How to land your dream journalism job — or at least a paying one

Landing your journalism dream job… OK. Scratch that. We’ll be honest. Landing a paying journalism job is frustrating, difficult and, at times, heartbreaking. But it’s not impossible and you don’t have to do it alone. Come on, put on a coat and join us for an evening where we’ll try to rescue you from the depths of your job hunting despair.

The Panelists:

Sheila Solomon is an expert in newsroom diversity and has a lengthy career as an editor for a variety of news outlets. She’s a senior consultant to the Democracy Fund and recently completed a study of the Chicago media ecosystem. She also serves as the strategic alliance liaison and manager of recruitment and internships at Rivet, a Chicago-based “smart audio” creation and distribution company. She previously spent seven years as the Chicago Tribune’s senior editor for recruitment, overseeing the newsroom’s internship and training programs and serving as a resource and liaison for the newsroom and Chicago Tribune Media Group partners.

Jennifer Halperin is a veteran journalist and an internship and career advisor at Columbia College. She’s also the Midwest stringer for Mergermarket, an online global financial news service based in London, and the former Internship Insider columnist for AOL’s MoneyCollege. She’s been an editorial writer, reporter and editor in Ohio, Florida and Illinois, and occasionally works as a freelance writer in many capacities.

Michael Limón is the career and internship coordinator at Loyola. He is also a veteran journalist/editor who has led and been part of award-winning teams at a wide range of top newspapers. Most recently, as business editor at The Salt Lake Tribune, the Money section under his supervision was honored with multiple General Excellence awards by the Society of American Business Editors and Writers (SABEW). Previous to that, during more than a decade with the Gannett Co., in roles ranging from assistant managing editor to executive editor, he was twice named a Gannett Newsroom Supervisor of the Year and was honored by The Associated Press, among others.

Alison Bowen (moderator) is a features reporter at the Chicago Tribune, where she edits and writes about a slew of topics, from health articles to book pieces. Her writing has also appeared in The New York Times, the New York Daily News and Metro U.S.

Image credit: Helen Greene/Flickr