Q: I have been attempting to get a position at a largish newspaper. The problem is that the person in charge of hiring (an assistant managing editor)  seems to like he doesn't want to be bothered.

I thought I had a pretty good package of impressive clips and a pretty good resume. After I send in my resume and clips, I usually call in a week or two to find out if they received my clips and when I can expect a decision to be made and to touch base.

I called him three times over the space of a month -- once leaving an upbeat, polite message which he never returned and then reaching him twice to which he said, "I'll call you back," and then never did. I called the second time after two weeks of nothing, and the third time after another week passed with no calls back. I was very polite through this all.

I quit calling since I figured I was given the brush-off. How else can I try to get hired and is it OK to bypass someone who apparently isn't helpful?

According to a few corporate-oriented Web sites, they say calling is bad, period. But every other hiring editor I've talked, or at least 9 out of 10, have been interested, asked me questions and talked about the position -- which I think is normal.

Thanks for your help!

Looking for Recognition

A: People can be strange. If you've hit a brick wall, I'd go around it. It would be less threatening to this person if you want a level below his position -- say, the metro editor or features editor -- than if you went over his head to the managing editor.

I love ads that say, "no calls." How inviting is that? We're journalists. We call. And we bend rules that prevent us from getting what we need.