A new edition of the NCTJ’s careers guide has been published, and aims to encourage people from a range of backgrounds to consider a career in journalism. 

Sponsored by the Financial Times, the guide has been sent to schools and colleges across the UK and is packed with valuable advice from journalists in a range of roles.

Aspiring journalists can consider their training options by hearing from alumni about the different paths they took into successful careers. The guide also features easy-to-navigate listings of all NCTJ-accredited courses, which are a cut above the rest.

Sky Sports News presenter and St Mary’s University graduate Emma Paton is this year’s cover star, and talks about how sports journalism is more accessible to women than it has ever been.

She said: “It’s great that when I speak to students, they don’t see this is a barrier in any way. I think that’s how St Mary’s helped me – the course set me up. We had lots of women in the cohort and female journalists speaking to us.

“They have that positive culture, and cover male and women’s sport. It’s all about those first experiences.”

Also in the guide:

• First steps to start out in journalism
• The golden rules of journalism
• An introduction to podcasting
• Investigative journalism
• Choose the right route for you
• NCTJ-accredited course listings

Click here to read the guide. To request print copies, please contact Sarah Kenny.