A career in journalism starts with being a good reporter

You might dream of a career as an investigative journalist or crime reporter or even have ambitions to be an editor, but until you've done the graft as a general news reporter you won't be going anywhere fast. 

So as you carve out a career as a journalist be prepared to be a Jack of all trades as you will have to prove yourself as a good reporter before being given the chance to move up the ranks in the newsroom.

And to be honest, it's fairly necessary too, as most senior journalist jobs still demand the same skills and techniques as a general reporter regardless of whether it's the job of a sports reporter or features writer.

For instance, working as a general news journalist will provide you with a good, solid background in story finding, interviewing, reporting, writing, editing and working to deadlines.

It will also allow you time to develop and practise essential personal skills and hone your technical skills while gaining confidence with the whole workings of the media.

Being a general reporter will also allow you to explore different types of senior journalism roles and give you a chance to test the water in these roles.

You might start out with ambitions to be a crime or court reporter for instance, but once you're in the job you might find that you have more of a liking or skill for politics or business reporting (eg).

When I started out I had ambitions to be a features writer but ended up as a news editor, a job I found hugely satisfying as it gave me the opportunity to pass on my skills and knowledge to help new recruits starting out in journalism.

I know other colleagues who have preferred to do news desk roles such as sub editing or social media and/or website management.

So try not to get too hung up on where you want your career to go and try to concentrate more on gaining some real 'on the shop floor' experience.

If you're lucky you'll get many interesting assignments to cover too.

When I was a general newspaper journalist I managed to get a taste of all kinds of journalism jobs before I climbed the ranks and became a news editor.

I covered all types of court cases from inquest hearings to large-scale trials such as the Shipman case, I attended all types of police and council press conferences and worked late into the early hours on umpteen election result counts as I used to love beating the rival media to online news coverage!

There were always plenty of opportunities to attend film previews and stage shows and I always had my hand up when a local restaurant wanted a meal reviewer to sample their new menu, for free of course!

So there is a lot of scope to enjoy the job as a general news reporter and I know many people who have stuck at this level for the duration of their career as a journalist.

But if you have plans to strive to a more specialist journalism job you will still have to do the leg work as a general reporter first.

This is also where you'll discover which job in journalism is right for you and which move to make as you embark on your career in journalism.