Some newsrooms take steps toward a different kind of hiring process

Would you send a job candidate their interview questions ahead of time?

Or spend over an hour talking with an applicant, when the meeting was slated for just 30 minutes?

Although the hiring process can sometimes seem broken, leaving employers exhausted and applicants disappointed, there are glimmers of possibility in the field for a better approach. Journalism job applicants and hiring managers shared what practices have made a difference when it comes to hiring humanely.

This article was inspired by a common question from the participants in a massive online open course I recently led through the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas. The course included more than 1,200 journalists from the world, and they frequently wondered: How can I find newsrooms willing to hire someone with nontraditional experience?

That set me on a quest to interview these mythical humane hiring managers. I solicited recommendations from job applicants who felt their hiring processes were stellar to find out what makes these managers tick.

Those hiring managers who were praised by applicants for their approach viewed hiring as an investment. They took time to find people who could not only fit the requirements, but grow into them.

When Beatrice Forman applied for a breaking news and general assignments role at The Philadelphia Inquirer, for instance, she had zero hard news experience.

“I don’t think I even knew how to confidently put together a crime brief at the time,” she said. She’d previously written and edited features and service journalism for a Philadelphia digital news outlet.

But the Inquirer’s hiring manager “did not care that my skills were all over the place, and was excited by the challenge of helping me build the fundamentals I lacked while empowering me to keep taking the big swings I already was.”

Investing in the future

Making an investment means understanding not only what a candidate can offer today, but seeing how their growth can support the company’s goals. Managers shared that learning how a candidate could fit into the organization’s mission was more important than ticking every single box under the job requirements.

Sonya Quick, director of membership for CalMatters, said she prioritizes interview questions around finding how a candidate’s personal mission overlaps with the mission of the organization and the role. Instead of only looking at what the person in the role will do, she said it’s helpful to know what difference the position should make, focusing on the why instead of the how.

“The reason why I believe people can do things that they have not yet done is because I’ve had people who believed in me,” Quick said.

She credits the leadership at CalMatters with supporting and modeling a thoughtful hiring approach, saying hiring managers can extend that generosity to others to help them grow into their roles.

Ana Clara Otoni experienced that firsthand when she applied at CalMatters for the job of community engagement manager. After a 15-minute screening call with Quick, Otoni’s follow-up questions were promptly answered by email. When Otoni met with CalMatters CEO Neil Chase, their conversation flowed well past the allotted 30 minutes, winding up after more than an hour. She said she appreciated his openness and felt like she could show her authentic self.

“As the person seeking a job, you’re trying to guess what they want,” Otoni said. “But really, the curiosity should be mutual.”

Sweating the small stuff

When John Hernandez, co-director of OpenNews, was recently hiring for a part-time community manager, he sent candidates interview questions ahead of time. During the interview, he let the candidates choose where they wanted to start the conversation.

“We set the rules for how all of this works, so why not make it welcoming and accommodating and make people want to work here?” Hernandez said. “During the hiring process, I do sweat the small stuff because I want to put the hiring candidate in the best position that they can be.”

Both Hernandez and Quick agreed that taking the time up front to create a responsive, responsible hiring process pays off in the long-term.

“You will come to find that the person you are hiring ends up being happy, fulfilled in the role, and that the organization will see a larger benefit than if you only focused on these are the exact things they’re going to do,” Quick said. “I think that starting from a very human place will just lead to someone who really deeply believes in the work.”