Catrin: Twenty-Something Reporter

The honest answer is no, like many people even by the time I was applying for University I still didn’t really know what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I had done very straight academic subjects at GCSE and A-level and when I looked into Journalism as a career I was very tempted by the idea of actually training for a real profession – and one that sounded pretty exciting. I’ve also always loved talking to people and finding out about their lives so it seemed a good choice – once I was studying it I (mostly) never looked back.

Quite a mix of arty subjects and science actually. My favourite subjects were always French, Physics and Graphic Design – so quite a mixture. Other than the subjects obviously chatting through all my lessons and immensely annoying teachers.

I did – I studied Broadcast Journalism at Leeds Uni and got a 1st class BA. Most journalists coming into the job now do have journalism degrees, either undergrad or postgrad. That’s not to say that you can’t start straight from school and work your way up – it’s just fewer people do that than in the past. At school, careers advisors actually advised me not to do a undergraduate degree in Journalism and to do something more traditional like Politics and then take on a masters so as not to narrow my field too early on (I ignored them and it worked out but it was a risk).

My first journalism job was for BBC Radio Leeds as a placement as part of my degree. I worked for them for two weeks (all day and night figuring out how to do everything) and secured some freelance shifts off the back of this while still at University. These were very sporadic so as soon as I left university permanently I hassled every newsroom in the country to give me shifts while also doing admin for a meals-on -wheels company and working in a club.

This is a tough one – maybe take the subjects you don’t think are very interesting at school a bit more seriously (ie History - it’s very important). I was a bit cheeky on occasion at school and thought I knew it all – I didn’t.

To be good to all the people you meet along the way, learn to buckle down and do as you're told when it’s needed, try to keep your boss happy and be persistent. More than anything, work harder than the person next to you.