Economists indicate this is the most challenging job market for new graduates since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to CNN. Time inevitably influences how young journalists prioritize their investments into perception. 

Some say it's because of the job market while others say it’s because graduates do not have strong soft skills. 

“I was applying to multiple jobs…looking for a specific print design, which is, I guess, like a dying industry, but it's really not. And because of that, I haven't been able to get my foot in the door,” Aneya Rayenor said, a recent graduate student and a NABJ Student Multimedia Project participant.

Rayenor says she got two degrees to make sure she was prepared for the job market. She says it infuriates her to not be able to find a job despite having the talents and the certification.

According to Forbes article “Managers Don’t Want To Hire Gen-Z Workers, Citing A Lack Of Soft Skills—Survey Says,” employers are not hiring recent graduates because of soft skills. Many here at the National Association of Black Journalist convention feel this isn’t the case, and if it is, it’s something that can be developed and cultivated in the first job. 

“I feel like a lot of the young people now, or I would say Gen Z, they're so focused on their phones and being behind a screen and not really talking to people face to face,” PJ DeCordova-Boyd, managing producer at ESPN, said. DeCordova-Boyd feels Gen-Z workers are distracted instead of engaging in real-life interaction. 

NBC “TODAY” Show Co-anchor Craig Melvin seems to agree. 

“I wish y’all would stop worrying about your own personal brand,” he said during a Thursday panel. “I think perhaps we've gotten away from some of the fundamentals of the business like the writing, storytelling, interviewing, and really being part of a team.”

NBCU Academy hosted a daylong series of workshops with NABJ attendees to sharpen the skills of emerging storytellers across TV, streaming, and digital platforms. The panel featuring the well-known journalist was titled “Leadership, Legacy, and Staying True.

“I, like a lot of folks in this room, stand on the shoulders of a lot of people, and I'm not in this chair or on that show without a lot of people pouring a lot into me over the last 25 years or so,” he said.

The journalist credits his success to the “10,000 hours rule” by Malcolm Gladwell. Melvin’s early start is why, he said, his career brought him a lot of success. 

“Tiger Woods and so many other leaders start when they’re children and work hard,” he said. “It’s not natural talent for me. I started young.”

But it was Melvin’s candid advice during the Q&A session that stirred the most conversation. His critique of brand-focused journalism struck a nerve with Gen Z attendees who see personal branding as a necessity in today’s competitive media landscape. 

“He said that?” said Kyron Neaveaux, a reporter at WJCL. “I understand focusing on your storytelling abilities, but people nowadays affiliate my storytelling with my brand. 

Jada Daniels, a student journalist from Tennessee State University, echoed that sentiment

“Oh, no, my brand is what makes me marketable,” said Jada Daniels from Tennessee State University. “I do understand not straying away from delivering the news, but when all the applicants do that, what’s going to make the news director hire me? My personality, which is my brand.”

Melvin acknowledged the generational divide with a touch of humor.

“I know. I sound like the old guy on the porch,” he said. 

 As this industry continues to change, many conventioneers have the same message: you can only get so many no’s.

“I think pivot is the word that people… it would help people in life,”  Tracy Anderson, CBS Sports vice president, said.