I've done a couple newspaper internships at big U.S. dailies and know I am a solid candidate for a reporting job when I graduate in a few months. But I'm really interested in Canada and want to work there, at least for a while.
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I know it can be tough to be Canadian and find a newspaper job in the U.S. because of visa issues and whatnot, but do Canadian papers hire entry-level Americans if they're promising reporters? And if I work for a big paper in Canada (say
Toronto Star, for instance), how will U.S. newspaper recruiters look at that experience when I go back south of the border? Are there major differences in the way Canadian newspapers are run versus U.S. papers?
Chris Davis
This is going to be tough.
The first hurdle will be getting that job in Canada. Canadian journalism schools put out way more graduates than there are places for in Canadian newspapers. That is one reason why many Canadians try to get jobs in the United States.
So, as tough as the U.S. job market is right now, you might find it is even tougher to look for a job in Canada as a noncitizen.
And the return would be, as you guessed, not as smooth as working your way up domestically.
I can see some editors discarding your resume on the misapprehension that you are not an American citizen.
Few networks -- ownership or even professional associations -- connect the two countries, so your network will not develop in the ways your long-term aspirations suggest it should. And, as few U.S. editors are familiar with Canadian papers, they may have some reservations about experience gained under different standards and a different legal system.
You might want to think about working in the northern United States and traveling a lot in Canada.
Coming Tuesday: A more prestigious newspaper has come calling six months into his job. He wonders if it is too soon to leave.
