Q: Last year, I interviewed for a reporting job at a daily paper. I went through an extensive interview/application process that involved submitting a written critique of the paper, telephone interviews, two days of in-person interviews, math/grammar/spelling tests and a trial story. I thought everything went well, but when I checked back in the weeks following they said the position was frozen for several months. Not sure if that position ever got unfrozen, but I never did hear back from them.
Now, that same paper is advertising an opening in another department. I'd really like to apply for that job but am wondering if my previous interview experience will work against me. I'd have to tell them I had interviewed before, but fear that might mark me as "the applicant we didn't offer the job to last time." Is there a protocol for how to handle this? Do you feel I'm wasting my time applying, based on what happened during my first go-round? (The person I'd be sending my application to for the features job is someone I never met during my visit last year.)
Thanks for your help! I read your blog regularly and have gotten some great guidance from it.
Hanging
A: You're experiencing typical newspaper disorganization. The budget picture changes rapidly, editors can fail to keep in touch with people who have invested a lot of time with them and departments don't talk to each other.
Hiring freezes: They come and go, sometimes overnight, and there can be different types: Hard freezes in which almost no one gets hired (except maybe copy editors and designers) and slushy freezes in which papers just slow down the hiring, knowing that adding a few weeks to the typical lag time will reduce payroll spending.
The line goes dead: While we editors are often accused of putting bad news in the paper, many of us still don't like to deliver it to individuals. In this case, it sounds like you were hot for a while, the freeze cooled off their ability to hire and when it revived, they were looking at other people. Timing can make a difference. I try not to get anyone in front of people for a full-fledged interview with all the bells and whistles unless we have a real job open -- and then I hope we don't get a freeze.
Departmental disconnects: Even at small newspapers, departments can act more like competitors than collaborators. They compete over space, resources -- even external candidates. I bet the first department never told the second department about you. It probably never occurred to them. In this case, that could be good. I would apply. What have you got to lose? The best thing you can do as an outside candidate knocking on the door is to ask a candidate who spans departments, such as a recruiter or managing editor.
Oh, and tell them you've applied in the past. Eventually, they would figure that out.
