Q: How much do big-name schools and master’s degrees count in getting a job in the big leagues? Be honest. If you were looking at great clips from a six-year-veteran who worked his way from the bottom up and the clips of a Medill graduate with two years experience, who would you go for?
Andrea
A: I hate when people tell me to be honest. Do you think I just make this stuff up? Never mind.
I’d take whichever person seems to have greater abilities. Neither years of experience nor the name on the sheepskin is a litmus test. Big-name schools count only if they provide you with a better education than some other school, and are no guarantee of a job. Big-name J-schools can expose you to more opportunities, hence more experience, and that might be what helps you get a job.
I have met great people from no-name schools and people who are going nowhere from big-name schools. It comes down to you.
As for master’s degrees, they do not dramatically increase chances of landing journalism jobs. The experience still means more to most editors. Grad school can lead to more experience — with the school paper or another crack at an internship — but the degree itself is not a ticket.
I am finding more and more people who want to get master’s degrees for personal reasons. They can help prepare you for a specialty, or bring you into journalism after a degree in another field and a lack of experience, but they are not magic bullets. Good experience trumps all.
