Joe Grimm's News Jobs Café: Ask the recruiter

Freelancing in the Majors to a Job at 50,000?

Q: I spent three years as a beat reporter at a pair of small newspapers, picking up a statewide award for my reporting at one point, before taking up work as a freelancer at a major American newspaper.

My writing has improved, but I'm eager to get back into a newsroom and, most of all, to find a mentor. It looks like a small newspaper (circulation 50,000) with a decent reputation is about to offer me a job. I like the editors at the paper - they seem ambitious - but I wonder if I should hold out for a bigger paper at this point.

Am I likely to improve as I'd like at a small paper? Will my resume look odd if I go from a large paper (albeit as a freelancer) to a small one? Is the job market so forbidding these days that I should take what I can get?

Flummoxed Freelancer

A: That 50,000 paper could be a good base to build from.

Compared to the place where you're freelancing, 50,000 seems small, but it is mid-size, at worst.

The 100 largest dailies in the U.S. are roughly those above 100,000 circulation. The next 100 are roughly between 50,000 and 100,000. After those 200, there are almost 1,300 more. So, 50,000 is not quite circulation and professional Siberia, especially if you have had a chance to check the place out and have found it to be ambitious and inveted in people's growth.

Most of the work will be up to you, of course, but I would expect that, given your major-metro experience, you should be able to advance quickly. Good work on some significant stories could pop you up above 100,000 in a few years.

I would not be dissuaded by the 50,000 circulation.

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Overcoming My Young Age

Q: I'm a second-semester freshman who was admitted to a school of journalism directly, with most of my prerequisites filled by high school AP tests and dual enrollment classes. Because of these things, it's likely that I will be able to graduate with a dual degree (in Political Science) in three years, and I have been encouraged to do so or to take advantage of study abroad programs by advisers. But I'm a journalism student - and that's what I came to Missouri to pursue.

However, I know that without clips and internship experience, I'll have a difficult time finding employment once I get that degree. I'm on staff at the college paper, and have lots of clips -- some that recruiters from large, respected papers have told me are as strong as older applicants. I wrote for a large, professional paper in high school, by opportunities afforded to me in a teen section.

However, my internship search keeps coming back to the fact that I'm young, and I'm still without any form of internship, after applying to a variety of papers for Summer 2007.

How do I convince recruiters that I am serious, though perhaps young, and let them know that my relative age isn't a discredit?

Jay S.

A: You sound serious to me, but you may well be facing an age problem.

You're at a great journalism school and it would not surprise me if some of the other students who have a year or more on you are having more success.

Keep plugging. Stay confident. Recruiters remember people who show promise early. Get as many interviews as you can. And keep going after internships.

You are dead right that trying to start a journalism career without any experience in a mainstream, conventional daily face a much harder time breaking in.

A semester overseas sounds like a great idea. And graduating a full year early will help the budget, but if you have to sacrifice an internship in order to do it, it will cost you in other ways.

Should I Put My GPA on My Resume?

Q: I have a few questions.

First, some friends were recently debating whether it's good to include college GPA on a resume. I assume it's probably seen as mandatory for internships, but at what point do you scrap that? I'm a two-year vet of newspapers and had a pretty strong GPA (about 3.7) and graduated with honors and distinction. Does anyone care?

Second, how much value do recruiters give to international experience (particularly at English-language papers)?

Lastly, I'm nearing the completion of my first novel and have some interest from publishers. Obviously, I don't include fiction writing in any applications. But is that kind of a side-career something that employers need to know about? Could that be seen as a negative?

Thank you,

Van

A: OK, 1-2-3:

1. Resumes are GPA-optional, even for internship candidates. Put it on if it's high, omit it if it's under 3.0, And, yes, two years is probably long enough.

2. Not as much as they would give to experience at U.S. newspapers of a similar or even somewhat smaller size. It's about comparable experience.

3. Recruiters can go either way on your fiction-writing side job. But don't wear your beret to the interview.

Note: "Ask the Recruiter" has moved to Poynter's new Career Center. The new home is here. Remember to change your bookmark.

How Long to Park in an Interim Job?

Q: I left a staff reporter position in September that I held for two years at my hometown 70,000-circulation daily in order to move to New York City.

I arrived without a job and have been working as a waitress for the last few months, but next week I am interviewing for an editorial assistant position with the AP Business Desk. My question is whether I am overqualified for the job, and if it would be better to hold out for a reporting position at another news outlet.

The editorial assistant job is obviously a step up from my restaurant gig, but I'm worried that if I accept and shortly thereafter end up looking for a position that allows for more writing and reporting, it won't reflect well on my reliability. What do you think?

Thank you,

Jackie

A: It does, indeed sound that you are overqualified to be either an editorial assistant or a waitress. However, either job will keep you in New York City and it's better to sling faxes than it is to sling hash.

If you accept a job that makes your AP tenure a short one, you should have no problem if you make sure you stay with that subsequent job long enough to establish that you are not a job-hopper.

No, the real problem would be if the AP feels ripped-off that they hired you and you didn't stick around.

So, anticipate that by talking about it in the interview. It sounds as though they will spend almost nothing for recruting, interviewing or moving you, so they do not face very muc financial exposure. So, the issue would be any investment in training or time.

They know you've worked for a 70,000-daily. They know you're a journalist. Explain what you're doing and ask what they see as a reasonable minimum commitment on your part. It probably is unwise to tick off one of the nation's largest employers of journalists, so make sure you're on the same page.

A note for you and others: In some cases, employers will have new hires sign an agreement that, if they leave within a one- or two-year window, the employee will reimburse moving costs.

Note: "Ask the Recruiter" has moved to Poynter's new Career Center. The new home is here. Remember to change your bookmark.

Is a Second Application Worth it?

Q: If I've applied to a paper before, and either got a form rejection or no reaction, is it wise to approach the same paper again for a job opening, particularly if the same people are in place?

The cynic in me says if they didn't flip the first time around, so what makes me think they had a change in heart now.

On the other hand ...

Bill

A: Because we don't know why your previous application didn't lead to a job, I would try again.

Here are half a dozen of the reasons why you might be a good candidate this time, even though they took a pass on you previously:

 

• A different, more suitable position is open.
• The first time around, the opening evaporated or got frozen, and no one at all was hired.
• You've grown.
• The job went to a better candidate and no such competition has applied this time.
• Your application fell through a crack.
• The job requirements have changed (more online experience, increased need for a foreign language) that play to you and make you much more competitive.

Of course, this is all guesswork. I think I'd call the hiring editor for this position and ask what they are looking for. I would not mention that you have been rejected before.

Note: "Ask the Recruiter" has moved to Poynter's new Career Center. The new home is here. Remember to change your bookmark.

How to Balance Baby and Job Search?

Q: I can't tell you how much I appreciate your blog, but in particular, the answers you provide to the questions dealing with balances between family and work. I will soon be in the same boat as others.

My wife and I are expecting our first child in May, and I'm very excited about it. I'm also very worried about what will happen with my career because of it. Here are the issues I'm fighting:

1. I've been at the same small daily for six years, and it's basically an 8-5 job with evening events (sports) several nights a week. I think it's time for someone else to take a turn. I'd love to advance to a larger, morning paper whether it's nearby or not (for me, location has only a few limitations). As you've mentioned before, a 3-11 shift seems ideal for raising kids at a young age. I also want to be a good father and actually see the baby.
2. My wife's family lives nearby (which is both good and bad), so change doesn't come easily.

What do you suggest I do? I know you're not a relationship expert, but you've had experiences with this sort of thing, or at least some of it. It's troubling because I do have personal and professional goals for myself, but am afraid I'll be pigeonholed and I'll be stuck in a job that is no longer challenging or rewarding. Am I doomed? The next place I go, if it's anywhere, I want to stay for a long time. I'm almost 30, and I would like to settle down, but this seems like the wrong place at the right time.

Thanks,

Chad

A: Congratulations on the baby-to-be!

Now, let's stop talking about doom.

You have about six months before the baby arrives, so let's get busy and try to make a move while it is convenient. If nothing develops, settle down for a while, let the baby come and meet everyone and then pick up your job search again.

I don't see why the arrival of the baby should have a major negative affect on your career or your mobility.

Stop worrying, dust off your resume and paint that nursery!

Balancing work and family can be challenging, but it is not impossible.

Note: "Ask the Recruiter" has moved to Poynter's new Career Center. The new home is here. Remember to change your bookmark.