James G.

Sports journalist
Happy to mentor
Happy to be contacted

About me

James G.
Politics
Politics
Undergraduate
Goodricke
1999
United Kingdom

My employment

Sports journalist
ITN
United Kingdom
Journalism and publishing
2001

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A day in the life of a Sports journalist in the United Kingdom

How I found out about the job

Was approached

The recruitment process

I joined ITN in 2003 as a result of meeting one of my future editors at an awards dinner. He approached me and asked me if I'd be interested in working for ITN. I underwent a formal interview and was offered the job a week later.

My career history

Stray FM in Harrogate Oct 2001 - August 2002 Newsreader; Essex FM in Southend September 02-Aug 03 Newsreader; ITN August 2003 - August 2009 Radio Newsreader, then sports journalist, then TV journalist for Setanta Sports; September 09-present - Self employed, working regularly for ITV News, Talksport, Sky Sports.

Courses taken since graduation

NCTJ newspaper journalism; PG Dip Broadcast Journalism

Where I hope to be in 5 years

To keep doing what I'm doing.

My advice to students considering work

Enjoy your course and don't panic if you end up moving into a job sector totally unrelated to your undergraduate study.

What I do

I am a sports journalist, self employed, so I take the work which interests me most. Month to month my work is very varied. Usually I work 4-5 shifts a month at Talksport as a newsreader. I work at ITN on average 11-12 days a month as a sports journalist. I also do 2-3 days a month as a sports commentator for different companies including Sky.

Skills I use and how I developed them

I am a fully trained newspaper and broadcast journalist and I had previous experience.

What I like most

I enjoy the fact there is so much variety and lots of fun.

What I like least

I don't enjoy the very unsociable hours. I work every weekend, without fail, usually doing 3-4 days work in 2. It's tiring, but rewarding.

What would I change? I would have gone self employed earlier.

Next steps...

If you like the look of James’s profile, the next steps are down to you! You can send James a message to find out more about their career journey.

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