5 Tips to further your Graduate Writing Career

You've graduated from your writing related degree, now what?

Internships: Cancelled.

Graduate jobs: Cancelled.

Work experience: Cancelled.

Feeling like you can do anything at all to better your future: Cancelled.

As a member of the class of 2020, I am feeling a bit hard done by. I have walked out of university into a pandemic where people don't even have the common sense to stay inside. Its hard to have hope in lock-down when you are feeling like this is supposed to be the start of your new life in the 'real world.'

Any kind of job is hard to come by as society is shut down to save lives, never-mind a job in writing. But here are five things you can do to keep yourself busy in quarantine and add to your experience and CV.

1. Online courses

Despite having spent years study, there is always more to learn. Various websites have online courses you can take in relation to your career in writing and publishing. You could polish up your editing skills or content writing. A course I have been taking is Google Digital Garage - Fundamentals of Digital Marketing, to prepare myself for a communications job. Once completed I can put this on my CV.

2. Social media

Having a presence online as a writer can be really beneficial. You can network with those in the writing community and often publishers will advertise work experience opportunities on their social media. Creating a blog can showcase your work for future employers. If you can create a following on your writing profile, it shows publishers that there are people who want to see more of your work.

3. Competitions

Another way to get yourself out there as a writer is to enter writing competitions. The judges are likely to be prominent people in the industry so if they see and like your work that can lead to more opportunities. If you do win, that will boost your profile and officially validate the quality of your writing on your CV. Some competitions even have cash prizes which is never a bad thing. Here are some of the competitions you can get involved with right now.

4. Freelancing

Another way to use your skills to get some income is freelancing. The easiest way to get customers is on freelancing websites like Fiverr. It may take a while to pick up as the more reviews of your work there is, the more likely it is customers will trust you. There is no better time to set-up your freelancing profile, opening up the opportunity for income.

5. Writing

This may sound obvious but write. If you have always wanted to write a novel, why not start now while you are stuck inside with nothing to do. There are fewer distractions and more time to focus on what you have always wanted to write. Even if its rough, a first draft is better than no draft. You never know, what you write now could be picked up by a publisher and you will be catapulted into published authorship fresh out of uni.

Those were just a few things you can be getting on with during quarantine to feel like your writing career is going somewhere. Forging a writing career is never easy but graduating during a pandemic doesn't make it any easier.

Stay hopeful and stay home.