What job will I get?

We sought comments from a random sample of our graduates, those in the media and those whose employment is not related to journalism.

They answered from the UK and across the world: the US, Middle East, Norway, Denmark, east Asia, India or wherever.

And they responded to the questions: Do you regret reading journalism? What are you doing now? Would you with the benefit of hindsight have chosen a different course? If not, what transferable skills do you reckon you learned?

Here are a few of their replies, in no particular order...

Fleet Street fundamentals

A journalism degree was the best preparation for my working life now on Fleet Street. Without learning the fundamentals, not to mention shorthand and media law, my passage would have taken much longer. There was also one added bonus – the lecturers are all seasoned hacks with unrivalled experience and contacts within the business.

Paul

Motor sport PR

I am responsible for PR and marketing for a leading motor sport team having spent three years in a similar post in formula 1. I certainly don't regret studying journalism and if I had the choice all over again, I would definitely take the same course. There is no way I would have been given the opportunity at the Press Association without my journalism degree from Sheffield, and I add the location because our university was well respected by PA and that counted for a lot.

Alastair

Sheffield's credibility

Having a degree in journalism from the University of Sheffield doesn't give you a fast ticket into the industry. What it does give you is credibility. When I have been for interviews, and even when on work experience placements, employers have always recognised Sheffield as a good institution for rolling out top-class journalism students. The course gives you practical training that is invaluable within the work environment, from shorthand to conducting interviews and approaching case studies.

I am now working on the features team at a leading magazine. But I also feel that my degree has given me the capability to move between platforms, having had radio, television and news reporting training. To sum up, it was the best £27,000 I ever spent. I'm glad I didn't study English.

Georgina

Enormous confidence

Studying journalism at Sheffield opened doors for me at the start of my career in factual network television. Having a journalism degree put me on the same footing as colleagues who had done postgraduate journalism qualifications. I was even told the reason I was given my first job in network current affairs telly was because of my journalistic qualifications. Doing the course gave me enormous confidence and enabled me to progress quickly through the ranks.

Vicki

Useful skills

I'm really pleased I did journalism, and am immensely proud of my degree. I picked up skills there that can be used across different fields like how to write engaging copy, how to structure a story, shorthand, design work etc. Since graduating I worked for a PR firm in Sheffield and then a digital and educational consultancy. I currently work for a PR company in London working for clients like Samsung, Cobra beer and McDonald's and also freelance for football website Goal.com.

Tim

Celebrity journalism – then teaching

I worked for five years in the ever-fickle world of celebrity journalism, hanging around the frayed edges of the red carpet and living on a diet of canapes and cocktails. Fun, while it lasted.
I then transferred my skills into a Primary PGCE (teaching) and have never looked back. My journalism degree helped enormously with what I do now in the classroom. Journalism has helped to hone my grammar and allowed me to understand the many different genres of writing, from descriptive pieces to opinion columns – all skills which I have passed onto my pupils. Most of all, a degree in journalism sounds so much more exciting than English lit!

Katy

Publishing in the Middle East

I went into B2B (business-to-business) magazines, then newspapers, and now head up editorial for the Middle East's largest contract publisher. At the risk of sounding sycophantic, I'm very pleased I did the course. Although 'media studies' seems to have been lumped in with waste management and other Mickey Mouse degrees, when I'm employing writers I specifically look for people with proper journalism training, both because they tend to be better trained and because it shows that they're serious about being journalists.

Philip

Combining theory and practice

I currently work as a communications manager for the Department for Education and, although I am not a journalist, there is not a day goes by when I do not make use of the skills and knowledge I gained during my degree. Journalism Studies is such a varied course that it gives you an extremely firm grounding for any writing or public-facing career.

There are very few courses that combine theoretical study, practical experience and professional qualifications but Journalism Studies does just that. If you want a degree that is more than just sitting in lecture theatres and reading endless books then Journalism Studies is ideal for you. I loved this course and I know it has stood me in very good for the rest of my career.

Eleanor

Music programming

I graduated with a BA in 2006 and took a job with an independent radio production company, for which I still work. I'm now a producer making programmes for national BBC networks like Radio 2 and Radio 4. Although most of what I make is music programming, I have never regretted studying journalism at Sheffield. The course's academic elements gave me a good understanding of the British media and its vocational elements gave me the confidence to get stuck in. Provided you combine the course with as much work experience as waking hours allow, I think you can be pretty confident of securing a decent job on graduation. Also, Sheffield is great; like many graduates, I still live here.

Jon

Radio 5 Live

I've no regrets at all. The course prepared me properly for my first reporter job. I developed a news sense, learnt how to find a story, write a story, got all the media law training I needed, court and council experience and some broadcast training too. I didn't feel at all out of my depth when I joined BBC local radio as a reporter just after I graduated.

I've now been at BBC 5 Live for four years, working on most programmes and with most presenters. I love it. I've been to South Africa to cover the World Cup and was around the country during the general election campaign.

Paul

Marketing manager

I enjoyed studying journalism, but knew in my first year that I didn't want to be a journalist. I still love reading and writing, and I enjoy the news, but don't envy those who write/film/edit it! After I left university I wanted to do something that used the skills I'd acquired but in a different way. I am now marketing manager at a software company, where I get to play a key role in how the company is marketed to the world. It's really, really exciting. Journalism doesn't have to be a stepping stone to writing for newspapers and magazines: it's been an absolutely brilliant way for me to find jobs that people don't often associate with the course.

Lesley

Charity work

I'm now working for an international charity, based in Johannesburg and covering all of sub-Saharan Africa. My job is to get the media to focus on stories they generally find boring, like people starving in Niger, polio outbreaks in Congo, etc. I enjoy the travelling – Congo and Swaziland on the
agenda.

So I would say that I have no regrets at all studying journalism. While I haven't pursued a journalism career, the qualification has enabled me to work in corporate communications in all manner of sectors (banking, law, property, charity). From a skills perspective, learning how to write well, listen effectively, question intelligently are all areas that anyone working in most fields should have and the journalism course definitely developed them.

From a personal perspective I think something quite specific (such as journalism as opposed to media studies) is a much better qualification to have as it's much less ambiguous. People actually understand what you studied and therefore what skills you might have.

Faye

Gathering evidence

I've no regrets at all about the course. I ended joined the Civil Service and there were definitely transferable skills from the course. The most valuable ones have been sub-editing and the ability to say something concisely, for example when translating complex policy documents into something the public can understand, or when writing briefings for ministers. I actually teach it as a skill to my staff as I think it's so important as a civil servant.

The other skill that's less easy to define is the ability to be able to pick up the phone and find something out. For example, if a minister wants to know how a policy is working on the ground, I've got a good idea of how to go about investigating that and gathering some evidence, real life case studies, etc. I think that's harder than it sounds without the sort of skills we learnt on the course.

Stella

Practical skills

Journalism Studies is the course for anyone who wants to learn how to do something, not learn about the theory of how to do it. The things you'll learn during your time there will put you in good stead for almost any career.

Joanna

Assured on the telephone

I got a job with a TV production company straight after graduating because they valued my ability to pick up the phone and not rely on Google and email. Without the experience of chasing contacts throughout the course, I would not have been as assured as I am now when it comes to cold-calling potential contributors.

Michael

Sugar features editor

The Sheffield University journalism degree helped me become features editor at Sugar, assisting me in nabbing all the other magazine jobs I've done previously. It is a course respected by editors on national magazines and newspapers, and is always picked up on, in a good way, in job interviews. The skills you learn give you a massive head start and the lecturers also tell you how it is, i.e. what to expect when you start working on a national title. Their honesty and experience is the most valuable thing of all.

Carly

No fame and fortune

I really enjoyed my journalism degree; it was the right choice for me. I am the editor of a sector-specific news website, but am still paid under £20k and strapped to the desk most of the time. Local newspapers are lots of fun, and press office and communications work is well paid, but I am yet to find a journalism job that is both well paid and enjoyable. That doesn't mean such a job is not out there but you must throw away expectations of anything but the naked act of finding and writing the news as a result of this qualification. If you want fame and fortune, look elsewhere, but if you want to be a journalist then Sheffield will get you there.

Joel

National newspaper

There was a lot of pressure on me at school to go to Oxbridge and study a more traditional subject. But I was sure I wanted to pursue journalism as a career, and knew Sheffield was the best place for an undergraduate course in the subject, so I knew it would be for me. The course was fantastic, and I developed a wide range of skills across a number of media platforms. Combining this with a large amount of work experience helped to make an impressive CV by the time I graduated. I was offered jobs before I had even sat my final exams and I'm now employed by a national newspaper. If I hadn't have gone to Sheffield to study journalism, I would simply not be where I am today – and it would have probably taken me much longer to get that elusive first job.

Mark

Confident and competent

I was warned by almost everyone – teachers, parents, peers – that a journalism degree would be a waste of time and I'd be better off reading a "more traditional" subject, but I stuck to my guns and have never regretted my decision. I was well ahead of the game when I started my first journalism job, far more confident and competent than I believe I'd have been coming from a course in English, politics or whatever. I've now made the move into the murky world of PR, but I loved my years as a print journalist and still really feel that my career options are far-reaching – largely thanks to the skills I learnt at Sheffield.

Sally