They say journalism is no longer a field for finding your dream gig. They're wrong. I was recently hired by MLive.com, Michigan's largest news website (supporting the state's stable of Booth Newspaper titles), to cover arts and entertainment in Metro Detroit. While most MLive.com sites work in concert with a local newspaper, MLive Detroit is a different kind of idea -- providing round-the-clock news coverage without an accompanying print publication.
I function as the Detroit entertainment section's blogger, editor and photographer all-in-one (with the help of my supremely awesome news teammates, from whom I'm learning tons of cool stuff). I focus on Michigan artists, local events, trends in dining and living, and riffs on the local media. At any given time, you might find me posting a new video, shooting photographs of a touring artist downtown, covering a hearing for a local business, or sounding off my opinions -- often, all in the same day.
I probably wasn't ever on MLive's radar for candidates, until I wrote the editor-in-chief an incredibly impassioned letter about what I would do if I had the entertainment beat for his website. It took a while, but he remembered it and emailed me when a position became available. My advice? When you want a job, don't just talk about your resume. Tell them your ideas. That's what they're hiring you for, anyway.