Q: I’ve worked as a writer and editor in various capacities for about seven years as an assistant, then a junior editor at a trade magazine, a fact-checker, a staff writer at a major market alt-weekly, and a producer and daily newsletter writer for a top-10 website. In addition to all that, I have a side gig as a book critic. I write reviews for the Washington Post, Newsday and other papers.
I never went to J-school or worked for a school newspaper. I’ve never had a job as a beat reporter. How do I package my experience to land a job as a general assignment reporter?
Adam
A: You’re way past needing a J-degree, I should think. Editors will be looking at your experience, not the academics at this point.
The lack of a beat reporting stint shouldn’t hurt, either, as you’re looking for something as a general-assignment reporter. You don’t say whether you want to work in news or features, but it sounds as though features will suit your experience better. I would craft a résumé and portfolio to cut across several feature-related disciplines, including books, music and lifestyle issues. As you put your portfolio together, look to see if you have any huge holes that some editor will drive a truck through. No profiles? No issues-related features? No enterprise work or takeouts? Write some and get them published.
One of your biggest hurdles may be convincing editors that you can handle daily deadlines. You seem to have a mix of longer publication cycles — such as weeklies — and the instantaneous cycles on the web. Daily cycles are somewhere in between. Make your résumé reflect the deadline frequencies you’ve worked with to show people your speed and adaptability.