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Ask the Recruiter

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Joe Grimm
Joe Grimm, visiting journalist at the Michigan State University School of Journalism, tackles the toughest recruiting questions.
TO GET YOUR QUESTION ANSWERED on this page, send it to Joe. Please include your full name in your message. If you prefer that your surname not be published, please indicate why.
 
 
If you're a student just getting back to school, now is not too soon to start thinking about internships for the summer of 2009. Get "Breaking In: The JobsPage.com Guide to Newspaper Internships." You can download a copy immediately.


An Answer about My Tryout?
Q. I had a newspaper tryout about a month ago. At the end of the tryout, the hiring editor said he was very positive about me and that he wanted me to someday work at the paper, but that they were still interviewing people so it may take time before I heard anything.

ASK JOE A QUESTION

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I left feeling good, and within a few days I wrote thank-you notes to the editors I met. I sent a follow-up e-mail each to two of those editors and called one this week.

I've gotten no response.

Should I assume it's a dead deal? It's just weird to hear nothing at all, not even a "I'm sorry this didn't work out, but keep in touch" note!

Hanging

A. This doesn't sound good to me, either.

But, until you have an answer, you don't have an answer.

Joe Grimm
Joe Grimm
Focus your queries on the recruiter, who should be a designated spokesman for the newspaper. Also, pursuing this with the recruiter saves you the discomfort of feeling that you are badgering an immediate supervisor or a top editor.

You've sent notes, which did not require a response, and you've sent e-mails. Call the recruiter. If you miss him, leave a voice mail message. And then follow up with calls, hoping to catch him. I would try around 11:30 a.m. -- that should be after any morning news meetings and before lunch.

Coming Tuesday: A different career path and starting a family intervened between college and the start of her journalism career. Now she's ready to gear up for that delayed career.

 

Posted by Joe Grimm 12:35 AM
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