Why I want to become an Automotive journalist

Alright. So In my college class (Yes i’m in one, it’s called ITEC, Information Technology Early College) and as a first assignment we where told to write a one page essay (it’s short, I know) and me being me, I wrote mine on being an auto journalist. Without further-ado… Oh and professor, If you think everything I wrote was plagiarism, just ask me to show you my profile in class.

The career I choose to pursue is automotive journalism. I choose this from three reasons: love cars, I enjoy writing, and I enjoy giving people knowledgeable information. An automotive journalist isn’t the highest paying job out there, with the average salary being about 35 thousand a year but is money the most important thing about a job? Now you may be asking an important question, “If this job makes so little money, why do you wanna do it?”. That’s what brings me to my next two topics: The experience and travelling. Automotive journalists are quite often contacted by big name brands like Porsche, Ferrari, and Mercedes to come test their latest vehicles and, after testing, write an article on it.

Along with flying journalists out to events, auto manufacturers will often send the car to the journalists in what is called a “press car”. These can be given to the journalist for a day, week, month, or longer with only the cost of fuel, and for the the longer term cars, maintenance. “Where would you be writing all these article you speak of?” Great question. An automotive journalist is often on the move, going from place to place. With the invention of computers and tablets, journalists of this type often write in a wide variety of places ranging from home, the office, and a hotel room.

In this job you’ll often be writing comparison tests between two or more cars. With those the journalist have to work with the coworkers. You’ll also have to coordinate with the graphic designer to get the words and pictures sorted on the pages. As in any job, they’ll be people you don’t like and don’t like you but unlike in most jobs, almost everybody in this job has a linking feature, a passion for cars. Unlike most jobs, when writing from home you can basically make your own hours but when coming to the office you work a typical 9 to 5 job. Expenses. The breaker in any job. As an auto journalist you have the typical taxes and fees but along with that you have the previously mentioned bill for gas and repair bills for press cars. To become an automotive journalist you should have some experience with cars and at least a bachelors in journalism.