By Will Ford and Harry McMullen
Global Radio’s Regional News Editor, Bethan Davies, gives her 7 top tips for making a good impression on a journalism placement:
- Take on feedback and act on it – when you get things wrong, ask for advice and get better.
- Always do your research – whether you have days or minutes to prepare for an interview, do the legwork.
- Write your first and last question for an interview but nothing in between – this will allow you to listen to the interviewee and use initiative to ask questions based on their responses.
- Arrive with your own ideas – you learn lots on a placement, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have anything new to offer. You might have a new app that your employer doesn’t know about or an amazing story that only you could find.
- Be willing to go above and beyond – “Every person I’ve hired started on a placement. If you want a job you need to impress.” If you realise after a couple of days you don’t like the environment or the job, be professional, the contacts you build up could be invaluable.
- Know your media law – your employer will be culpable if you don’t know your stuff.
- Be confident – “Fake it until you make it” – you may not know what you’re doing when you arrive, but confidence goes a long way. If you act like a journalist, you will be perceived as such and be far more likely to land a job as a result.