Taking the first steps:

So now that I had made my decision, it was time to do some research and find out what I would need to do to get the ball rolling. 

The first thing I did was contact my local TAFE to find out what courses I would need to do to be able to get a job in my chosen field. 

The TAFE informed me that the best course for me to enrol in would be a communications and media course. They gave me the email address of one of the course teachers and I emailed her right away. 

I was a little worried at first as entry requirements to get into the course stated that an HSC was required. As I don't have one, I emailed Michelle (the course teacher) and asked her if this would be a problem. When I got an email back from her I was relieved to find out that there was a test that I could take to see if I would be suitable for the course. 

Michelle then gave me a phone call to give me all of the course details. I found out that the course ran three days a week, and that they were already in their second week. 

I started to panic a little as I hadn't had any time to prepare myself for something like that. I would have no time to organise where my money would come from while I was studying the course and I wouldn't be able to give my employer any notice that I was leaving my job. 

As much as I wanted to do the course and start working towards getting my dream job, unfortunately it just wasn't the right time.

I didn't lose hope though, I now had time to work on all of the finer details and really think things through. I also knew that as it was already half way through the year, it would probably be better for me anyway to start fresh at the beginning of 2012 instead of half way through 2011, when everyone was already in their second week of study.

I informed Michelle that I was unable to sit the test at that time, and that I would more than likely start the course at the beginning of 2012. I then went straight to my bosses wife, Toni to let her know my plans for the future.  

As I was giving her plenty of notice, she couldn't really be upset with me, and she agreed to let me keep my job until the end of the year.

Now that I had all of that figured out, I decided to look on a few job seeking websites to see if there were any magazine jobs going. 

I had a bit of a search and applied for anything that I thought I may be able to do. 

Even if I don't think I'm suitable for a particular job, my plan is to apply for it anyway and send in my resume. I want all of the magazine companies to know that I am really keen, and the way I see it, if they see my name often enough, they will either realise how keen I am to break into the industry, or they will get sick of seeing my name every time they have a job advertised, and they will give me a go! :)

I also put my resume up on all of the job seeking websites for any potential employers to see, and I now get daily emails from the job seeking websites to let me know of any magazine jobs going anywhere.

My next step was to apply for some work experience, as every time I see anything about how anyone got a job working for a magazine, they always say how much of an important role work experience played in helping them get their foot in the door.

Lela xx