Getting started, part II

Before I graduated from U of M, the co-op that I lived in held a small career how-to from a house member and graduate student Aaron Traxler-Balew. I'll always remember Aaron's advice about how to get started in a field that you're interested in but have no experience in.

Because most jobs are passed through acquaintances and because you have no experience in your desired field, he recommended combing friends and relatives to see if they could put you in touch with anyone in the field you're interested in.

As I was looking to get started in freelancing, I told my idea to friends and family, and the people who knew writers and editors offered their help to me. It didn't hurt that my sister was a journalist for the Associated Press at the time, but truthfully a lot of my support came from elsewhere.

According to Aaron, when you find somebody in the field that you're interested in, you should approach them as a newbie and ask them how they got started, what advice they have for someone looking to enter their field, and what opportunities they know of.

It sounds like you're pestering them, but, as Aaron said, most people are flattered by the chance to talk about themselves and their career to someone who's aspiring to do what they do.

The sources that I ended up finding were varied: a editor at a South Carolina newspaper that my sister used to work at (who was extremely encouraging); an email to my former Freshman English teacher put me in touch with a writer in Beijing; an email found me through my upper-level writing requirement teacher who had a former student now working as a freelancer looking for help with an article about Chinese (after helping him, I asked for advice getting started freelancing); I even sent emails to writers that I had seen in positions that I envied (although my email to a New York Times writer didn't get a response).

Some offered encouragement and general ideas about writing and pitching, others offered specific avenues for where I could get work published and who was looking for writing. Their help was different, but their effect was the same. Thanks to all those who have helped me along the way and to Aaron who advised me on how where to put my feet first.