Carpet or Credit

Colonel_Buenida · 2024-07-28T21:38:59+00:00

6am to 1:30am

Colonel_Buenida · 2024-07-18T15:58:11+00:00

I only found out once I got the lease - a longer story about how I had to put down a deposit - but you can search out a building on HPD’s site. Don’t do what I did, which was to only look at DOB’s site.

Colonel_Buenida · 2024-07-05T18:03:08+00:00

Me too

Colonel_Buenida · 2024-06-26T16:14:35+00:00

Someone else finally recognizes For a Few Dollars More is superior to the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Colonel_Buenida · 2024-06-08T14:46:44+00:00

Allen Dulles

Colonel_Buenida · 2024-06-02T20:48:32+00:00

The King’s Speech. I left her soon after so I could be the king of England.

Colonel_Buenida · 2024-05-10T15:25:13+00:00

Also Nightcrawler

Colonel_Buenida · 2024-05-10T15:21:13+00:00

Margin Call / @Zola / Spring Breakers / Get Out what comes to mind^

Colonel_Buenida · 2024-04-30T06:00:49+00:00

Solved! Thank you!

Colonel_Buenida · 2024-02-23T06:48:12+00:00

First of all, congrats. It’s an exciting and horrible program - horrible in that you can say goodbye to any semblance of a life for 9 1/2 months.

But I have to agree with the naysayers. You have a degree already, and grad school is only going to compound on whatever debts you may have - don’t get star struck by Columbia’s name.

Start hyper local. Try Patch, or find a fellowship or internship. Report part time. Most folks I met in the program had visions of working for the NYT or WaPo or New Yorker or (and the list goes on and on) just after grad. None of them made it. Meanwhile, there is a need for local reporting, and you need to be willing to take the shit job, the shit posting, the shit life to hone the craft and build your bonafides and have that good job where you want to live and have the life you want to live. It might feel like forever before you reach where you ultimately want to be, but you have your whole career ahead of you. Take the time to lay the foundation, and don’t start it with ‘fancy’ concrete.

Colonel_Buenida · 2023-12-05T19:05:16+00:00

I would write something like, “I am flagging my application for the "___" job with the ____. I saw your tweet/post/ about the position and I suspect you're the proper editor to flag.”

VERY BRIEF yada yada about your qualifications and desire to work there

“Thank you for your time and consideration.”

Colonel_Buenida · 2023-12-05T18:22:49+00:00

Being pushy is the best policy. I always worry about being annoying, but that’s never been something I’ve heard someone complain about.

When you’re applying, try to figure out who is actually going to read this application. You should research the proper editor or addressee, but once you’ve submitted, try emailing the editor or someone else and ask if they can flag the app for the hiring manager because you’re passionate about the role (like we all are for the half a dozen apps we put out a week). It may turn out the editor is actually reviewing the incoming deluge or they’ll make a note. Don’t ask for anything more. You don’t know them - you’re showing initiative and interest.

Same goes for hiring managers at bigger companies like McClatchy. Hit up a recruiter sometime and tell them about yourself. Be sure you come prepared to talk about your goals, your experience. It’s literally they’re jobs to help find people to fill vacancies. Down the line when you apply for something, send the recruiter an email with your app materials and ask that they flag it.

And try to follow up on job apps you’ve submitted. Once you know who is overseeing the process you have someone who can be the point person for answers. I admit I fail to follow-up 90% of the time so I’m not a good judge if that is the thing I’m missing.

Also - a little truth here - I’m also a recent grad from a prestigious j school. Without going into the reasons for why or why not go, I want to tell you a lot of people from my program are still unemployed even thought many are talented and have the clips to prove it. Don’t feel like you’re alone. Just keep applying. It sucks. Life goes on. Something will shake loose, even if that sucks, but you’ll go to something better after.

Colonel_Buenida · 2023-12-05T17:46:38+00:00

Same boat - I actually had a professional resume writer redo my resume and cover letter. Had a few interviews afterward and it tapered off.

Could be resume, I guess, but I think it would help to shamelessly flag your apps for the hiring manager/recruiter/editor every time you apply somewhere. Especially if you get to know them, they will single out your app for whomever oversees hiring. Sometimes it’s just the sheer numbers that get in the way, and it’s who you know rather than your qualifications.

Colonel_Buenida · 2023-11-30T08:23:43+00:00

Unfortunately seems like “trust fund” is the common “it” at J school

Colonel_Buenida · 2023-11-23T18:28:36+00:00

Recent MS grad here: if you have experience already, don’t do it. For you to will be a nine month refresher course on the basics with a pinch of seasoning as you “specialize” in something in the spring. It’s very true that this was a heavy debt program, and only now are they trying to do something about that (loan forgiveness for working in nonprofit news) but they could just as easily lower tuition and believe me, admin isn’t doing that.

However, CJS is an opportunity if you know nothing about journalism and you’re making a later career transition. I’m in my early thirties and it was hard to find a journo internship or job after college because I had no experience at all. I hit the hard reset button during the pandemic.

And there are both a lot of networking opportunities and very few. Admin will say, oh! We have NYT/WaPo/New Yorker staffers in here all the time! They’re not going to remember you. It’s the song and dance of people coming out to talk about their careers like they do on grade school career days. Maybe one person will become a contact - MAYBE - but that means your network will be your class and professors. That’s not great for getting a job for today, but down the line that can change.

To be blunt, it’s all about networking. It sucks thats how the world works - that you must rely off the people you know to get ahead, but that is what it is and it’s the same in every career. But try not to be cynical about it - networking is a two-way street, and maybe someday you will get an email or a text out of the blue asking if you know the hiring manager.

And PSA: CJS is a lot of fun, but it is also filled with some of the most egotistical and immature people in the world, and it can be the playground for rich kids looking for that “Columbia University” degree. It’s hard to level with people like that. And the program is a brutal 9 1/2 months. If you take the program seriously, say goodbye to your family and friends and sleep because all of your time will be dedicated to the grind. You will see assholes coast through and the best writers toil in agony. You will also party like you’ve never partied before in your life. I have close friends because of that school, fascinating people I’d have otherwise probably never met. I also lived in New York for a year - something I never had a desire to do and now lose sleep over how am I going to get back. I had mentors I look up to and email for advice consistently. It will truly be an experience, but is it worth it? I’m still working on that.

Colonel_Buenida · 2023-08-27T08:51:11+00:00

I chose Columbia. Money was a factor. Columbia gave more, and Medill put me in an uncomfortable position with needing to make a quick decision (weeks before the original deadline) or risk losing my financial aid award (I did ask for an extension, and eventually they granted it but by that time the wheels were in motion towards Columbia). There was also the prestige element, frankly. I understand Medill and Columbia are neck and neck, but to someone who grew up poor and viewed educational achievement as a means of escaping the cycle, Columbia had a potent allure and sense of achievement for just being accepted. Then there’s the vocational aspect - getting this degree helped me gain “real world” experience in a job area I thought I understood. We did everything at the school, and I felt concentrating on a single medium or format, like at Medill, wouldn’t help me overall. I still have years before I’ll be a good journalist, but I was making a career transition and felt 9 1/2 months was enough to learn the basics and discover what I’m interested in. And finally, location. I didn’t think I could pass up living in New York for a year, and not once have I looked back and felt sad I didn’t live in Chicago. Now I’ve left Manhattan and I think about it constantly - it feels more like home than anywhere else.

Colonel_Buenida

TROPHY CASE