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QaR
October 2008 
New career objective
Posted on Mar 12th, 2008
by 
Marisa
Marisa
I have decided on (or rather, discovered) a new career objective.
I've known for a while now--about two years, which is the longest I've ever held a career aspiration--that I want to be a journalist. Writing is my passion, and I will not be happy unless I am writing. Even though I normally write fiction, journalism is one way that I can translate my passion for writing into a career that can sustain me.
With that out of the way, over the past two years as I started chasing this career, I thought about what me uber-objective is, what I want to do as a journalist, what kind of journalist I would want to be. In other words, what exactly is my goal?
And up until yesterday, my goal had been set at eventually writing for a nationally-published and highly-esteemed magazine, something like TIME, National Geographic, or the Rolling Stone, even if I only get to do one article. But more recently, that has hit me as being a little... well... nebulous. It's like a singer saying she wants to be famous.
So, while I am still keeping the aforementioned goal in mind, I have reset my sights on a more short-term and realistic expectation of myself. I'm not lowering the bar, mind you, but I'm setting up something concrete that I can put on my resume and talk to employers about as my goal instead of "breaking into the world of journalism."
New goal? How kind of you to urge me to get to the point.
I want to write for a Spanish or bilingual periodical in the United States, hopefully--preferably--in southern California or other border state with a large Hispanic population.
This little sentence dawned on me last night at work, and it sure brightened my day. It's a way that I can justify my Spanish minor as something that I didn't just do for fun because I'm interested in Spanish. It's also something more concrete that I can set mini-goals toward, a sort of to-do list for things I need if I want to reach this goal.
1. Subscribe to a Spanish periodical--a respectable one, not something like People--so I can familiarize myself with the Spanish journalistic style.
2. Start building up a portfolio of articles in Spanish, covering a range of topics. Perhaps start small by translating articles I've already written before attempting something larger.
3. Get in contact with Spanish-language publishers, read what they publish, and market myself to them. And, no matter where I go to get a job, market myself as bilingual, even if I'm not going for a writing position. This must be a key to my resume.
4. VISIT SPANISH-SPEAKING COUNTRIES. Imperative.
Oh, and last but not least,
Move to San Diego. :)
I've known for a while now--about two years, which is the longest I've ever held a career aspiration--that I want to be a journalist. Writing is my passion, and I will not be happy unless I am writing. Even though I normally write fiction, journalism is one way that I can translate my passion for writing into a career that can sustain me.
With that out of the way, over the past two years as I started chasing this career, I thought about what me uber-objective is, what I want to do as a journalist, what kind of journalist I would want to be. In other words, what exactly is my goal?
And up until yesterday, my goal had been set at eventually writing for a nationally-published and highly-esteemed magazine, something like TIME, National Geographic, or the Rolling Stone, even if I only get to do one article. But more recently, that has hit me as being a little... well... nebulous. It's like a singer saying she wants to be famous.
So, while I am still keeping the aforementioned goal in mind, I have reset my sights on a more short-term and realistic expectation of myself. I'm not lowering the bar, mind you, but I'm setting up something concrete that I can put on my resume and talk to employers about as my goal instead of "breaking into the world of journalism."
New goal? How kind of you to urge me to get to the point.
I want to write for a Spanish or bilingual periodical in the United States, hopefully--preferably--in southern California or other border state with a large Hispanic population.
This little sentence dawned on me last night at work, and it sure brightened my day. It's a way that I can justify my Spanish minor as something that I didn't just do for fun because I'm interested in Spanish. It's also something more concrete that I can set mini-goals toward, a sort of to-do list for things I need if I want to reach this goal.
1. Subscribe to a Spanish periodical--a respectable one, not something like People--so I can familiarize myself with the Spanish journalistic style.
2. Start building up a portfolio of articles in Spanish, covering a range of topics. Perhaps start small by translating articles I've already written before attempting something larger.
3. Get in contact with Spanish-language publishers, read what they publish, and market myself to them. And, no matter where I go to get a job, market myself as bilingual, even if I'm not going for a writing position. This must be a key to my resume.
4. VISIT SPANISH-SPEAKING COUNTRIES. Imperative.
Oh, and last but not least,
Move to San Diego. :)
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