A sit down with Will McGuinness

             The clean-cut Will McGuinness took the time out of his day to speak to students at the University of Massachusetts today about aspects of social media and the ever-changing job market that is journalism. His advice to us young journalism prospects was simple: mix it up. By mix it up, he meant think outside the box. McGuinness was quick to reiterate to us that you need to take every opportunity given to you, you need to take it.

            McGuinness begain his journey to obtain a journalism job from humble beginnings in Fall River, Ma. From a young age he did freelance work for his hometown newspaper. At UMass his services were used at outlets such as the Hampshire Gazette and the Collegian. McGuinness then graduate in 2010 and held three jobs throughout one year. When I first heard this, I thought: What? Three jobs? That seems like a lot doesn’t it? Turns out McGuinness wanted a little more than what was offered to him initially. When he graduated he worked at the Dow Jones Wire (with help from a UMass professor), from there he was the manager of the media department at the Herald in his hometown of Fall River. After dwindling around at the Herald, McGuinness said that he wanted bigger and better things, and he wanted to leave his hometown. His networking skills kicked in and he contacted every relevant person through email. Sure enough, a former colleague mentioned an opening at CBS world news organization. Lo and behold, McGuinness applied and got the job.

            His unquenchable thirst for new oppritunity did not stop there, after working at cbs for a few months (where he was perfectly happy) he decided that he wanted to work somewhere else. McGuinness stressed to us young journalists that you should not try to stay in one place, even if you are happy. There are oppritunities everywhere and it is up to you to go out there and seize it. His interest turned to the Huffington Post.

"I emailed Arianna Huffington and told her my ideas for how I would change the education section of the post. Turns out, someone liked my ideas."

 24 hours and one interview later, he walked out with an offer.

Hearing this as a student was nothing short of amazing. To have an actual job seems impossible right now, but he had three in one year? I took away McGuinness’ positive attitude no matter what the situation. McGuinness is a realist too, he’s seen a lot in is journalism career. As a lifeguard in fall river he was exposed to the drowing of Marie Joseph in apublic pool.

"The interesting part about this story was that the hordes had descended on Fall River, it was an advantage as a young journalists to see how nationally syndicated stations reported the news."

 Exposure to these networks had a very positive effect on McGuinness.

           Being positive was the theme of McGuinness' sit down with us students. While he told us tales of the big bad world of journalism, he remained hopeful and hungry in his job search. The job McGuinness holds now is a direct result of his determination and skills.