Want to work for Bob Woodward?

WazzuGrad00 · Dec 11, 2006

Now might be your chance (From journalismjobs.com)"

Bob Woodward, the Washington Post journalist and author, is looking for a new full-time assistant.

About the job.

As the successful candidate, you will act as Bob’s right hand man or woman. You will research, report, write and edit. You will also handle administrative matters--- transcribing interview tapes, helping him keep track of his calendar and requests, and running his small office.

You will work directly for Bob (i.e., not as an employee of The Washington Post or his publisher, Simon & Schuster) out of his home office in Washington, DC.

Primarily, you will work on whatever major project Bob undertakes next, be it another book, articles for The Washington Post, etc. Most of the time you will be working on several things at once, and sometimes these â€œsecondary assignmentsâ€ can take on a life of their own.

For example, my name is Bill Murphy Jr., and I was hired to work on the book that became the number one bestseller, State of Denial. However, about a month after I started working for Bob in 2005, Mark Felt came out as Deep Throat. That meant we pushed everything to the side, and worked 16 hour days getting Bob’s manuscript---The Secret Man---ready for print.

This is not a job to expect to have for your entire career. The normal model is â€œtwo years or one book,â€ whichever comes first. It is a great and perhaps unique opportunity to learn from an accomplished journalist and to contribute to in-depth reporting on the most timely topics.

Candidates should have:

* Reporting ability and experience * Writing ability and experience * Editing ability and experience * Maturity * Initiative * Trustworthiness * Ability to get along with people

You might have done great work as a reporter at a newspaper or magazine, or you might have done something else. In my case, I had been a reporter, but that was 10 years ago. In the meantime I’d served in the Army, and tried cases for the Justice Department in Washington. (I’m leaving to go to Iraq for The Washington Post and to write a book of my own.) One of my predecessors had worked as an architect and helped to write a book about the FBI, and left to co-author a book about Google. Others went on to write for some of the country’s top newspapers and magazines, to higher education, to positions in academia, and to pursue other interests.

These are meant as guidelines, and we offer them in part to encourage you to self-select a bit. To be blunt, we are probably NOT looking for someone 24-25 years old, two or three years out of college, looking to move on from his or her first job. Ideally, candidates should have five to eight years experience in journalism, books, or in-depth research and writing.

About the selection process.

Posting this advertisement here is a bit of an experiment. Our goal is to open up the process and democratize it. We want to cast a wide net, and spread the word about this opportunity.

If you would like to apply, please do the following:

First, think about whether you really and truly meet the description of who we are looking for. If you haven’t worked in journalism before or haven’t been a writer, or if you’re really just beginning your career, this probably is not the job for you---at least not yet.

Second, think about whether you really want to work for one person, being more or less at his beck and call for two years. Bob is a great boss, but this job is intense and demanding, and it’s not for everyone.

Third, apply via the link below. Alternatively, you can send a SHORT email summarizing your qualifications to: bobwoodwardjob@yahoo.com. You should cut and paste your resume as part of the email. No attachments, please.

Fourth, sit tight. We expect to receive many responses and cannot guarantee replies. Know that we appreciate your taking the time to contact us, and that we will be in touch if you’re in the running.
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WazzuGrad00 · Dec 11, 2006

Part two:

About Bob.

Bob Woodward has worked for The Washington Post since 1971. He has won nearly every American journalism award, and the Post won the 1973 Pulitzer Prize for his work with Carl Bernstein on the Watergate scandal. In addition, Woodward was the main reporter for the Post’s articles on the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks that won the National Affairs Pulitzer Prize in 2002.

Woodward won the Gerald R. Ford Prize for Distinguished Reporting on the Presidency in 2003. The Weekly Standard called Woodward â€œthe best pure reporter of his generation, perhaps ever.â€ In 2003, Albert Hunt of The Wall Street Journal called Woodward â€œthe most celebrated journalist of our age.â€ In 2004, Bob Schieffer of CBS News said, â€œWoodward has established himself as the best reporter of our time. He may be the best reporter of all time.â€

Woodward has co-authored or authored eleven #1 national best-selling non-fiction books --- more than any contemporary American writer. They are:

â€¢ All the President’s Men (1974) and The Final Days (1976), both Watergate books, co-authored with Bernstein

â€¢ The Brethren: Inside the Supreme Court (1979), co-authored with Scott Armstrong

â€¢ Wired: The Short Life and Fast Times of John Belushi (1984)

â€¢ Veil: The Secret Wars of the CIA 1981-1987 (1987)

â€¢ The Commanders (1991) on the first Bush administration and the Gulf War

â€¢ The Agenda: Inside the Clinton White House (1994)

â€¢ Shadow: Five Presidents and the Legacy of Watergate (1999)

â€¢ Bush at War (2002)

â€¢ Plan of Attack (2004)

â€¢ State of Denial:Bush at War Part III(2006)

Woodward’s other three books, The Secret Man: The Story of Watergate’s Deep Throat (2005), The Choice (1996) on the presidential election, and Maestro: Greenspan’s Fed and the American Boom (2000), were national best-sellers for months.

Newsweek magazine has excerpted six of Woodward’s books in headline-making cover stories; 60 Minutes has done pieces on five of his books; three of his books have been made into movies.

Woodward was born March 26, 1943 in Illinois. He graduated from Yale University in 1965 and served five years as a communications officer in the U.S. Navy before beginning his journalism career at the Montgomery County (Maryland) Sentinel, where he was a reporter for one year before joining the Post.

For more information, check out www.bobwoodward.com.
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Moderator1 · Dec 11, 2006

I'll bet this is a very interesting gig.

SCEditor · Dec 11, 2006

I am nowhere near qualified for this job, but I wish I was. It sounds like an excellent opportunity.

jambalaya · Dec 11, 2006

I'm sure this goes on quite a bit, and while it may be a bad comparison, wasn't this Rick Bragg's undoing at the NY Times - having a grunt do his dirty work and then slapping on a byline like it was his own work?

OTD · Dec 11, 2006

jambalaya said:

I'm sure this goes on quite a bit, and while it may be a bad comparison, wasn't this Rick Bragg's undoing at the NY Times - having a grunt do his dirty work and then slapping on a byline like it was his own work?
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I think most of these kind of guys (Woodward, Mike Royko, etc.) have assistants/leg men kind of people. Ricky's problem was that the grunt did most of the work.

Tarheel316 · Dec 12, 2006

And this gig has what to do with sports?

TheSportsPredictor · Dec 12, 2006

Anyone here good enough to work for Bob Woodward?

beefncheddar · Dec 12, 2006

Tarheel316 said:

And this gig has what to do with sports?
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Anyone in this business (sports or otherwise) who isn't fascinated by this posting -- at least in the slightest -- might very well be in the wrong line of work.

I've got no desire to apply, but it's still a great read and a window into the inner-workings of big-time journalism.

In other words, it's probably not for you, boo-yah.

MertWindu · Dec 13, 2006

Tarheel316 said:

And this gig has what to do with sports?
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You're right, Tarheel. There should be moderators for this message board to make sure there....wait, sorry, hold on, I'm getting an urgent memo....Right.

(There used to be another board connected to this one, newsjournalists.com, but no one ever went there, so it was dissolved. So get over yourself.)

Michael_ Gee · Dec 13, 2006

Pros: Job would be fascinating beyond belief. You would ipso-facto become a major Washington insider. I'm sure your phone calls would always be returned.
Cons: This would be like joining the Mafia without the good food. I'm sure the contract includes omerta to the 13th degree. It could be a little frustrating learning all kinds of great stuff then passing it on to one's boss who may or may not use it in a way you found appropriate.
Powerful people make me break out in hives, so this isn't a job I could or would do. But a sportswriter wouldn't be a bad pick for Woodward, actually. At least none of us are likely to be star-struck by the Washington elite. We cover people our fellow Americans actually admire.

Mizzougrad96 · Dec 13, 2006

Michael_ Gee said:

Pros: Job would be fascinating beyond belief. You would ipso-facto become a major Washington insider. I'm sure your phone calls would always be returned.
Cons: This would be like joining the Mafia without the good food. I'm sure the contract includes omerta to the 13th degree. It could be a little frustrating learning all kinds of great stuff then passing it on to one's boss who may or may not use it in a way you found appropriate.
Powerful people make me break out in hives, so this isn't a job I could or would do. But a sportswriter wouldn't be a bad pick for Woodward, actually. At least none of us are likely to be star-struck by the Washington elite. We cover people our fellow Americans actually admire.
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If I was five years younger and single, I would be all over this... (I'm not suggesting he would actually hire me...)

Woodward is the reason I wanted to be a journalist. I'm guessing the same holds true for a lot of us between the ages of 30-40...

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