It's a glamorous business. Your parents would approve. It could certainly satisfy your longing to write. But before you decide to embark on a career in magazines, ask yourself the following questions:
- Can you live on minimum wage?
- Can you work without benefits?
- Will you be happy working as someone's assistant - doing menial tasks like answering calls, making schedules and travel arrangements, and preparing expense reports - for the two or more years?
- Can you work late nights, weekends, when you're sick, and with little vacation time?
- Do you consider yourself a creative person who thinks of story and visual ideas and themes in the abstract, and is constantly inspired by daily life, events and news?
- Do you regularly read books, newspapers and magazines?
- Are you willing to continue your education? Whether on the job or in the form of an advanced degree to pursue your goal of being an editor, writer etc.?
- Are you thick skinned? Can you avoid taking things personally as you work towards a higher goal?
- Are you persistent? Will you do anything (ethical) and any amount of work to get where you want?
- Are you willing to spend two or more years in a job before getting the opportunity to express your creative ideas?
If you can answer "yes" to all of these questions, then you're ready to pursue a career in magazines, and will no doubt be a success at it. If you have answered "no" to any of these, don't bother trying to convince yourself. You might want to take a look at related industries or positions - perhaps advertising, publicity, or marketing.
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