Career Question: Road and Track....?

[mjs1217]

Recently, I've been thinking a little about my future career...
Basically, I'd definitly take an okay-paying job that I have fun in over a well-paying job that I hate. Things I hate include:
Sitting behind a desk ALL day
Having an executive-type job in a large, impersonal corporation (Think Office Space)
And all things like that.

However, there's not much I like that I currently know of. Some things that I like that can possibly be made into a career inclde:
Cars
I.T. (however, IT job's can easily lead to sitting behind a desk all day...)

Also, I love to write, and I've been told i'm really good at it. On my last standerdized writing test, i scored a 5.5 out of a maximum of 6.0, and my teachers say that I'm a great writer. (By the Way, i'm 15 years old)

So, while sitting at my computer today, I got to thinking about a job as an editor (writer) for a magazine like Road and Track, Motor Trend, Car and Driver, or something along those lines. But I have alot of questions about this, so please try to answer them as best you can.

I doubt anyone would know this, but to get a job at a magazine like those mentioned above, would I need alot of experience writing for smaller magazines and/or newspapers? If so, how much?
If I were to get a job at a national auto magazine as an editor, how much do you think it would pay my first year? After about 10 years?
And lastly, does anyone here have any friends or family who hold such a job? If you could get them to describe an average work day/week for me, I'd greatly appreciate it.


Thanks,
-mjs

[xmetal2001]

Seems like it would be a hard job to get. Its everyone's dream job to drive expensive cars real fast and get payed for it.

[dj89]

i'm 15 too i found some thing i like[i found 2 things] and i'm going to try to stick with them in high school. if you like cars become a mechanic . wow my spelling is bad.

[PyRo]

Be a mechanic

[graycie]

how much you make really depends on wether you are staff writer or contributor/freelance writer. alot if not most depends on who you know, the most logical way to start is literally at ground level. most companies nowadays hire in house for new positions, so if you are there all ready you've got a big lead on outside prospectives.most importantly is know what you are writing about.

a related story to that was a couple of years ago my sister asked me if i knew people in the paintball media (which i did at the time) that i could get in touch with, because someone she knew was interested in pb from a news story or something like that and would like to write an article for one of the pb magazines. mind you the woman never played paintball and knew nothing about it, except saw it as another way to make a buck for writing an article. i was like hell no! i will not allow some woman off the street to write an article and submit it knowing that my name was attached to it.

[MagMan5446]

Yeah man be a mechanic. You learn cool things and if you play your cards right you'll be set for the rest of your life.

12/17s my bday....

[mjs1217]

Be a mechanic

I'd rather not be a mechanic... I'm not really into lanual labor.

Yeah man be a mechanic. You learn cool things and if you play your cards right you'll be set for the rest of your life.

Don't mechanics get payed very little? When I said that I wouldn't mind not getting paid that well, it was assumed that I would LOVE the job, not just be okay with it.

[PyRo]

I think most of them are doing ok, your not going to get rich, but you won't be poor eithere.
There are exceptions though, two local shops the owners are pretty well off, while another one the guys just about broke (but he doesn't belong in a shop).
Manual labor rocks Desk jobs blow.

[Konigballer]

god I love AO, it must be a prerequisite to have raging ADD before you join up...

What does "go be a mechanic" have anything to do with becoming a contributing writer or editor for Road and Track? Nothing!

Look, since your just a kid, I would just write them and ask them. Look in the magazine or online and find out a specific editor to send it to, it will have a better chance of being read by someone with half a brain. Since your so young it would be good PR for them to respond to your letter, provided its well written. Maybe you could even give them a sample article written by you, go to a car show or a race and do a cover story. Or you could write about something more specific, if you've read the magazine you should get a since of what kind of feel the articles have. I think something like that would show them your serious and want to persue this as a career, then they should easily be able to let you in on at least some basic info. Good luck

[SanDiegoMag]

Well it all depends on how much you know about cars. Take Auto shop in high school (i am) if you arent already. Seems like a high goal, almos too high.


Just a qucik question. How many syllables are in the word Porsche when you speak it? (You better know)

[PyRo]

Just a qucik question. How many syllables are in the word Porsche when you speak it? (You better know)

2?
:-/
........

[mjs1217]

Well it all depends on how much you know about cars. Take Auto shop in high school (i am) if you arent already. Seems like a high goal, almos too high.


Just a qucik question. How many syllables are in the word Porsche when you speak it? (You better know)

Two, pronounced Porsch-ah.
My dad used to own a Porsche 911 Carerra back in the 80s, when they still had Whale-Tails , and if you were to look around my room, I have 3 Porsche posters that were sent to us from Porsche, and then one poster with a cutaway of the exact year / model that my dad had, which was drawn for Motor Trend.


I really like Porsche, heh.

[dwab3000]

i have alot of people who love jaguars..

is it jag-u-r
or
jag-wire

hmmm

[Stix]

IT - not the most fun thing ever...

I work IT... it's sitting behind a desk all day. Everyone I know that does IT sits behind a desk all day. Weeks of stupid boredom interposed with hours of chaos. Literally all you could be doing for weeks is looking at error logs and answering the same stupid questions that the same people keep asking, i.e. "Why can't I log on?". But when things break down they all break down at the same time and then the next 24 hours is no sleep. But then of course things eventually get resolved, and for the next three weeks... well you get the idea. Be a mechanic =)

[Mikey B]

[QUOTE=Stix]answering the same stupid questions that the same people keep asking, i.e. "Why can't I log on?". [QUOTE]
kinda like the paintball forums... anyway, if you want to make your resume looking better to be an editor, try to get on the school newspaper. Write things to local newspapers/magazines, maybe get an internship at them to see if you like it.