Joe Grimm's News Jobs Café: Ask the recruiter

Do I Have Too Much Experience?

Q: This is a follow-up to your answer "Minimum Experience Blues" (Nov. 22).

Is there a "Maximum Experience Blues?"

I have close to 20 years experience in print, television and radio -- mostly radio. I have covered war, politics, the antics of Britain's Royal Family and interviewed dozens of important performers and artists. On 9/11, I anchored coverage live for two hours for a nationally distributed call-in program. The professional honors I have earned I won't list here.

More than 14 months ago I was laid off because of a massive budget deficit at the station I worked for.

I am still without full-time work.

Is it possible to have too much experience showing on your resume? Is it wise to downplay what you've done in your career so far when forced out of a job and looking for another?

Attached is my C.V. as it appears on the Poynter website.

Michael

A: Yes. It happens.

Nowadays, with buyouts targeting the most experienced and layoffs targeting the least experienced, the middle seems like a good place to be.

Employers typically shy away from good people with your level of experience because they think they can get the same work -- or close enough -- done by people with less experience who will work for less money.

Another difficulty may be that you have become pretty specialized as a high-end international reporter and employers may feel they don't have the kind of work that could interest and challenge you. They do not want to bring someone aboard who will almost immediately be dissatisfied.

I would not hide anything about my work experience, but I think you can pare some back and make a stab at pitching yourself at the jobs that lie ahead for you. You might be an attractive candidate as an editor, director or producer. Another tack might be to try to bring your immense broadcastnig skills into another part of the industry that now needs them. Radio networks are posting photos, newspapers are posting webcasts and television stations are posting text. All of them are entering realms that are relatively new to them and some are happy to bring experts aboard who can save them the waiting time.

Good luck. I know this must be terribly difficult.

 

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A Master's Degree While Working?

Q: After thinking about it for a few years, I have finally decided what I want to get a master's in: urban planning. I caught the bug while writing a growth and development column during one of my internships, and I think it's something I would like to pursue after I make my nextmove to a newspaper near a larger city.

I'm hoping that additional training will make me a good fit for a development beat of some sort, while giving me a fallback in case my journalism career goes south someday. I don't intend to leave journalism unless I'm forced out.

I'm wondering how to go about getting this master's while still working. Some of the programs I've looked at require a part-time internship. I will no doubt have scheduling issues.

Do I tell a prospective employer that I intend to get a master's while working? Do editors take kindly to reporters who work bizarre shifts?

Would I just be better off taking two years to get my master's and come back to journalism?

Looking Ahead

A: You've clearly done a lot of thinking.

I don't think you should have to quit a job to earn a master's degree. I work with several people who have done just that, learning and earning all at once. (Sleep comes later, I guess.)

You'll scare off a potential employer by seeming more interested in school than in the new job or by asking a lot of schedule-related questions at the interview stage. After all, no school will have accepted you by then and you're unlikely to have a picture of the finances.. Save questions about the compatability of work and part-time schooling for your negotiation window, which occurs between the time when they make an offer and when you give them your decision.

When you ask, find out whether they offer full or partial reimbursement for college tuition.

And don't be too worried about working a weird schedule. Journalists already have them and someone who is in an academic program often asks to work the least-popular shifts to free up time for classes. Your problem will be balance and overwork; the newspaper will have a problem if your needs keep changing on short notice -- nlikely -- or if you have to drop stories to get to class.

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Will My Old Boss Dump on Me?

Q: When checking with a previous employer's human resources department, what questions can a potential employer legally ask? What information can a human resources department legally release? If an individual was terminated from his or her previous job, can/does the human resources department provide the specific reason for termination? Finally, if a potential hire received unemployment compensation from his or her previous employer, does this send any kind of "message" to a potential employer? Any advice you can provide would be helpful.

Julie

A: The burden you're alluding to is on ex-employers. Giving references can be a real danger zone for them. Basically, they don't want to say anything negative that can get them sued for wrecking someone's chances to get a job.

To keep themselves out of trouble, many companies have a policy that forbids managers from giving anything other than employment stop and start dates.

This policy is not always helpful to job-seekers. Think of the person who did a good job, but can't get anyone to say anything favorable about them.

Some employers might be squirrelly about hring someone who collected unemployment, but their feelings could change depending on the reason why that happened. I'd be surprised if another employer tells anyone that you collected it and I would drop my teeth if they told them why.

The biggest challenge for you, I think, will be handing the inevitable questions about why you left that job.

 

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Are Unedited Clips Proprietary?

Q: As an assignment editor looking for other similar jobs, I often come across requests for "editing clips." What's the best format for these, because what I would consider an editing clip - drafts in a prepublished state, allowing for comparison to a final product - would seem to be proprietary information owned by my company.

Alan

A: Great question. Showing someone's unedited work can seem a little cruel, too. (I am so happy to have an editor!)

Unless an editor specifically asks for before and afters, I think I would submit a clip where you have done good editing and written a smart headline. In the margin of the clip, I would tell a little about what you did to help the article. You'll want examples where you have done relatively big stuff: new lead, restructuring, combining, a huge trim, meeting a hard deadline.

Your line editing skills will be demonstrated in your cover letter, resume and e-mails.

 

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Should I Push for More Feedback?

Q: I'm looking for some advice regarding freelancing.  First, I have a bachelor's degree in communications/journalism from a local university.

During the time I went to school, I wrote for the school newspaper and also had an internship.I didn't write for three years and now I have recently began freelancing at the newspaper I interned for.

My question is, since this is terchnically my first reporting job, how attentive is your editor supposed to be when you're a freelance writer?  I always feel like I'm bugging him, he never returns my calls or e-mails but he does publish my work. Besides it being plain inconsiderate, I'm wondering if I'm supposed to be more independent than what I have been?

I don't think he knows that I stopped writing after my internship because he never asked if he could see a resume when I contacted him about freelancing.

He just started sending me assignments. I guess I could try and talk to him about it but I dont want to come across as incompetent. Also, how much freelancing experience do you recommend I have before I start job-hunting for a full-time job? Should I go for a small newspaper to start with? I have clips from my school newspaper and internship but they are all three years old. Now, I have three articles published as a freelancer, but I'm wondering if it's enough?

Amy

A: Attentiveness is a characteristic of the editor and not a function of how new or experienced you are.

Generally, editors will invest more in a full-time staffer than a freelancer because the staffer is right there and will be sticking around; the freelancer may get a job somewhere or can be easily replaced.

As he is not returning calls and e-mails, he does not seem to be the attentive type. I'd push a bit harder, but I wouldn't expect much. Attach a question to the top of your story, as he does seem to read those. Also, look for an excuse to stop by the office to drop something off so he has to meet you.

At this point, don't expect to show him a resume. He has decided you're good enough, and that is good for you. Keep writing as much for him as you can and pay attention to how your work is getting edited. These three clips are not enough to get you hired -- but they are steps in the right direction.

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