Experience

I make no bones about the fact I wish to work in the media. I'm not cut out for a job in IT; I really couldn't do any manual labour (being a girl, and being lacking in the ol' muscle department); anything that involves maths and science I try to avoid; I even struggle with my alphabet so that puts admin on a back-burner.

So the media it is! I congratulate myself. I have just chosen one of the hardest industries to slot myself into. There are plenty of opportunities about, but unfortunately walking round with 'entry-level' stamped on my forehead isn't going to get me any job interviews fast.

That brings me to... experience. I don't have an awful lot, it must be said. I like to think I took student radio by storm - I presented and produced a light-hearted foreign affairs show called... wait for it... 'Lost in Translation' - witty and original. Not. Anyway the show in itself wasn't that bad and at one time more than 1,000 people wanted to listen to my dulcet tones and so downloaded me as a podcast. Hooray!

Radio experience... Half a tick, well for entry-level anyway.

Journalism experience. Hmm... That's a big one. I am completely 100% not even a little bit qualified, but I love writing. Again I have the student experience - writing, editing, fundraising (aka bakesale-ing) - it's all there on my CV. So I think we can give a half tick for that one too.

TV production? Nada. Absolutely Rafael Nada. I'm enthusiastic, but useless in the eyes of the big companies. That said I am a keen script writer and am waiting for the day when one of the TV companies I've sent scripts to look upon me favourably and tell me they want to put one of my shows on in the 'Downton Abbey' slot on Sundays.

I am a bit of an optimist.

So I think we've established that my experience is a little patchy, but it is the catch-22 cum vicious circle that plagues most young people looking for work: I have no experience so I can't get a job; I can't get experience until I get a job; but I can't get a job as I have no experience; but I won't get experience until I get a job... Look I could do that for hours, and have done that [metaphorically] for hours as I trawled the internet looking for something that would look kindly upon someone like me with enthusiasm, but no industry experience.

One might call it the pit of despair.