Q: Last year, I applied for reporting job at a daily newspaper. I thought my qualifications were good and my clips were very good, too. The only thing was that I was not a full-time reporter at the time, I was freelancing for a very large and respected newspaper.
This seemed to bother one editor in particular. He questioned me for two hours on my work, my work ethic, how much I was paid each story and then a week later requested I write a proposal on how, if hired, I would approach the job. They also wanted five story ideas. I felt uncomfortable about it because I knew he wasn't asking other candidates and since I freelance, my time literally is money.
I weighed the pros and cons and then turned in a very nice report on how I would do the job, complete with five thoughtful and thoroughly researched story ideas. It took about a day of work, which I would have spent working on a story that I was going to be paid for. Two weeks later, after hearing nothing, I called to see what's going on. They report they're still looking at candidates.
I contacted the primary editor, who changed jobs recently, to ask what I could have done to improve my interviewing style, and the editor told me that I did well in the interview, I had strong clips but they went with someone else. He seemed to imply that it wasn't his decision. He said if I was interested in the job, I should apply again. (Of course, that could all be hogwash.)
My immediate thought was, "No way." I felt annoyed that they blatantly disregarded my time, made a poor hiring choice and then expected me to subject myself to further treatment. Instead, I was very gracious and positive and said that I had a lot of work that would make working full-time difficult (which is true.)
I have to say this negative experience, along with a few others (such as employers wanting me to come into an interview with 24-48 hours notice, completing lengthy editing/writing assignments, etc. and then still not hiring me) has made me extremely reluctant to do anything like it again. In fact, I won't.
Taking editing/writing tests during the interview is one thing, but anything extracurricular I think is unfair.
One person I know who is a newspaper editor said I was overreacting.
Should I ever apply to this place again? And secondly, how far should one go for a job? I think that if someone treats you a certain way, chances are they will treat you the same way when you are employed by them.
Thanks!
Cynical but Hopeful
A: It sounds as though you've soured on this place. It may be that you no longer want to work there as much as you once did.
I agree that the work they asked you to do was on the high end for newspaper applications. I especially wonder about requiring one candidate to do work that others were not asked to do.
By that same token of consistency, I would not give a free-lancer less to do because their time is money. Everyone's time has value. Non-freelancers who apply would have to carve that time out of time evenings and weekends.
It is ironic -- and not unexpected -- that the preferred candidate did not last!
