Tyler Kingkade ’11: How the job market made me better

I owa felt like a small place to which I had already reached my peak by the time I graduated from college. I had done TV reporting and realized it just wasn’t for me. I’d done print reporting and looked around to conclude I didn’t feel like I wanted to stick around in the Hawkeye state’s newspapers for my own reasons.

During my senior year I spent most weeks adjusting my resume and writing various cover letters until March, when I found a spot in Washington, D.C. I first applied to a program called The Fund for American Studies, mistakenly thinking it was the same as another Greenlee student had done a year before. Only later did I find out it was something most Iowans don’t participate in – but it was fantastic nonetheless.

The program had me living on Georgetown University’s campus, taking ethics, economics and media classes with a full-time internship as well. The internship at The Huffington Post was a result of my contributions to the site during my collegiate years. We also had visits to places such as the State Department, the World Bank, POLITICO and other Washington institutions, while hearing from professionals in the political media world.

I’ve continued my work at The Huffington Post beyond my initial internship term, and now have two alumni networks to tap into as I search for a full-time salary. The East Coast certainly fits me; the public transportation has allowed me to escape driving on my own, and traveling between D.C. and New York is merely a $30 bus ticket.

The entertainment and shopping is better, although groceries are significantly more expensive than Hy-Vee. Not to mention the higher rent, going from $275 a month back in Ames to $1,250 here. Nonetheless, the media world has so much more opportunity out here – not only in places to work but in what to cover.

I have had to learn the art of networking. Getting a couple editors at prominent news outlets to tell me they were interested in finding a spot for me was the result of playing a version of “6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon” to get informal meetings to begin the process. It’s a long process, not one that happens simply because you send out a single email to someone you sort-of know.

Starting with an internship, however, was a smart way to go for me. As accomplished as I may have been as an undergraduate, and despite my local internships, I had not worked on a fast-paced national level with hundreds of competitors and the HuffPost’s big reputation to uphold.

I’ve gotten more comfortable in this role and even began to notice where others fail. I have certainly grown as a journalist, and perhaps this rough job market has pushed me to a higher standard out of necessity. I need to improve, or get left behind. It’s not enough to be as good as the current reporters on Capitol Hill, in New York, or at city papers around the Mid-Atlantic; I need to be better.

–By Tyler Kingkade      

Tyler Kingkade graduated from Iowa State in journalism and political science this year and now works at The Huffington Post in Washington. The Des Moines native was editor-in-chief of Ethos magazine, and he worked or interned for the Iowa State Daily, ISUtv, KCCI and the Iowa Independent.