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Journalist CV Example

Last updated : 27 January 2019

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A Journalist works for a newspaper or magazine, researching, interpreting and writing articles to be published in the paper or magazine in which they work. To do this role well, you will need to have a persistent manner and be confident when dealing with other people. You must be able to work in a pressurised environment and work to tight deadlines. If you are looking to improve your CV, please see below for an example which you can use.

CV Example: Journalist

Name Surname
Address
Mobile No/Email

PERSONAL PROFILE

I am a dedicated and persistent individual who enjoys working in the field of Journalism. I enjoy building relationships with different people and feel that I have excellent researching techniques to enable my stories to be accurate and written well.

I am an excellent communicator and conduct many different interviews with people. I work well under pressure and find this area a challenge to which I thrive. I am passionate about news of all kinds and hoping that throughout my career I will be able to work in many news worthy areas.

I am very organised and accurate in my work and pay great attention to detail. I like to learn new skills and keep up to date with the fast ever changing world of media.

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

Date to Date or To Date – Journalist – Where?

In my role as a Journalist, I work on different stories by doing research and interviewing people relevant to my stories. My day to day responsibilities for this include:

Investigating a story as soon as it breaks by researching and talking to relevant people
Following up potential leads to make new stories
Networking and developing new contacts
Interviewing people, face-to-face and over the phone, computer etc
Attending press conferences as necessary ensuring that I record meetings and interviews using recording equipment or shorthand so that no information is missed for a story
Having new ideas for news stories and features that will interest the readers
Writing in a creative way that will appeal to the reader.

QUALIFICATIONS

University, College, School – For all include titles/subjects and qualifications – specific Journalism qualifications? Modules, anything relevant to the role?

SKILLS AND ABILITIES

Have you done anything relevant that would suit the skills in the job you are applying for? Any previous work experience/training?

HOBBIES & INTERESTS

What do you like to do outside of work?

REFERENCES

Available on request.

Download Journalist CV Example

journalist cv example

How to Answer Difficult Interview Questions

Last updated : 10 October 2018

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What would be your best answer for the interview questions? What did you like or dislike about your previous job?, What were your expectations for the job and to what extent were they met? and What Was the Biggest Accomplishment / Failure in This Position?.

What Was the Biggest Accomplishment / Failure in This Position?

Your biggest accomplishment

Doesn’t necessarily have to be work related, could be personal – passed your driving test etc. You interviewer wants to know what made you proud of what you have achieved.

They will be looking to see how you accomplish tasks that you are proud of and how much work you are prepared to put into it to make sure you succeed.

Your biggest failure

If there is something that it will be all too engraved in your mind. Try to explain this to your interviewer in a factual way. If there isn’t something then don’t worry just maybe explain that although it was not your biggest failure as you don’t believe you have had one although XYZ was a disappointment to you but you did XYZ and to turn this around.

Try and make both answers to the questions directly related to the role that you are being interviewed for making your answers relevant and specific.

The questioned is asked frequently to assess what your future performances could be like and if you have had a particularly stressful time that you dealt with it effectively and it didn’t hinder any further roles.

Be honest but specific and relevant when answering this question.

Example Answer

My biggest accomplishment in my last role was training one of my pupils how to control their pitch in their voice, and they are currently selling top ten singles in the charts! I am very proud of them, and proud of myself for that. I would have to say that perhaps my biggest failure in that position was not being able to get my dance group through to the finals of a national competition, however we tried our best.

What did you like or dislike about your previous job?

This can be a tricky question of sorts. How you answer it will tell a lot about your thoughts and personality. No pressure there then.

Be diplomatic. Your interviewer wants to know what you liked about your previous role so they can assess if there is something similar in their environment and also what you like and how you like to work.

What did you like? Make sure your answer is sensible!

Don’t answer that you liked the people or anything like that as the only answer. Make sure you say something like you enjoyed the variety of work given or the freedom to manage your own time etc.

Regardless of them being a past employer it is never a good idea to speak badly of them, it reflects badly on you.

What did you dislike? I think most people have a few things that they dislike about any job. Explaining that to your potential new employer is a different matter. Make a list about what you did dislike and work through it. For example if you disliked:

  • The hours
  • The salary
  • Repetitive tasks

    • Think about those 3 examples and try and answer them with a positive slant.

    The hours – you are contracted to 40 hours a week with an hour for lunch – you want to work through your lunch and finish an hour earlier except you work through your lunch and probably work an hour over. This happens a lot but to your interviewer you would need to say that you disliked the hours due to not being able to work flexibly. A lot of employers are now a lot more open to people working flexibly.

    The salary – possibly the one thing people are rarely satisfied with – explain that you have not had a pay review for X amount of time and you find this disappointing.

    Repetitive Tasks – you do the same jobs over and over day in day out – explain that you are keen to do a variety of tasks as well as the more mundane ones that are essential.

    Just remember to be diplomatic and positive and this question will be easy to answer.

    What were your expectations for the job and to what extent were they met?

    This question is referring to your experiences in your previous employment. It is a question designed to make you think and the most important part of your response is in how you answer the question rather than the answer itself.

    It can be tempting to get drawn into the negatives of the last job, there will be a reason why you don’t work there anymore. However, it is important to remember that the more negative your answers, irrespective of their content, the more negatively the interviewer will start to see you. Therefore, you should answer this question in as positive a way as you can.

    For example

    When I took my previous post I was hoping to gain experience in this industry, honing my skills along the way in order to meet my ambitions of career progression. However, due to a recent downturn in profits, the prospect of promotion has all but disappeared. This made me feel like it was the right time to move on. Looking at your company, I can see that such opportunities exist with right amount of enthusiasm and hard work and I am therefore, very excited to be given the opportunity to work here.

    This answer starts positive, then delves into a negative aspect before finishing on a positive note. This is known as the bath tub effect and should leave the interviewer with a positive impression of you.

    With some good insight into the way the company works, you should be able to find a way to tailor your answer to match in with there ethos. If not then try to answer the question positively, The more you practice delivering your answers, the more confident you will become. This will then shine through in the interview and will hopefully leave the interviewer with a positive impression of your performance.