...so my time at nme came to an end

And this makes me very sad (as I have repeated on my facebook status many a time).

My last day was fantastic, a great end to a great experience. I had a meeting with NME.COM's editor, David Moynihan, and i'll tell you what, this guy knows what he's talking about. He studied something random like ancient history at uni...he didn't study journalism! But he's gone on to work for FHM, Uncut and NME...now that's a CV for you.

Talking of CVs, during the meeting I asked him for some tips on creating an impressive media one and he told me exactly what companies like NME look for. He also gave me some great advice on how to become a successful journalist:
  • Write a blog. About anything. If you want to work in the media and have a blog, put it on your CV.
  • Get on twitter. For no particular reason, mainly because most journos are on there now and it's a great way to keep up-to-date with, well, everything and everyone.
  • Write your ass off and have the confidence and determination to send it everywhere.
  • Be cutting edge with your writing - look around for the different styles of writing and try your hand at them. See which style suits you best - don't just try to write like an NME journalist if you're obviously not.
  • Write for the student paper (okay I should probably look into this).
  • On the CV front - keep it to one page only and don't worry about putting all your education info (even if it is highly impressive) and past jobs on there if it isn't relative to the job you're going for. Employers don't care if you're "a highly interactive and friendly individual because you worked in a bar" (a quote from David himself) - it's just ridiculous waffle they can spot a mile off...
  • And basically get out there and experience life as much as possible, whether it be going to gigs, the cinema or just going to the pub, and you'll always have something to write about.

So hope that helps everyone - I know it helped me a lot.

David and the team at NME were "very impressed" with my work, YAY! He said that they would love to have me back, to keep in touch and let them know when I can come back to London! As I did this work placement for a module for uni, I had to ask him to complete a form for my tutor...basically just grading me on my work there...and I got 5 out of 5 for everything! He even said "maybe I should put 4 for something so it doesn't look like you did so well, but I can't find anything to put it against!" CHUFFED isn't the word.

I hope to go back over Summer, or whenever I can find somewhere to stay in London!

And I hope that this blog has been of some help and interest to the people reading it - I will be carrying it on and sticking up my general ramblings about, well, anything! So I hope you all continue reading...Oh and my last bit of celeb spotting during my time in London was bumping into Jimmi from Doves in the NME canteen and sitting opposite Matt from Teachers on the tube.

Goodtimes.

Over and out from NME.

Sunday, April 05, 2009 | Labels: , |