How To Network

Words by Stephanie Soh
October Cohort 2011

The media industry is widely perceived as being difficult to gain access into, with preferential entry given to the friends and family of already established journos. And to some extent there is some truth in this assumption. But not every fresh-faced aspiring writer can claim Rupert Murdoch as a relative, so how does one go about cultivating media contacts? In other words, how do you – successfully – do that elusive thing called ‘networking’? Here is what I have learnt thus far.

1. Be persistent, but not aggressive.

So you’ve sent off an email to that journo from that magazine you really want to intern for, but haven’t heard anything back in weeks. Don’t be deterred – journalists get inundated with emails asking for work experience on a daily basis, and whatever their good intentions will probably end up forgetting about individual requests. So be persistent and keep up your correspondence even in the face of no replies. But keep it polite – there is nothing to gain from venting your annoyance at their stony silence!

2. Demonstrate an engagement with their work

If you’re chatting to a journalist, the one topic guaranteed to stimulate conversation will always be about their work. This isn’t because they are inherently egocentric (necessarily…), but because it is the very nature of their job to engage others with their writing. So by asking questions and showing an interest in their work, not only do you demonstrate your engagement with their work, but you also stand of good chance of engaging them.

3. What can you do for them?

Obviously an editor from Dazed & Confused or The Guardian can do a lot for you, but how will they benefit from knowing you? Think about the skills they might value from a young person like yourself – such as your direct experience of youth culture, or your knowledge of a specific subject. Who knows, if they are made aware of your specialities, you might become their go-to person when they are thinking about writing a feature on that topic.

4. Don’t think of it as ‘networking’

If you can’t bring yourself to go up to a media bod because the thought of networking brings to mind smarmy brown-nosers, ruthlessly manipulating others for their own personal advantage, then re-conceptualise your idea of networking. It doesn’t have to equal exploiting others as a means to an end – there is much to gain from just getting to know people. Approaching people with the aim of actually wanting to get to know them as an individual will ensure that you come across as genuine, rather than calculating. And who knows, you might even make friends.

 

p.s. just don’t forget to get that all-important contact detail…

Recessiongrad: Trusting in the process.

Words by Zaneta Denny
October Cohort 2011

I hate to say it, but I’m a recessiongrad; someone who graduated right in the middle of the economic downturn in the summer of 2009. I’ve tried and failed at various graduate and entry-level positions and the bank of mum and dad just won’t permit hefty Masters fees, or rather, I just don’t know if I can take on any more debt.

So I’ve resolved to better myself by other means.

Recently I took on the mammoth task of trying to become a professional spoken word artist in 5 weeks as part of the Spoken Stories workshop at the Lyric Hammersmith, at the same time as tackling a 14-week course on essentially, how to become a journalist with the Catch 22 Academy in South Tottenham.

Halfway through the Spoken Stories course I panicked, was the poem I had written good enough? Were my concepts too far fetched? Did I make any sense? Where on earth was I ‘going’ with this? My visible trepidation provoked my tutor, the inimitable MC Angel, to interject, “just trust in the process, you’ve got to trust in the process.” She asserted that I needed to “trust in the creative process,” and trust where the story was going to take me. For me, trusting the trajectory of my own idea, not knowing where I would end up was challenging. Having faith.

The next evening, on my Catch 22 weekly lecture, Toks, the tall charismatic founder of the Academy uttered the same fateful words. In his motivational speech, in reference to the successful habits of a Catch 22 trainee declared, “you need to have trust and faith in the process.” I freaked out, he almost repeated word-for-word the advice from MC Angel. Was the big guy upstairs trying to tell me something?

Since leaving university, I’ve found it hard to think relatively, when your plans don’t go to plan it has the power to meddle with your dreams and your identity. Forgive me for navel-gazing, but I think I’ve had a quarter-life crisis.  Personally, I don’t think I would have taken the poetry course if I were in some high-flying job in the city. Not being able to see your end destination can be overly confusing at this age, but if you try and focus on the now, rather than the never-never land of the future, each day will get easier. I’m trying to “trust in the process”; tomorrow evening I have my first spoken word gig at the Lyric Hammersmith, then again at the Battersea Arts Centre on Thursday evening.

You still have life, count yourself lucky for that. The world still turns on its axis (albeit a few centimetres out now) and according to the Grammy Award winning platitudes of Lauryn Hill in Everything is Everything, “After winter must come spring, change comes eventually.”

The show must go on!

How are you trusting in the process?

For short creative courses and opportunities please see: http://www.ideastap.com/opportunities