Teresa Hein, Founder and CEO, My Media Jobs

The value of having an internship is key, not only for the experience but to help you know if you want to have a job in that field. Also, as you look for internships, don’t just take any opportunity. Do as much as you can to get into a place that offers you the practical experience that is related to your desired field of interest. More and more students are doing two or more internships to expand their knowledge base. This gives visual experience to the paper résumé.

Darren Haynes, Studio Anchor, ESPN

As a college football player, I transferred from the University of Rhode Island to the University of New Haven. My former science education major at URI was not offered at UNH. So my mother said, “Darren, you have a passion for sports, you are not shy, you are well liked, and you have an outgoing personality. Why not look into majoring in sports broadcasting?” The rest is history. Now my mom wants 10 percent of my paycheck!

Anonymous Twentysomething on Becoming a Television Writer, as Described in Forbes Magazine

I turned the [online journalism] job down, bought a book on how to break into TV writing, and talked to anyone and everyone who would give me advice. I learned that (1) I needed to move to LA if I wanted to actually have a shot at this; (2) I needed to get an agent before I could get hired on any show; (3) I needed to write two spec scripts (original episodes of existing TV shows) before any agent would even look at me; and (4) I was going to spend every waking hour of the foreseeable future networking. And over the next few months, I wrote my spec scripts, talked to contacts, and planned my move. I knew it would be hard and risky, but that’s the price, right?

Shonda Rhimes, Producer of Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal, on How She Got Her Start in Writing

I was four and dictating stories into a tape recorder, and my mom typed them up.