just me.

The year passes swiftly. Nut grafs and ledes are no longer rocket science and AP becomes our second or third language. AND THEN THE JOB SEARCH.

Perhaps when we arrived at Medill we imagined jobs coming to us on floating clouds of happiness. Painfully, it comes down to who you know, and what they need. This quirky story is the tale of one man's search for a journalism job and all the difficulties that ensued. As a Poynter Fellow, I'm sure that he had grand ambitions of the New York Times and the Washington Post, and ended up at a paper in Naples, Fla. locked out of an apartment in his underwear.

It seems like life in journalism doesn't turn out what we necessarily think. It could be my recent cynical adoption of truth, or the fact that I'm hungry. Who knows? But I liked the story.

http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=112367