How Editors Judge What Job Applicants Bring 2 The Table

My test to aspiring sports writing applicants:

1. Better writer: HST, Hemingway or Wolfe? Convince me in 400 words.

2. More socially significant: Pearl Jam or Nirvana? Compare and contrast in 325 words.

3. Your favorite Ramone and why. 200 words.

4. Biggest fraud: Lupica, Notre Dame football or Kelvin Sampson? 600 words

5. Who wins, Godzilla or Mothra? 150 words.

6. Bushmills or Jameson's? No limit.

7. Donna Martin. Hit it or not? 300 words.

8. Worst sports franchise ever - Arizona Cardinals, LA Clippers, Tampa Bay Devil Rays? 250 words.

9. Most honest/relevant - Chuck D., Obama or Kanye? 420 words

10. Bonus question: Describe Otto Graham? 20 words or less

 

Awesome.

This "test" should be its own thread. BTW, what's the deadline?

 

48 hours. It's all about performing under pressure. That's what makes a quality journalist.

 

I think you should switch 4 & 5.

*Who wins, Lupica, Notre Dame football or Kelvin Sampson?

*Biggest fraud: Godzilla or Mothra?

 

YOU ARE FULL OF FAIL AS A JOURNALIST!

If I did that, it would have be, "Bigger fraud: Godzilla or Mothra?"

Sorry, you don't get the interview. Though I am willing to change the questions.

 

Bigger, biggest. It's all semantics.

 

Sorry, Pall. Just bustin' on you.

And if you know me, I'm the last person you'd ever call anti-semantic.

 

Why are you looking at the first part as an essay?

Just because they call it that, doesn't mean it is one.

Write a friggin' column. Use fact, humor whatever it takes, but take a side and show off your column writing ability with this "essay topic."

 

That's great.

 

sadly, yes - after rushing on a two-hour drive to get to the interview as well.

 

My point being. If you think writing an essay is bad...

 

Under different circumstances and with some personal projects I've got going on right now out of the way, I would be very interested in this job myself, and I'm positive I'm qualified.

Like big green wahoo, however, I think these requests -- involving so many separate assignments/ideas -- are a bit over-the-top in terms of requirements.

To me, it indicates an inability or an unwillingness to make a decision, and strikes me as a somewhat transparent, easy and convenient way to collect story ideas for the paper's own future use -- whether any or all of these applicants are hired, or not.

Writing one short essay, or covering something -- fully, with a game story, notebook, and whatever news, plus having them think up and bring back one good story idea out of it, if that's so desired -- would be reasonable, much like a copy-editing or management test.

But this? Too much to ask of people who, frankly, don't even work for you yet, and may never do so. If there is anybody who has sent in even reasonably good cover letters and clips, and you've done your interviews and checked out references, and the like, then you ought to be well on your way to making good assessments of people and cutting down the field.

If you're not, maybe you shouldn't be the one fortunate enough to be doing the hiring and decision-making.

I'm sorry, but that's my take on it.