How to land a journalism job
Editors are looking for more than just skills and talent
these days. You need to be prepared, more than ever, for
the ever-competitive journalism marketplace. Here are a
few tips to make your job fair experience a success:
• Have realistic expectations. Few people
will walk away from this experience with a confirmed
job. The world doesn’t work that way. Smart people
will be satisfied with a few promising leads, a professional
or two who shows a willingness to help and some useful
information from one of the workshops. If you leave
with that much, you have spent your time well.
• Come prepared. Have ample copies of your
resume and work samples. While the job fair coordinators
will distribute copies of all pre-registered participants’ resumes,
it pays to have your own copy in hand – just in
case. Don’t bring bulky portfolios; bring tightly
edited, concise photocopied packages that you can leave
with recruiters. Expensive trappings don’t count;
quality work does.
• Do your homework. If you want to interview
with a particular newspaper, learn what you can about
it. Contact the job fair coordinator to find out what newspapers
plan to recruit at the job fair. Visit the newspaper’s
Web site before arriving at the job fair. Know where
the paper is located, it’s circulation, publishing
cycle and position in its market. Be ready to ask informed
questions.
• Dress to impress. For women, we suggest a
business suit or conservative length dresses and skirts.
A dress pants suit suitable for professional office
work also is acceptable. For men, we suggest office attire:
suits or jackets with ties. Be outgoing. Talk to recruiters and
other job-seekers whenever you have the chance. You
can do a lot of good work at meal times and workshops.
• Wear your name tag whenever you’re
likely to encounter others from the job fair. You may feel
conspicuous wearing a name tag; that’s good
• Be assertive. If you want
to talk to a particular paper, but are not scheduled to,
find the recruiter at a spare moment and set up a specific
time for a meeting.
• Be open-minded. You never really considered working at a newspaper with
a circulation of less than 100,000? Well, maybe you should.
Check out ASNE’s
@ Small Newspapers publication for tips. Small
newspapers are where most people work and where
nearly everyone starts.
• Look for the person behind
the recruiter. If you’re an artist, ask the recruiter how
artists get hired. Should you get your materials
to the graphics editor? Who is the person?
• Follow up, follow up,
follow up. The people
who get the most out of a job fair are the ones
who follow up with a letter or phone call. Job-seekers who think
that the work stops when the job fair stops are the ones who
have the most trouble getting their careers started.
(Adapted by the American Society of Newspaper Editors
from a flier by Joe Grimm, Detroit Free Press) |
