One word of advice: “Sell your soul for the college paper.” Jimmy Vielkind, a blogger/reporter for The New York Observer said to a class of journalism students . Although he smiled and joked his friendly demeanor carried a more serious tone; get all the experience you can outside of the classroom.
After graduating from Columbia University in 2007 with a degree in Urban Studies, Vielkind landed a prestigious job in a windowless basement as a Web “layout monkey.” “I’m sure everyone in there was a coke dealer besides me,” he said.
Outside of his cold calling skills he was an avid writer for his college newspaper the Columbia daily Spectator. After Google-ing Vielkind in the Columbia daily Spectator I realized that he wasn’t just a writer/news editor. I counted 91 articles in total. From 2003 to 2007 his soul definitely belonged to the Spectator.
Fifteen minutes into his speech it started sounding generic and rehearsed. “I’m going to be very careful because of the blogs last year.” he admitted. People mindlessly stared at him not asking any question except for the occasional laugh at unfunny jokes. Then he screamed “Not once! Not once! In any of the interviews that I had did anyone ask me about my GPA!” I am sure that everyone in there has heard that experience trumps GPA, well maybe except if you’re pursuing a career in mathematics.
So what was different? He didn’t glamorize his salary, brag about his Ivy League degree or rejoice about working 20 hour days. Although nothing in his speech pointed to quick success in and accolades on every article I was excited! “On election night I woke up at seven and went to bed at three A.M. … that’s 20 hours.” he said. At 24-years-old he had worked for three distinguished newspapers and survived “Four rounds of layoffs in the last year.” he said.
Vielkind has been a reporter/blogger for the the New York Observer since October of last year, and “Feeds the blog about five times a day.” he said. He writes for the Politicker which is just a really cool name for the politics section. In his recent article titled Patterson: Whatever it Takes, he called Governor David A. Patterson irresponsible, in a subtle not so subtle way. During his interview with the journalism class he defended his point by saying Governor Patterson “Never intended to become governor.” He credits the Observer for allowing its reporters/bloggers to put their “sensibilities” and perspective on stories.
Jimmy Vielkind, whose last name translated means many children nine in German, maintained that his ultimate goal is to become a columnist on a community. Currently he’s enrolled in the Urban and Regional Planning graduate program at University at Albany. Considering the newspaper industry is in decline, obtaining a graduate degree is smart. I personally will do the same because I need a backup plan just in case becoming the Editor-in-chief of The New York Times doesn’t come first.
What I found most interesting was how honest he was about his employment at the Times Union. He was hired by the Times Union a general assignment / criminal justice reporter right out of college in 2007. Michael Huber, the Interactive Audience Manager for the Times Union, stood in the classroom while Vielkind compared the polite-natured Times Union to the frank Observer. “The TU is more surface they don’t dig below.” he said.
