Well then, so I’m the first of your new Wannabe Hacks. First things first, I’m not extremely good with introductory posts – so I’ll err on the side of brevity.

My name is Jon Offredo and I’m 24-years-old and will soon graduate from Newcastle University’s postgraduate course in International Multimedia and Journalism. I’m originally from, and currently living in, the United States. I’m not exactly sure how long I’ll be here,  when I’ll be back in the UK, until when and what comes next, but hey that’s part of the fun of this all (until the student loan repayments start rolling in). I’ve got an open return flight and I’ll be damned if I don’t use it.

I’ve known that I wanted to work at a newspaper since I was 16 and started covering local news and sports for the teeny-tiny publication in my hometown outside of Philadelphia. A lot has changed since then, but my goal to get out there and graft has not. We’ll just have to see if the news industry has a place for someone like myself.

For the last year I’ve lived in the UK and enjoyed what seems to have been a pretty eventful news year. I was lucky enough to cover the student protests during the fall, the royal wedding during the spring and a few other things that popped up during the year.

I’ve had work experience, internships and freelance work with and for the BBC, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Newcastle Evening Chronicle, Journal and Sunday Sun; amongst plenty of other newspapers and publications both in the UK and US.

I graduated from West Virginia University in the US, with a degree in News-Editorial Journalism and worked for four years (one as an associate editor) at the daily student newspaper, The Daily Athenaeum.

For the next year I hope to be blogging and talking about that wonderfully nerve-wracking experience of entering the wide world in search of a job. I’ve only recently set off on the journey myself and I’m looking forward to sharing what I’ll find during the trip. I’ll be sending out applications to both publications in the United States and UK in hopes that someone wants me.

So then, I am honored to be your ‘Jobseeker’ hack for the next year. But fingers crossed I’m not a job seeker for much longer.