5 Reasons Why Journalists Make Great Hires

Let's face it. Journalists have had to face harsh realities in the employment sector during the past decade.

According to Pew Research, 36 percent of newspapers and 23 percent of digital news outlets have suffered layoffs between January 2017 and April 2018. Newspapers were particularly hit hard from 2014 to 2017, when the number of newsroom employees dropped from 46,000 to about 39,000.

Many of these journalists have had to find themselves in an already-tough job market - competing against newbies and tenured professionals alike. However, if you're a recruiter or hiring manager who passed up on that journalist who may have lacked experience outside of the newsroom, you probably made a big mistake.

A former print journalist will likely be one of the best hires you'll ever make for your corporate communications or content marketing team.

Here's why:

They Will Meet Every Deadline: The ability to maintain deadlines is the driving factor for project success in corporate communications and many other content career fields. Need someone who will turn in that great idea, communication or pot luck dish on time EVERY TIME? Hire a journalist. In fact, journalists have the amazing ability to put in their best work with accuracy each and every time right before deadline - and this only bodes well for your business.

They’ll Find the Answers to all of Your Problems. In a world of problems, you need solutions. When there’s a technical issue, a content management issue or you need a background check on that new dating prospect, who do you call on your team? Your former journalism major. Not only are journalists trained to research facts in the face of the impossible, they’re quite good at it, as credibility is king to a trained journalist. According to our research, a content team that employs storytelling with accuracy is probably a valuable skill that your organization is missing - and one that a journalist will absolutely fulfill.

They Remain Calm in the Face of Change. Many journalists faced uncertainty and adversity during the Great Recession. Dealing with furloughs, layoffs... watching peers walk out with the shirts on their back after devoting 20-plus years to an organization. Changing your company's internal structure? No problem. Your hired journalist has been through much worse. Even in their roles as roving reporters, they’ve had to wake up at 5 a.m. to get that major story, rush downtown to City Hall by noon to interview the mayor, and head to another location by 3 p.m. to cover that breaking news headline.

They Will Laugh at Your Brainstorms. Think you’re the smartest person in the room? Think again. Not when you have a former reporter in your midst. Journalists will master your brainstorms and planning meetings - mainly because they’ve had to master the editorial meeting. If you've never had the privilege of attending one of these meetings, just know that they're brutal. You have to decide the most important news of the day in about 30 minutes with no room for error. Shouts, insults and sinister plots are the norm.

Your brainstorms are a piece of cake to a journo. They’ve never had the opportunity in their careers to have three months to plan a content style guide, write a catchy headline or tweak copy. And the gourmet snacks in the middle of the boardroom are a welcome retreat. How does this benefit you? Two words: Fresh perspective and quick solutions. Before you can say “deadline” your journalist will churn out amazing copy, write the headline of your dreams and elegantly lay out your employee newsletters.

Their Experience Adds Value. How many of your bright-eyed PR recruits stared down the face of a criminal to ask the really hard questions, received death threats because of a controversial article they’ve written or had to interview the mother of a missing child? This experience results in mental toughness and resilience on your communications team. You may overlook these valuable skills, but they’re desperately needed in this day and age where corporate meltdowns and mergers are commonplace.

The best companies not only employ subject-matter experts, project managers and the like, but look long enough, and you'll find a dusty reporter's notebook and AP Stylebook tucked under one of those shirts on that award-winning content team. Believe in them, and they'll write the best parts of your company's success story.