For every journalism job, there are dozens and dozens of applicants. So how do you make sure you get that coveted role? Firstly, by having a great application, and secondly, by giving great interview. I've sifted
through many, many job applications and conducted and sat in on more than my fair share of interviews, so here's a quick guide to some things (I think) can help you get the job you want, whether it's as a reporter or a news editor.
Shorthand
If you're applying for a reporter position and you haven't got a shorthand qualification of 100wpm or more, your application is going straight in the bin. If you haven't got 100wpm shorthand, I can't send you to court. If you haven't got 100wpm shorthand, it's going to take you twice as long (at least) to write up interviews, because you've got to transcribe them first. And if you haven't bothered to get 100wpm shorthand, why should I believe you're dedicated to being a journalist?
Be accurate
I've been on both sides of this - as a recruiter and as an applicant. With the latter there was a typo in one of my job applications, and it was really, really embarrassing. I wouldn't have interviewed me, but luckily the editors were much kinder than I am. I take a hard line - if there are errors in your application, then my first impression of you is that you're not good at proofreading, and that you don't take care over your work.
Anticipate the questions
Sure, the interviewer could spring something really horrid on you, but you can prepare for some of the questions you'll be asked. Every interview I've done (on both sides) has included at least some variations of the following:
- Tell us about yourself/your career to date
- Why do you want to be a journalist/stay a journalist in this tough industry?
- What's your proudest achievement/biggest story?
- What qualities do you have that make you a good journalist?
- Why do you want this particular job?
Know the basics
In addition to the questions above, you're probably also going to be asked a few law and ethics questions. These will largely revolve around the PCC code and your basic law for reporters - contempt of court and libel. If you don't know your 10 points for magistrates' court, what libel and contempt are, and if you aren't well versed in privacy guidance (especially with Leveson having just happened) and the rest of the PCC code, then what have you been learning?
Stop rambling
Taking 10 minutes to answer the first question in an interview ("tell us a bit about yourself/your career") is not going to endear you to the interviewer. Keep your answers to the point, expanding where necessary and stopping when you've run out of things to say. Don't be tempted to keep talking because the interviewer is pausing to write things down, a little silence never hurt anybody.
Familiarise yourself with the product
Please, please, please don't go into an interview without having read the newspaper/website you're interviewing for. And, if time permits, make sure you've glanced at it on the day of your interview.
Show some life
Journalism - whether you're a reporter or a news editor - is about communication with people in person as well as through the written word. Be engaging in your interview, show you're going to be good at the people stuff as well as the computer stuff.
Reveal your passion
Not as risque as it sounds, this is all about showing you've got that hunger for the industry. I want to see you're passionate about your chosen career, whether that's through your work experience history or through your enthusiasm for devouring the latest news and newest social media innovations.
Don't be afraid to be nervous
Nerves can help if you channel them in the right way, and being a little bit nervous before going into an interview shows that you care about the outcome. Just don't let the nerves overwhelm you.
Smile
What it says on the tin.
Good luck!
This is by far the riskiest blog post I've written, since it's about proofreading and I'm bound to make a mistake that I won't spot on my subsequent read throughs. Still, let's treat it as a proofreading test for everyone.
Proofreading is a key skill for journalists, since it's really annoying for news editors and subs to get work littered with easy mistakes that would have been spotted had the copy been read through by the reporter before it was filed. Here are a few tips to help you spot most of those pesky mistakes:
Reread
This might seem obvious, but reread copy after you've finished it. I have seen so many pieces of copy where a reporter has clearly not even glanced at their work after completion, as if they had they would have noticed the typo in the first line.
Give yourself some time
Often it's difficult to spot a mistake straight after you've written something, so work on something else for five minutes and then go back and reread your work. That little bit of time will often give you the fresh pair of eyes you need to spot any errors.
Read out loud
This does help, because then you're actually taking in what you're reading, and you'll stumble over anything that's wrong.
Read backwards
You don't have to read the letters backwards (!), but start at the end of your piece and look at each word on its own. This sounds strange, but it'll really help you see if you've got the spellings of words right, and if you've used the correct type of word (there/their/they're). It helps because you're reading the word that's actually there, and not what you think you've written based on what comes before and after.
Print it out
A little bit environmentally unfriendly, so don't do this for every piece. Printing something out and reading it in hard copy will make mistakes easier to spot than looking at it on the screen you've been staring at for the past few hours.
Read in a different programme
If you can't print your work out, read it in a different programme to the one you've written it in. So if it's in a content management system you use, copy and paste it into a word document. Again, the different format will make you see it differently and you'll be more likely to spot errors.
Read the contractions
If you've used contractions, read them out as what they would have been if you'd used both words, just to check you've used the right forms. So where you've written "you've" read it as "you have" when proofreading.
And that's it. Mistakes will happen (until humans are perfect mistakes will always happen), but following the steps above means you'll make fewer errors. As an exercise, use the steps above and point out the mistakes I've made in this blog!
It's five minutes before a news meeting, and you've got nothing on your news list. This is not a situation any reporter wants to find themselves in. With a bit of preparation and some work, you should always be able to have something to put forward in a news meeting. The following five things are all something you should be doing, and should all generate stories - they may not be splashes, but as said previously, the paper is made up of more than just page leads.
1. Freedom of Information requests
FOIs are a good source for journalists, but they take a bit of planning. You need to think carefully about what data you're going to ask for. Be very specific or you may find that the body you're asking is able to avoid your request. If in doubt, break down the information you're asking for into bullet points to make it absolutely clear what you want.
Since FOIs take about a month to turn around (that includes you sending them, acknowledgement of receipt and the 20 working days an organisation has to get them back to you), you can't have them ready for tomorrow's news meeting. But put a few in and when they're back you have them at your fingertips. And since FOIs are often not hugely date sensitive, you can wait for a week you have a quiet news list to put them forward.
2. Council meetings and agendas
They may be a bit dull sometimes but local councils provide some of the bread and butter content for local papers.
Make sure you've got all major meetings in your diary (full council, planning and cabinet), and that you peruse agendas as soon as they're available so you can identify a story as soon as possible. You won't need to cover every meeting, but knowing what the local authority is focusing on will make you a valuable person in the newsroom.
Councils can provide stories all year round, and one of the best ways they can generate stories are through planning meetings. Make sure you read up on any significant planning applications, and develop them to make them fuller stories. For example, there may be plans for a massive supermarket at the edge of a small village - speak to residents and owners of small shops about how they think it will affect them, and you've got yourself a story.
3. Celebrities
Most papers have some sort of a celebrity in their catchment area, so make sure you know what they're up to, from their latest projects to what charity work they're doing to if they're having a baby or getting married.
Stories about major celebrities will likely be picked up by nationals first, but there's always the possibility you'll get something first. Linking to the above point about council planning meetings, it's always a good story when your local celebrity decides they want to build a massive extension complete with swimming pool to their house. Nationals aren't going to find this, because they're not going to be scanning planning agendas like you are.
Also, if you can try and get to know the celebrity's PR (this won't work if it's Brad Pitt but for more minor celebs you should be able to make it happen). This way, if the paper runs a campaign or starts to support a local charity, you can try and get a line or two from your celebrity backing the cause as well.
4. Magistrates' court
Back in the day, papers had enough staff to be able to cover magistrates' court full time, but that's not so much the case anymore.
If your paper isn't doing so already, pitch to the news editor that you should cover court one morning a week, preferably on the paper's quietest day. Some weeks you won't get much, but on a good morning you can get a few page leads, a couple of nibs and downpagers, and some leads on stories for the future.
5. Police meetings
Set up regular meetings with your police press officer, and get them to tell you what the local force is working on. Every force sets itself priorities, both long-term and short-term, and some of these can make good news stories.
Sometimes police campaigns can also lead to campaigns or long-term coverage of something for the paper. For example, the police may be putting a focus on combatting domestic violence because of an increase in incidents. Instead of just doing one story on the police's work, why not do a series of focus pieces? You could speak to the police, charities working with victims, victims themselves and more. Suddenly a story you got from the police has turned into weeks worth of copy for the paper.
Also, make sure you keep an eye on public meetings the police may have, anything on the force's Twitter feed and any live chats officers may do online.
