Q. Thanks so much for Ask the Recruiter. It has really helped me over the past four years. I am about to graduate this May and have landed an awesome job. I will be working at a major national newspaper, in a newsroom probably 10 times the size of any I have seen. Pinch me, please.
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I am very happy but also a little intimidated. I am confident in my abilities, as I did, after all, get the job. But I don't want to fade into the background. Do you have any tricks of trade or advice on how to succeed as a new person in such a large organization? Will I just have to "pay my dues" and settle for less-than-exciting work for a while, or are there ways I can make an impact from day one? I have my foot in the door; I just need to know how to bust it open now.
Happy ScaredA. No tricks, but how about a story?
A couple of interns at a major metro complained that one of the other interns seemed to have become the charmed one -- best assignments, Page One stories, the works. It just so happens I knew the star intern. So, without telling him that his peers envied his success, I asked him how he worked.
He told me he watched the editors and noticed that they gave out the best, most important assignments first. So, he started coming in about half an hour before his start time -- and before the other interns came in. He got comfortable talking to the editors and they became comfortable giving him the good stories -- which he executed well.
It seemed the other interns got grouchy, but they did not get up earlier.
Hustle, pay attention to your editors' habits and needs and don't make them give you the same correction twice. Edit yourself and hit your deadlines.
More advice from Joe on acing your internship:
"Breaking In: The JobsPage.com Guide to Newspaper Internships."
Coming Wednesday: After two and a half years as a reporter, she is starting to look for a new job but wonders how much money she should ask for.
Another story for you, also having to do with taking...
