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George Brock -- Internships, job applications, CVs, cover letters

November 09, 2011

Internships

  • “The more clear you are about what you’re wanting to get out of an internship, the more likely it is you’ll get something useful.”

    • Portfolio pieces

      • Go for it, but don’t be disappointed if not.
    • Contacts
    • Career navigation
    • Publication map
    • Skill tips
    • Specialist knowledge

      • Unlikely in 1-2 weeks
  • Each publication has a specific structure, and the more you can understand that, the better off you’ll be and the more you’ll learn

    • What is the power structure? Who decides things?

      • Who decides “when the talking stops” and what happens?
    • This can be difficult in newsrooms — informal and formal power structures.

      • Formally the foreign editor should decide the coverage but in practice the editor might decide.
    • “Unleash your inner anthropologist.”

      • Most newspapers can be divided into two categories, with sources of power in both:

        1. Input

          • How are resources allocated; what do readers want; who’s going to do what?
        2. Output

          • Once that raw material has come in, what’s important, what priority it’s going to get, where it’ll go, how it’ll be changed, etc.
    • In a well-resourced and well-conducted media organization, not a single word would make it on page without going through the hands of at least 3 people.

      • Filter 1: section editor. Often no more than a glance.
      • Filter 2: night editor. Also a quick look: what a story is, what its projection possibilities are, etc.
      • Filter 3: sub editor. Trim to spec, put on page, etc.
      • Filter 4: revision editor. Review and make necessary changes
      • And on…
    • Learning who these people are and talking with them will improve your writing
    • Figure out the input side — where are ideas decided, are there idea generation meetings, etc.?

      • Make sure you have ideas ready for forward planning meetings.

        • Study the power structures before piping up — will your input be helpful/welcomed?
    • Find out where there’s a need — usually a surplus of people wanting to write and a deficit of people wanting to make others look good (i.e., editing)
  • Find sympathetic people who will let you shadow them

    • Is there a good editor who will let you look over their shoulder while doing a massive cutting job? Sometimes simply studying somebody who excels at their job is more instructive than trying to get pieces into the paper.
  • Go to conferences if possible
  • Don’t disdain desks in out of the way places.

    • If you want to improve your writing, you’ll get more practice and watch more editors if you go to a less prominent, less glamourous desk — i.e., obituaries.
  • Obvious but important: read the output of the place you’re working at, and especially before you even get there

CVs

  • Don’t do more than 2 pages.

    • If you can’t get your life in your early 20s in under 2 pages, you’re not going to convince someone you’re good at distilling information
  • Watch for spelling and grammar errors. Even the smallest errors will get your resume binned.

    • “It is never possible for a single individual to check their own work perfectly — give it to somebody else.”

      • “Carelessness has extremely high cost” — your application is the first contact your organization will have with your writing.

Cover letters

  • It’s a courtesy; keep it brief
  • Briefly say what sets you apart
  • Mention why you want to work at that specific paper; establish your connection to that place.

What employers look for:

  • Intellectual originality
  • Passion
  • Good degrees
  • Determination
  • Make the most of what’s interesting about you
  • If you miss a graduate internship by a close distance, remember that most people who made it to the interview round still became successful journalists.
  • Finally — remember these are organizations aiming for large audiences; don’t overplay blogging.

    • Show you can write stories for several hundred thousand people, not nine people. Don’t confuse writing for small, friendly audiences with spotting a story interesting to massive audiences.

Ændrew Rininsland
© 2018 Ændrew Rininsland, except where otherwise noted.