Yes, it is the worst year to graduate for around 20 years. No point ignoring that fact. Which is why getting in early, and having a strong CV and portfolio, is going to boost your chances of getting that first job. So here are 12 tips, key sites and dirty secrets to jobhunting every new journalist should know about.

Before the Hunt

1. Have a CV that shows the impact of what you’ve done.

Take this as an example. Which is the more impressive?

• Created Rocksonline at www.rocksmagazine.co.uk
• Created Rocksonline at www.rocksmagazine.co.uk, which boosted Rocks print edition readership by 10,000 a month

Hopefully you’ve gone for the second one. 95% of graduate CVs say what it is you’ve done, and what you’ve learnt from it, but only 5% show what quantifiable impact you’ve had on the business you work for. These are the ones that stand out. For help in making your CV stand out, use these templates we developed with a top research organisation. Templates 1, 2 and 3 are the most relevant for you now, but bookmark this page for future reference.

2. Have an online presence and portfolio of work that works

Journalism students should have an online portfolio of work and a personal profile on key sites such as a blog and Twitter account. And make sure it is working for you. That means it sells your skills well. We’ve already blogged here on six great student portfolio sites. For a list of student blogs you could begin to emulate, check out the Journalism.co.uk TNTJ blog network. And you should:

• Get yourself published on InJournalism.co.uk - editorial meetings 1pm, Mondays, in the Newsroom
• Buy your own URL, e.g. www.yourname.co.uk, and launch a portfolio site. This one, from level 2 student Charlotte, is exactly the thing you should be starting out with
• Get your hard copy portfolio in order — your best examples of published work well laid out
• Start up a blog, using blogger or Wordpress. Here are a couple of examples of great blogs from your Sunderland peers: Josh Halliday, Mike Carter, Scott Malthouse
• Cultivate your professional networks. So don’t just rely on Facebook, but get connecting on Delicious, LinkedIn and Wired Journalists to name a few.

3. Face that decision (you know, “I don’t know what I want to do“…)

It’s ok, you know. Some of the most creative, successful people never quite know what they want to do. Kate Adie, the Sunderland-born war reporter, never knew she wanted to be a journalist. What they do, however, is channel this into each new thing, so that this never becomes a blockage or obstacle for them. What you can do is start by using Template 5 from the Creative Choices site, to help you identify the right job for you.

However, you might want some advice first. In fact, the most important thing you can do right now is talk to as many people as possible to get as much advice and different views to help you work out where you’re at, and where you might want to go. That includes your tutors, careers advisors, online help, your parents, but perhaps not your friends who might be feeling the same thing. No need to get into a spiral of panic over a pint!

• How to decide what you want to do
• Career advice: choosing a career
• What do I want to do with my life???!

During the Hunt

There are a number of ways into the journalism industry. Now, there’s a lot of doom and gloom about the industry in general, particularly the regional press, and some of the shrinking down of even the bigger papers and publishers. BUT. You should also remember that the journalism industry today is vastly different from just newspapers and magzines. There are thousands of other places you can go to use your journalism skills, particularly online, but also in other sectors, such as the charity, campaigning and business sectors. In fact, these are sometimes better, quicker and more well paid entry points. So let’s look at some of the ways into the sector:

4. Placement to placement

As discussed in the Guardian this weekend, “While 76% of students believed internships increased their job prospects, of the 766 interviewed, only around a quarter had some work experience under their belt. More than a fifth said they would graduate with absolutely no work experience – not even a few shifts at the union bar.”

Much of the advice you hear from people already in the industry is that this is the only way into a job. Do enough placements, and one day you’ll be in the right place at the right time when a job comes up. This is great if you’ve got enough savings or rich parents, but not so good if you need to earn money. However, placements will look good on your CV, so do try to get as many as you can within your limits. And while you are there, make as good impression as possible — read the Guardian’s Jemima Kiss’s guide to getting the most out of your placements.

Or you could even combine a year out travelling with a work placement abroad. But placements are not the only way into the industry. There are others…

5. Be a big journalist fish in a small publication pond

One of the best and most successful way into the industry is to go via trade and b2b publications. No, they’re not as sexy as Cosmo or cocky as Loaded, but they are often smaller, which means you get to do a lot more a lot more quickly. Which means you could be deputy editor in two years, which gives you a great launchpad to cross over into newspapers or consumer magazines.

Or you might even love b2b – Cardiff graduate Kieran Long did, and he’s now editor of the Architect’s Journal. So, how do you get into b2b magazines (nb: b2b titles are very newsy, so good for news skills too)? Seek out the big b2b publishers, and see if they have any vacancies. People such as:

• Incisive Media
• Centaur Media
• Reed Business

For a full list, head to Magforum. Remember, it might be ok to send CVs to these places, or at least to get work placements from them.

6. And don’t forget contract publishers

These publish the big company magazines like Sky magazine, Sainsbury’s magazine etc. It’s ok to send off your CV to the Human Resources (HR) departments if they don’t have any current vacancies. Some of the major publishers include:

• The Redwood Publishing group
• Specialistuk
• Archant Dialogue
• Cedar

There are more — seek them out.

7. Think outside the journalism industry box

Long gone are the days where only newspapers and magazines hired journalists. Think, for example, of graduate Sam Butler. His first editorial job was with a press cutttings library. His second was with Adfero, a news-writing agency, who are always looking to hire journalists. His third was with Creative Choices, a careers site. His fourth is with Carers.org, a charity representing carers, as online editor.

The point is that not all editorial or journalism roles are now found in the ‘journalism’ industry. So where are these jobs advertised?

• If you want to work as an editor for a charity, then OneWorld Jobs or Charity Job is a good place to start
• How about editorial roles in environment?
• Or the wider third sector?
• And then there’s ethical jobs.co.uk.

So think more widely. Sign up to the email alerts from these other job sites. Some of these jobs may be communications or information roles, but you, as journalism graduates, are very well placed to get these ones too, and they involve a lot of writing and editing.

8. Graduate Recruitment

There are a number of specific editorial graduate recruitment companies, and some that are general recruitmenrt agencies but that also have editorial roles. A recruitment agency gets paid by the employer to find the right person for their job, so you, as the employee, are doing them a favour by registering with them. But it’ll be competitive, so make sure you know what types of jobs they offer, and if they’re right for you:

• PFJ Editorial
• PFJ Graduate Recruitment Company
• Graduate Jobs
• GradJobs

9. I’m not going to list all the job sites…

…but there are plenty of them, such as Journalism.co.uk, PPAJobs, Jobs4Journalists, Holdthefrontpage, CareersUK and of course the Guardian etc. Go and find them. There are also the big recruitment sites, such as Monster and Fish4Jobs. Add your CVs to these.

Dirty Secrets

10. Many jobs are not advertised (Or, “It’s not what you know… so…”)

It is true to some extent that it is who you know, in the end, that helps you along to your first (and second) job. Many jobs are already earmarked for internal or personally-known candidates. But that’s even more reason why you should be cultivating your networks through social and professional media networks. Get out to events. Get along to online webinars. Also, write/blog about journalism. If you want some tips on how to start, read Paul Bradshaw’s blog, or look at some leading student blog sites such as Greg Linch, If you can prove to potential employers that you are interested in the industry–not just the writing, but the business, the advertising, the way the industry is growing and surviving, then that gives you another step up.

11. Be careful about the first job you take

Your first job can set you on a particular path which sometimes becomes difficult to get off from. So work out where that job can take you before accepting. For example, YES, do take an editorial assistant or library or press cuttings role, where you are in the editorial team and can be seen as enthusiastic and in the right place when jobs come up. But, NO, do not take media sales, marketing or executive roles where you might be working for a publisher, but outside of the editorial team. One, you won’t get spotted, and two, when you go for editorial roles, they’ll wonder why you went for a media/sales role in the first place.

12.  Don’t get discouraged

Back to that opening — this is the toughest graduate market for 20 years. But it’s also one of the most exciting time for working in the industry, and people within the industry–your potential bosses–want enthusiastic and driven people. So take a read of Kevin Donlin’s still great 2003 article, and what it means to:

1. Seek the Path Less Followed
2. Network Backwards
3. Reject Rejection; and
4. Networking Begins at home

What are your experiences so far? Comment here, let us know, and we can respond with more information for you through the J&PR blog. Good luck.