Life after college?

@acidbrandon18: I have a BA Communication and I've worked in the newspaper industry for over a decade now. You'll learn more on the job than at university, trust me. The degree will just get you in the door but from there it's all up to you.

Print is dying, I know that as well as anyone, but it ain't dead yet. There's jobs around, but you have to be smart. Working at some smaller paper would give you the chance to revamp their social media presence and add that to your portfolio. The biggest problem I've had over the years is fucking intern coming in and thinking they deserve to be writing cover stories on day one. I mean no matter where you want to end up you have to work for it. And I mean work for years not months.

Since working in this industry I've written a few news stories, some feature stories, been the assistant editor on a few products, had photos published, written heaps of reviews, learned graphic and page design, developed PhotoShop, InDesign and Illustrator skills, done a bunch of interviews... look trust me there's a lot of roles in the media. You just have to be versatile. Hell I started writing about video games freelance a few years back and it's gone well for me.

tl;dr My point is you feel like you know nothing, but you know enough to get in the door. The real learning starts on your first day of work in the media and doesn't seem to end. You'll find your place in time. Just don't be a lazy/entitled dickhead intern and you'll be fine.

I'm in a similar situation (journalism major), with the differences being I enjoy writing and I graduated last month. There's not much I can do for you when it comes to your disinterest in writing. That's something you'll either learn to have or simply lack. But just because you got a degree in journalism doesn't necessarily mean you have to become a journalist. Think of it more as a communications degree with an emphasis in journalism. There are plenty of jobs out there that require you to communicate with people, though most will probably involve some amount of writing.

The key is being proactive and finding a passion you truly enjoy that can also be found in a job. I know that's easier said than done, but it's important that you enjoy what you do. Not every day has to be sunshine and rainbows, but don't settle on journalism if you hate doing it. Yeah, the first couple jobs you have might not be what you wanted, but don't listen to the people who say you're locked into one career. People can move around, and your major doesn't define where you can go. It'll make getting in the door a little harder in other fields, but it's not impossible if you have the drive.

I don't have a job yet, and I'm not entirely sure what I want to do either. I turned down a job offer in corporate communications after an 8 month internship because I hated what I did. I'm a little scared of not knowing what happens next, but what's life without a few risks? Hopefully that helped somewhat. Good luck and remember to breathe. You'll do fine.

It sounds like you enjoy being in front of the camera, so I'd recommend you start building some sort of portfolio in that direction. Hopefully you'll be able to find any job you can, and then work on your videos in your free time. If you've got some money saved up then maybe go and travel for a while if you're in between things. Heck, you could do a travel video blog of sorts while traveling and start with that.

I just graduated in December and I feel lonely lately. All of my friends, fraternity brothers, classmates, etc, are either back in school (which is far from here) or have graduated too and went back to their home states. Just sucks not having anyone to hang with anymore when during school there was always someone to hang out with.

I think the one bit of advice I can give you is to be open. Unless you're absolutely sure of a field you want to go in, or you specialize (medical school, law school), be open to anything. Just because you studied journalism, doesn't mean you'll end up as a journalist. Explore all your opportunities and take as many jobs as you can.

I'm 23 in a month too and I'm graduating from a minor degree in journalism in June. I haven't a clue what I'm doing next either, and it's not even that fancy of a degree. I may go in for another year but grades have to be pretty good to get accepted.

The most annoying part is that my brother and (twin) sister didn't go to college and they have decent paying jobs and don't live at home anymore and my mam is always up my ass about getting a job. She thinks as soon as I graduate I'll be golden for a great job but that's just not true.

Stress.

The best advice I could give you is to have no expectations on how your life will go from here on out. I'm not saying don't have goals, I'm saying don't expect everything to work out like you planned. Be flexible to what ever you my face. Life seldom works out like you plan, and the more capable you are to hang on and keep going forward the more you will enjoy your coming years.

Also, never go to bed angry. Not at your significant other, your room-mate or your family.

That's the best advice I can give ya duder. I wish you the best and pray that everything works out for ya. Hang in there!

As someone who also has a broadcast degree - it doesn't matter what you study. I have a degree in TV production but now I work in software (on the business side, not engineering side). I'd recommend keeping an open mind and looking for jobs that truly align with your interests, not just align with titles or expectations. Just because you have journalism degree doesn't mean you have to stick in that field. There are plenty of new media startups looking for great people and hell, basically everything that has a website needs video or audio produced for it. Don't be afraid to move to where the jobs are. Have an adventure. Life is awesome in your 20's. Work hard, make money, spend money, never stop learning and live it up. Meet a lot of great people and just enjoy yourself. The year you turn 30, you can come on the giant bomb forums and tell the next you the same thing.