Many newsrooms are facing budget cuts and layoffs, but there still are job opportunities in the news industry. And every new opening is an opportunity for a hiring manager to move her department and her news organization forward, says Marci Burdick, senior vice president of broadcasting for Schurz Communications. She conducted a training session on hiring at the IWMF U.S. Leadership Institute for Women Journalists, held July 21-25 in Chicago.
A vacant position is a good opportunity to analyze the entire organization with an eye toward improving and streamlining the work and moving toward the future, Burdick says. For example, an outgoing employee may have been responsible for two skill sets that could be split into two positions, such as reporting and photography. Or, it may make sense for hiring managers to rearrange or consolidate job tasks, especially in light of more news operations moving to the Web.
“There’s not a right or wrong way to hire people,” says Burdick, “but it works best when you have a process.”
To establish a process, Burdick recommends:
- Knowing where your organization or team is heading. For instance, is there an overall strategic plan in place? Are there areas where you are looking to expand or cancel your coverage?
- Doing a “SWOT” analysis of the new position. This means evaluate the “S”trengths, “W”eaknesses, “O”pportunities and “T”hreats to the organization in the vacant or potential new position. For example, think about what attributes an ideal candidate would possess. In addition to skills and experience, consider non-skills based attributes such as a positive attitude and initiative.
- Taking into account the overall plan of your company, develop a job description and a distribution strategy that will get the attention of the people you’re trying to attract. This may mean formally posting the job through human resources or informally spreading the word through networking and other contacts.
Once you have succeeded in finding candidates to interview, Burdick recommends having the interviewee do most of the talking to demonstrate their skills. Accomplish this by asking specific, open-ended questions. Additionally, interviewers should feel free to see how candidates may handle their potential new job with hypothetical questions or questions based on their previous work experience. For example, ask how a potential employee handles multiple deadlines and ask her to tell about a time from a previous job where she effectively did so.
Being clear about what is expected is important during an interview, says Burdick. It’s also good to be clear about what’s expected once employees start working. She suggests going over your expectations for them, including how their personal mission fits in with the company’s mission. For clarification, Burdick says, consider being detailed about things that are normally considered automatic, such as being on time to work and meeting deadlines.
Setting up and maintaining a hiring process may seem tedious, says Burdick, but it will help ensure that you’re hiring the right employee. And that’s an important decision, especially since managing a not-so-great employee can be difficult.
“You can’t coach your way through a bad hire.”
This article is based on a workshop conducted by Marci Burdick, senior vice president of broadcasting for Schurz Communications, for the International Women’s Media Foundation’s 2008 U.S. Leadership Institute for Women Journalists in Chicago.
Lindsey Wray is the IWMF’s communications coordinator.