Keep in touch with the people you meet at the career fair, even if you won't seek a job with them right away. They may know of other opportunities. If you call them, something may turn up. Send them your clips every few months once you get a job.
Get several Poynter faculty to review your application packet.
Ask the Poynter faculty for suggestions of places to call. Ask if you can drop their names. A lot of jobs aren't advertised on journalismjobs.com and cold calling can make the difference.
Cruise journalism conventions like UNITY, SND and NPPA. Bring spiral-bound portfolios to pass out.
Apply for jobs like mad. According to the 2004 edition of the job-hunting book What Color is Your Parachute, "studies have revealed the depressing fact that two-thirds of all job-hunters spend 5 hours or less hunting for a job each week." Consider the search a full time job. Read books about it; ask for help.
Drive across the country stopping at every paper along the way.
Tour foreign papers if you're serious about working abroad.
Keep working at it. You'll get job offers eventually. One of us got more than 60 rejection letters and countless more unanswered responses. Every Poynter Fellow is a good candidate.
Harass the former Poynter fellows and see what opportunities they may know about.
Choosing a job
Don't settle, even if you haven't got many (or any) other job offers. Even if it takes several more months for you to get a job, don't take an offer you'll regret. "I didn't do my research on the publication and ended up having a difficult year," one fellow wrote. Several said taking the first offer without finding more out was the worst mistake they've made.
Spend a few days at the paper.
Get to know your potential co-workers. Take them out to lunch. Ask them what they really think. Shadow them.
Find out why the position is open. Track down the reporter who had it and get the low-down.
Find out what the paper's former reporters are doing. The person doing the hiring should have a list. Call the former reporters.
Check the turnover rate.
Find out what kind of training they do and if they'll pay for you to go to conferences.
Ride around the area. Go to social events. See if they're people you might get along with and make friends with.
Ask Poynter people what they know about the paper.
Be careful when negotiating pay. Ask open-ended questions and don't force them to a final offer.
Find out who will edit your work and watch that person work. Even if you produce great stuff, a bad editor can ruin it.
See what benefits you get: Vacation? Paid mileage? Relocation? 401(k)? Health benefits? Gym discount?
Ask lots of questions
and don’t worry too much about being rude. It’s better to find out now. How many stories/photos/pages will you be expected to do a week? Will they give you time for larger projects?
