After graduating from The University of Mississippi in 2021, Griffin DeMarrais landed his first job as a multimedia journalist at the Gray TV-owned KAIT 8 in Jonesboro, Arkansas. Fast forward two years, when moved within Gray to a bigger market and his second job at WMC TV in Memphis, Tennessee, covering news and sports.
DeMarrais found getting that first job was tougher, primarily because COVID preventing his university from bringing recruiters to campus.
“We didn’t get to network as much and meet a lot of the news directors and people who usually come visit journalism classes,” he said.
His first job hunt started on platforms such as LinkedIn and Indeed where he successfully secured two job offers at different stations, but neither was his dream job.
“At the beginning, I was striking out a little bit because I was looking for sports reporting jobs in bigger markets and I realized slowly that wasn’t a possibility.”
Instead, DeMarrais took a news reporter, which he says helped him grow as a storyteller. When it came time to transition to his second job, he realized the value of working for a media corporation with lots of local stations.
“Getting my second job was a lot easier. I work for a large company, so on the company website, if there’s a job that you like, you can apply. They always try to put your resume towards the top,” he explained.
DeMarrais says the skills and experience gained in his first job prepared him to adapt to his new position. These include learning how to write for TV, how the camera works, understanding what people want to watch, and getting comfortable in his own skin.
DeMarrais says, “Right out of school, I was not prepared to be in a larger market for television news. I definitely needed some fine-tuning and there’s a lot of things you can always improve on.”
Furthermore, the bar is higher at your second job.
“You are in a place where more eyes are watching your broadcast, more people are interested, and you are covering major stories. You are expected to come in with story pitches and be able to handle everything on your own,” he said.
Being in a much larger market also means there is less room for mistakes, but also the potential for more career opportunities.
DeMarrais said, “There is another TV station that my company owns just an hour away, running my stories all the time. So, they see my face, they hear my voice all the time and I think that’s a form of subconscious networking.”
Whether you are in your first, second or seventh job, DeMarrais said you should always be willing to talk to people.
“This industry is all about networking in order to keep moving up and continue to get better jobs. And the only way you network is by being an outgoing person,” he said.
Finally, his biggest advice to anyone trying to get their foot in the door is to hustle and work hard because, in the long run, it does pay off.
“I think too many people in journalism give up too soon. They’re in their first market. They’re not making a lot of money and they think, ‘Oh, I’m never gonna get out of here.’ And if you just stick with it and push through you will get rewarded.”
