What you need to know about working in the media

Let me start this off by saying, yes I am aware that the media industry is very broad, but from my experience working in various sectors in the media industry there are somethings that we are all going to experience whether you work in Journalism, PR or Television.

You may have to do some maths
I can’t explain my frustration when I send an email to someone and a week later I still get no response, but I see they last tweeted 20 minutes ago. You tryna tell me you have time to tweet about your boyfriend buying you some chocolates but no time to reply to my email? Yeah right! Sadly this is something you have to get used to, especially if your ideal job requires contacting journalists and bloggers. Be prepared to be ignored.

People may hung up on you
I understand everyone has those days when they are busy or generally just don’t want to communicate with people, but putting the phone down on people is just rude END OF! Don’t take offense if someone puts the phone down on you, just brush it off and continue about your day. Don’t let their bad attitude ruin your day.

People may ignore your emails 
I can’t explain my frustration when I send an email to someone and a week later I still get no response, but I see they last tweeted 20 minutes ago. Are you trying to tell me you have time to tweet about your boyfriend buying you some chocolates but no time to reply to my email? Yeah right! Sadly this is something you have to get used to, especially if your ideal job requires contacting journalists and bloggers. Be prepared to be ignored.

You may have to stalk people on social media
A lot of jobs that involve researching in the media industry may require you to brush up on your social media stalking skills. You may end up sending hours of your day stalking your clients Twitter feed or making notes on the content of a bloggers Instagram posts.

You may have to build relationships with people you don’t like
This one definitely applies to those who want to work in the PR or Advertising industry. There maybe a client that you are not too fond of, either because they are condescending, boring or just generally rude. Whatever it may be, you need to learn how to brush it all aside and remain professional. For the sake of your company and your job you may have to continue to build a relationship with them.

Words: Lateefah Jean-Baptiste
Tweet @LATEEFAHJB