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During the hour-long session, Chin spoke to a group of journalists, communicators, and members of the public about how to stand out as a job applicant for a major global news service and how to stay motivated in a turbulent job market.
Here are five key takeaways from the discussion:
Approach the job search like a reporting assignment
Journalists are skilled at telling others’ stories — but these skills can be applied to your own career development. Chin suggested that journalists approach the job hunt like a reporting exercise.
“Be a good reporter,” she said. “Track down the stakeholders and figure out what the company's goals are, what the hiring manager's goals are, and be strategic … Showcase your work and how you can fill their gaps.”
Align your application with the organization’s values
“Personalize the applications,” Chin said. “Don't send out the same thing to every news organization.” She encouraged applicants to identify the company’s strategic priorities and show how their unique skills and background align with the news organization’s goals for the future.
For example, The Associated Press is expanding in three main areas, Chin said: strengthening its audience engagement strategy to drive donations, improving its video and social media strategies, and adding even more elections coverage to include roughly 7,000 races across the globe. Knowing these priorities and making clear how your skillset would help advance them will help you stand out in a crowded pool of applicants.
Demonstrate your impact with evidence, not adjectives
It’s always a good idea to highlight work samples and metrics that showcase your impact — this practice goes much further than simply stating that you’re qualified or a hard worker.
“Instantly, you are standing out, because a lot of people are not doing that,” Chin said.
Can you prove that a video you produced led to increased brand loyalty and audience engagement? Do you have data to back that up? Don’t shy away from including this type of information in your application materials.
Make clear the value you would add or the gap you would fill
Early-career journalists often make the mistake of telling organizations how much they want or need a particular job to meet their career goals.
“We see a lot of cover letters that are like, ‘Here's what the AP can do for me.’ And that's not the framing you need,” Chin said. “You need: ‘Here's what I can do for the AP.’”
It may be difficult early in your career to explain what you can do for a major news organization — but Chin suggests leaning into your own unique story. In her case, Chin was hired for an internship at AP after including in her cover letter how the immigrant community she grew up in had a noticeable news gap.
“I was an audience that AP didn’t capture,” she said. She detailed how her reporting would reach new audiences as she kept her own family and lived experiences in mind.
Network beyond the coffee meeting and ask for feedback
The job search can be demoralizing and lengthy application processes can leave you with more questions than answers. Early on, Chin learned a tip from Poynter that has helped her stay motivated throughout these tough moments, which is to organize your own board of directors.
“I think this is a really powerful tool to have that circle of people that you trust to give you honest feedback,” said Chin. “They should be both in and outside of journalism because we don't want to get too much in a bubble.”
Asking a hiring manager for feedback after a rejection may leave you with a polite but uniform response about how another candidate was a better fit. Instead, seeking feedback from three to five trusted people can help you avoid repeating the same mistakes.
Click here to download these tips.
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