The Advocate in Burnie has advertised for journalists. Nothing unusual in that, except they have pitched the ad at non-journalists.
I find this intriguing and refreshing. I’ve employed some mature people before who weren’t trained journalists and I saw a couple come through earlier in my career with mixed results.
Mostly though, they were successful. It’s like the adage that nobody has stronger faith than the convert.
The Advocate has stated they want people who are committed to their community, adding that people skills and writing skills are key attributes.
I think it’s the right approach. Too many graduates start work with a country paper looking no further ahead than 12-24 months.
Even if they are familiar with the local community they still need to build networks and some of their university habits need to be knocked out of them, especially those related to deadlines.
At one stage in Kalgoorlie I had nearly an entire newsroom of recent university graduates, and although they were all good people who tried hard, it wasn’t the ideal scenario.
Like everything, a balance is good. Our industry has trouble retaining people, largely because of the pay levels which are inferior to what’s on offer in marketing, public relations and politics for ambitious graduates.
That reality makes the recruitment of mature people from non-journalism backgrounds a good option if they have local knowledge and a long-term commitment to the community.
