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I graduated from a small liberal arts college in 2004 with a degree in religion and history, and I've been working at a nonprofit organization since. Although I have no experience in journalism, I've decided I want to act on my long-simmering interest in it. To that end, I've been taking a class on news reporting at a nearby university, which has only increased my desire to make the switch. What would you recommend for the next steps?

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I've thought about internships, but do newspapers offer them to people without experience? Is freelance work for a small local paper an option, and how does one get started in that? Finally, grad school appeals to me because it would be a great way for me to get immediate experience. However, do you recommend grad school for people who haven't been in journalism for any significant amount of time? I know these are a lot of questions, but any help you can provide will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Tram

You have a lot of options. Let's narrow them down.

Begin by analyzing your interest in journalism. Then, do some thinking about the kind of job you might like to be doing in journalism five or 10 years down the road. This is an industry in transition. Many of today's jobs are disappearing or morphing. Others are being created. It would be hopeless to prepare yourself for a job that is going away.

Joe Grimm

The key to learning about yourself and about journalism, and to getting the qualifications you need, is to get some on-the-job experience. That comes through freelancing, working at a student paper or volunteering in a local newsroom. Grad school could help you get some of those experiences and would, in effect, re-qualify you for internships. But you should look for a practical program rather than a theoretical one.

Few journalism companies would hire you, even for an internship, until you get some experience. That experience, in turn, will show you how much the business appeals to you. This is a hard business to break into and, recently, a hard one to thrive in. The successful people are the ones who adapt.

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Coming Wednesday: Her editor gave her time off for one reason, but plans changed. She wants to use the time for something else and wonders if she should tell.

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