Would you hire?
Would you hire someone who:
Doesn’t have a facebook or MySpace account?
Doesn’t know what del.icio.us is?
Doesn’t know the difference between a site like Twitter and facebook?
Doesn’t regularly read non-MSM media like blogs?
Doesn’t subscribe to high-speed Internet?
Are these even questions that your work asks of new journalists? Would your answers be different for a reporting position versus a Web producer position?
November 29th, 2007 at 10:24 am
As a Web Producer myself the answer is that if they were incredibly proficient in every other aspect of the role I’d still consider them, but if they lack digital awareness, they’d have to be able to learn it very quickly to be of much use.
So in all honesty, I probably wouldn’t want to spend my resources encouraging a new starter to learn about the digital world, in addition to the numerous colleagues who already need help.
November 29th, 2007 at 11:33 am
Pat - Great post, I really think we need to change the expectations we have for new hires. The skills of the past don’t really equip them for the reporting of the future. I blogged about this issue the other day:
http://www.yonigreenbaum.com/?p=52
November 29th, 2007 at 1:22 pm
Badger,
I agree that if someone was incredibly proficient, I could not care less what Web sites they use or know about. But I think it would be a very rare find if someone was a very good Web producer or editor but didn’t use or know about the sites I listed.
To me, it tells me how much you really get the Web. A lot of people think that just knowing some HTML makes them qualified to be a Web producer. Who doesn’t know some HTML? My 56-year-old professor mother knows some HTML.
I want someone who leaves and breathes the Web, because when you work on a Web site, you’re building products for Web savvy people. If someone is under 25-years-old and wants to work on my Web staff, they better at least have a facebook or MySpace account.
November 29th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
One of my clients announced just a few weeks ago that he will no longer hire anyone without a Facebook account. It’s not that he sees much value in Facebook, nor that he wants his publications to appear on widgets on the site. But he is just sick of taking about the Web with journalists who don’t “get” the Web. And although he’s willing to put up with some ignorance from older and established journalists, he has no patience for young journalists who don’t live online.
November 30th, 2007 at 2:53 pm
I don’t care if they have a Facebook/MySpace page, as long as they know what it is and the impact social networks have. Same with bookmarking services (I expect they’ll know more than del.icio.us, though), microblogs, etc. But I don’t understand hiring someone to work on the Web who doesn’t have a Web site, and it surprises me when I hear major newspapers that are doing just that.
December 1st, 2007 at 5:25 pm
People of all ages still don’t understand that an online persona is necessary when applying for a job that deals with the web. When I interview prospective new hires, I ask this “why the web” and the answer I often get (and the worst answer ever) is : “Because that’s where journalism is going and that’s where the money is.” Ugghhh. Telling journalists, especially ones looking for a job, to get a facebook or learn twitter is not a punishment or forcing them into some trend. If you want to work in online, you have to WORK IN ONLINE, understand how people share and promote content. The biggest issue is, people are not trained in this. So if someone knows delicious, twitter, stumbleupon, and uses those products, I know they have a true interest in the web, content and their careers.
December 5th, 2007 at 12:20 am
Shawn,
I can’t imagine a worse answer than ‘Because that’s where journalism is going and that’s where the money is.” I would immediately cross that person off the list. I want to hire people who would want to be online regardless of how much it could help their careers. I want people who love the Web and don’t need a monetary incentive to enjoy it or work on it.
I think your post is great, and I agree that you have to be apart of online communities and sites to work on the Web. How are you supposed to make compelling Web products if you don’t know what’s possible? And how can someone who doesn’t spend a lot of time online even make good Web products?
Almost everyone I know who graduated college with me has a facebook account. If you don’t, you’re not the most tech savvy person. And we all know that a lot of journalists are technophobes.
All the Web developers I know eat, sleep and breathe the Web. That’s how online journalists need to be. I don’t need someone applying to a Web job at my paper because they think it’ll be a good career move. No, I want someone who loves the Web. Never in a million years will someone who doesn’t love the Web make a compelling Web product.
And if you can’t make a compelling product without my help, what good are you to me?
December 7th, 2007 at 1:45 pm
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