Media Professionals In Training, Grab A Life Vest

A few things have happened to me since I last wrote: I graduated college, I got back on Instagram, and I landed a couple internships. Let me tell you about one of those internships. I just started a remote internship with a fantastic agency called the PR Alliance. I’m eternally grateful for landing that position, and I have my sister to thank for making me aware of the organization.

I’m especially grateful, though, because it’s giving me a huge opportunity to expand my network and grow in my career. Opportunities like this were ripped away from me because of the pandemic (but a lot of us lost something because of that, didn’t we?

Can I be candid? Of course I hope that this will manifest into a full-time job – everyone who works an internship has that in the back of their head. However, I can’t assume that it will actually happen for me. Maybe I just won’t be deemed a good fit for the company, or maybe there won’t be a place for me.

So the job search is still ongoing. And to be clear, since my last on-campus job from college, my job search record is a respectable 1W-436L (rough estimate). I think I speak for a lot of my fellow job hunters when I say, “Why?”

It’s easy to feel like you don’t have what it takes when you are constantly getting rejected by these jobs you think you’d be a great fit for. The job search makes you question yourself and everything you think you know. It’s a humbling experience, that’s for sure. And you’re already at a disadvantage if you don’t have connections.

From the perspective of someone coming in fresh out of college looking for an entry-level position, we’re at the bottom of the barrel. So many jobs nowadays are looking for people with prior experience….but how can I get the experience if you won’t hire me?

But from the perspective of someone who also recently managed to get her foot in a door, I want to share a few job search databases and social media accounts that have been of great use to me in these past few months to find opportunities.

• Mimconnect: Mimconnect, or Minorities in Media Connect, is a networking and connection database for people of color hoping to break into the media industry. There is also a job database within.
• Writers of Color: @WritersofColor on Twitter has a pretty self-explanatory name, and they post many opportunities for their titular audience. However, anybody can apply for several of the opportunities they post.
• Sonia Weiser: @weischoice on Twitter also posts numerous opportunities for writers, but they are largely catered to people interested in freelancing; she has a newsletter dedicated to freelance opportunities. Interested writers should still peruse her timeline even if you aren’t interested in freelancing.
• ShowbizJobs: ShowbizJobs is dedicated to the entertainment industry. Any job you can think of that can find a home in the entertainment industry can be searched for here (NOT limited to people in media.)
• Mediabistro: Writers, editors, advertisers, publicists, etc., I encourage you to check out Mediabistro as well. You can search for any job within your niche for free and check out career advice articles.

There are some really good life vests here that should be able to lessen the pain of the dark, unrelenting job search ocean.

Good luck, and be great!