Careers 101: Writing Jobs in Los Angeles

Published on 2008-08-28

Schools:

A world capital of popular culture and the nominal center of a metro area of nearly 13 million residents, Los Angeles is rivaled only by New York City as the largest source of writing jobs in the United States. Though many successful (and unsuccessful) screenplays, television pilot scripts, and novels have been written by unschooled Angelenos, the Greater L.A. Area contains hundreds of public and private universities that offer world-class writing programs and other degree programs that would equip a graduate to pursue opportunities ranging from journalism jobs at one of the city's daily or weekly papers to writing/editing jobs at magazines or websites.

The University of Southern California's writing program is one of the oldest and most prestigious in the country; it has been called a "vanguard" program and one of the four "most respected" American writing programs by The Chronicle of Higher Education and Poets and Writers, respectively. The 2009 U.S. News & World Report "Best Colleges" rankings included two Los Angeles institutions among the top 25 national universities. California Institute of Technology in Pasadena was ranked sixth. Though Caltech does not offer a writing program, a Caltech degree would provide excellent academic credentials for technical writing jobs in fields like biology or engineering. UCLA was ranked twenty-fifth in the U.S. News report. UCLA is home to both a strong writing program and the largest extension writers' program in the U.S.

Employers:

Few cities can compare to Los Angeles for the breadth and depth of career opportunities it affords writers. Writing jobs in Los Angeles can be found not only at the film studios and television networks that define the city's image globally, but also at public relations agencies, publishers, information technology companies, trade and special interest publications, online retailers, non-profit organizations, and even the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Banking and international commerce are prominent economic sectors in L.A., and financial writing jobs are available within these industries and the news media that follow them. The strength of the city's healthcare and biotech sector also ensures an ample supply of medical writing jobs.

The flipside to all of this opportunity is that Los Angeles attracts ambitious (or at least avaricious) writers from all across the U.S. who wish to become the next Nathaniel West, Robert Towne or Michael Mann and instead end up grinding out freelance writing jobs - the author's equivalent of waiting tables. However, with a little persistence and the help of a job search engine like Fresho.com, that glamorous writing job you've been looking for might be just a click away.