The Career Profile Project
Career Profile Project
Staff reporter at a daily newspaper
Job Title and Job Description
Staff reporter at a daily newspaper
Report on breaking news, local government and features focusing on a region of small towns outside of a central city. It?s exciting: Every day is different. My job is to translate current events quickly and meaningfully to a regional audience.
What are some related career opportunities and job titles in your company or in your career area?
Print reporting is just one form of journalism. And newspapers aren?t necessarily printed on paper any more! Related fields are public relations, communications, marketing and of course all forms of social media/blogging.
What education or training did you have to prepare for this career?
This is actually my second career, after I worked in health care policy and nonprofit management. I majored in psychology (liberal arts college) and earned a master?s degree in health policy and management. My background gave me depth of focus plus experience to bring those skills - research, writing and networking - to new areas. I got the staff reporting job after working as a freelance reporter (paid by the article) for the paper.
What education or training do you recommend for students today who want to enter this field?
Strong writing skills, a breadth of knowledge and critical thinking are key to journalism. It?s perfect for a liberal arts grad. It?s also important to have multimedia skills now, with photography, video and online publication. Good experience is to work on your school paper or freelance as a stringer for your local community newspaper.
When you were in high school, did you know that you would enter this field?
No - I was the features editor of my high school newspaper but wanted to work more on the issues of the day rather than cover them as a reporter. So I did "issue work" for 20+ years in health care and education, and then turned to reporting.
Skills Profile
| Skills Used | Rating (5=Most Important thru 1=Not Important) | Comments |
| Artistic |  | Always think of the art that goes with a story. |
| Athletic / Physical | | |
| Bilingual | | Depends on locale. |
| Computer Technology | | Be comfortable with all sorts of mobile devices. |
| Coordination / Using Hands, Tools, and Equipment | | |
| Creative Thinking | | |
| Interpersonal | | |
| Investigative / Fact Finding | | |
| leadership and Supervising | | |
| Logical Thinking | | |
| Math | | |
| Mechanical Understanding | | |
| Sales and Negotiation | | |
| Scientific and Experimental | | |
| Social Service / Helping Skills | | |
| Teaching / Instructing | | Consider how to explain subjects to others. |
| Verbal Communication | | |
| Understanding Nature, Plants, Animals | | |
| Understanding Yourself | | |
| Writing | | |
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Interview By: Susan Spencer | ||