Full disclosure: my actual major is sports media, but every time I go in for a job interview, I tell them I was trained as a journalist — I was, with a little more pizzazz.
I had to cover my fair share of events and break news stories people didn't know they needed, but a lot of the focus of my projects were on sports. Learning how to write properly and communicate effectively is the best tool I have been able to add to my resume'. I know time management to a tee, and my fear of talking to strangers is virtually gone.
Proper grammar matters.
AP Style writing, or the writing style journalists use, is by far the most helpful thing I learned in college. My professors grilled this into me as a journalism student; I had at least three classes where AP Style was the main focus, and every other class I had mentioned it, too. Grammar, and all-around writing skills, are one of the top skills future employers will be looking for in an employee. It doesn't matter if you end up going into marketing, business or communications, the ability to write properly and formally is a skill any organization is going to look for, and being able to brag about your A+ grammar skills will surely get you brownie points in an interview.
Time (and stress) management is key.
As a journalism student, the number one thing I learned was time management. There are many times I was faced with a story with a set deadline. You have to be able to manage interviews, write and edit your story before turning it in for a final review.
Not only does this process teach you how to manage your time efficiently, but it also helps you manage your time without getting overwhelmed. It can seem like a lot at first when a professor assigns you a news story in your reporting class, another professor assigns you a sports story and you have an editorial piece due for another class. It can seem like even more when your story has a due date at midnight and one of your interviewees drops out at the last moment. Nevertheless, you get your story done and you grow from juggling so many things at one time. You learn to trust in yourself and your ability to manage many things at once.
Being a journalist is empowering, really.
Improve your people-person skills.
Before starting my journalism classes, I was one of those people who wouldn't want to ask for extra ketchup at a restaurant. Now, I can not only ask for extra ketchup, but I'll also investigate how their employers are treating them.
Journalism teaches you how to talk to complete strangers. You learn how to establish trust with someone you just met and how to ask the right questions in an appropriate order to gain the information you want. You begin to learn that people are actually nicer than what your mind is telling you. 98% of the people I've interviewed were kind and helpful. I promise they are more nervous about being interviewed than you are about interviewing them.
Journalism has also helped me deal with rejection. There have been times as a journalism student when people have shut the door in my face, not emailed me back, or hung up the phone on me. It's nothing personal.
Think about things people care about.
From what's going on in the world to the new fashion trend to the next up-and-coming social media app, I know what is new and exciting. I know the pressing issues people care about, which is great as a journalist but can also be used in everyday life. At dinner parties, I am also equipped with a story about something exciting happening in technology. I can impress any sports lover with the score of the baseball game last night and who hit the home run. I can talk politics to my crazy aunt.
Journalism gave me the resources to find these sources and determine which ones were reliable, but journalism also taught me to think about the things people care about. I had to learn the hard way that no one is going to read the story I wrote about the Super Bowl from 2012. People always want something different to dig their teeth into, and journalism has taught me to not only look for but to care about those things too.
Having multimedia skills is important.
This goes back to things all employers will look for. In an age where technology dominates literally every part of life, employers will look for someone who knows how to use different forms of technology. I will forever be thankful that on top of writing, my journalism program taught me how to edit videos and create graphics, too.
These are skills that could be taught on your own, but there is something about having set projects and classmates to help teach you the material that has made learning these programs so much easier. Even if you don't go into the media field after graduation, it looks really good on a resume' to show that you have skills in graphic design, photography, social media or any other skill that makes you relevant in today's technological age.
