Just launched: PRESS AHEAD’s Career Kit

Journalism-specific resume, portfolio, interview and career resources

Hi, all — I usually spend the last week of each semester with my journalism students at Kennesaw State University conducting in-depth journalism career workshops.

In my first semester as a full-time professor a couple of years ago, I looked around the industry and interwebs for some journalism-specific (and practical) career resources. Little exists beyond ONA, Poynter and a few others. General career guidance abounds; advice full of platitudes abounds. Practical, actionable examples for journalists did not. Or I couldn’t find them. 

So, I started creating guides, templates and examples for my students. 

The PRESS AHEAD Career Kit is built on that work, expanded to include help for working journalists, early-career journalists and hiring managers. Everything is geared toward journalism — even my go-to list of questions I’d ask as the hiring manager in job interviews. 

The PRESS AHEAD Career Kit is for paid subscribers and includes:

• THE RESUME: Journalism-specific resume tips and templates for working journalists, students looking for their first full-time jobs and students seeking internships

• THE PORTFOLIO: Journalism-specific portfolio advice and sample/template portfolios for news

• THE INTERVIEW: 10 common job interview questions (and suggestions on how to frame your journalism answers so they don’t sound like BS)
  + Journalism-specific interview questions if you’re a hiring manager

• THE CAREER: DIY Career Clinic: Where do I go from here? Some questions and action steps to guide you on your journalism career path

My goal is to iterate and add to this in the year ahead.

If your big plans this weekend were to brush off that resume or contemplate career next steps, then pour a glass of wine or a cup of coffee and peruse the Career Kit.

✍️ What do you think? What would help you? Is something specific missing? Do you have an invaluable resource that I missed? Post in the comments or reply to this email (pressahead@substack.com)

— Amy

Here’s a cat gif for inspiration and as thanks for reading. And if you want to learn more about finding jobs and navigating newsrooms (and instant access to the Career Kit!), consider a paid subscription ($15 annual). It’s more fun than a cat planning world domination.
👇 More good stuff after the cat 🐱👇

You, plotting to take over the world

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Good stuff links!

• Explain your goals, process and integrity when covering mass shootings (Trusting News)

• The vanguards of some of the newest experiments in nonprofit news are surprisingly old fashioned (RJI)

• In some states, students account for a large and growing share of statehouse reporters (Pew Research)

• How a shift in revenue model transformed Honolulu Civil Beat’s entire culture and approach (News Revenue Hub)

In case you missed it!

Ignore the job description (sometimes). 5 questions: On finding audiences, finding jobs and finding purpose. How do I get experience when I have no experience? 3 grad speeches to recharge your journalism spirit. Have you considered a product-editor role? What if we approached our career development like a reporter? What’s more important in a first job? How did this newsletter begin? Who’s behind it? How can you benefit and WHY SO MANY QUESTIONS?

Know someone who could benefit from the Career Kit? Consider gifting a paid subscription to PRESS AHEAD