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i went to school for journalism and switched to advertising a few years out of college. it was a bit of a journey — went from journo to SEO, and found it was easier to position the seo stuff as advertising-adjacent copy to CDs. you’ll most likely be going in as a junior regardless of current role, but i actually think there’s a ton of overlap between the two (it’s all just storytelling), and most recruiters love a candidate with an interesting/nontraditional background. focus on making connections over all else, because that will get you further than any kind of portfolio/spec work ever will
Have you tried starting out with some freelancing work? That will probably be the easiest way to build out your writing portfolio. There are a lot of great opportunities available on sites like UpWork, or you can search for sites that allow guest bloggers to write pieces for them.
I would suggest starting out slow on a freelance basis and building your résumé from there. A lot of places will pay you pennies per word to write copy, and it's pretty terrible pay, but you can add all of your published articles to a portfolio that showcases your skills. That's what I did and how I successfully transitioned careers.
I was in the same spot two years ago. I leaned hard on my storytelling and editing skills and started by rewriting my resume to highlight results and audience engagement instead of just listing clips. Then I took on a couple of freelance gigs through Upwork and word of mouth. That helped me build a small portfolio of "copy-like" work. Once you get a few pieces under your belt, it gets a lot easier.
With a journalism background you've got some valuable skills, especially in terms of research and writing. You can leverage those skills to your advantage, but if you don't have professional experience in copywriting you may have to put together a sample book. But, showing your news clips may help a lot, especially if you've done any feature writing. You should approach agencies in your area and see what the possibilities may be.