Q: My son will be graduating this month with a business administration degree. He has an affinity for sports, not as an athlete, but as a spectator. He has an exceptional memory of names and events. He seems to possess some talent in expressing himself using the written word.
Dad
A: It all depends on experience, at this point. He will have a hard time starting as a sportswriter if he hasn’t done any.
Although I have taught some on-line journalism skills courses to professionals, I have not seen anyone come across my desk with an on-line journalism degree. I think one would be a difficult sell at this point. What he really needs is experience. He needs that to persuade a publication to hire him and to convince himself that this is a career path he’d like.
Few publications — maybe some very small ones — will be interested in taking on an intern who hasn’t yet done the work that needs to be done. If he did a lot of writing for his college paper, that will help, but if he is just starting to get into journalism after college has ended, he will have a tough time breaking in.
(I’d have my son ask all these questions.)