Building an equitable local journalism lab from the ground up means taking a hard look at how we hire our staff
By Bettina Chang
One of the most common requests I get during my Editor Office Hours is from jobseekers who want me to proofread their cover letters.
They’re some of the toughest things to edit, not only because they ask people to sum up all their experience and worth as an employee into one page, but also because every industry and employer has a different idea of what should go in a cover letter.
City Bureau doesn’t ask for cover letters, and after years of consulting folks during office hours, I’m convinced that no one should.
Hiring reporting fellows with a diverse set of perspectives and skills is core to our mission. When we launched our first applications, it was clear that both cover letters and resumes were deterrents to many applicants who were otherwise qualified—so we designed a process that nixed them entirely. (Read: How We Hire Our Reporters)
Now we have 13 full-time staff members, and our hiring process has evolved to accommodate more types of jobs and levels of experience. Still no cover letters. But when I took a stance about this on Twitter a few months ago, I got replies from people who weren’t convinced or were curious to know why. I definitely don’t have all the answers, but over the years we’ve learned a lot from eliminating cover letters, so I thought I’d share some here.
Got your own tips for a no-cover-letter hiring process? Let us know and we’ll share in the next Notebook newsletter.
1. You’re not looking for mind-readers
It’s far too common for a job posting to ask for a cover letter and resume, with few (if any) instructions. This makes your application process more of a test of who can read your mind, rather than who has the skills, experience and demeanor for the job.
If you want your applicants to answer specific questions in your cover letter, then why not just post the questions? That eliminates the ambiguity, the “maybe they have this experience but they forgot to mention it,” or trying to read between the lines of a resume. It allows applicants to put their best foot forward and it allows us to easily compare candidates on their actual qualifications, apples to apples.
I’ve heard some hiring managers say things like, “If they’re qualified then they should know what to write in the cover letter.” But is that actually true? It’s more likely that folks who write perfect cover letters have access to a career counselor or a friend who does hiring (and an editor like me who is willing to work with them on it!). That’s just a proxy for their actual skills—not proof.
2. If you want a fresh writing sample, ask for it (and pay!)
Speaking of proof, I understand that sometimes you really need to see an applicant’s writing—especially fresh copy that hasn’t been edited for publication.
But most writing jobs don’t require people to actually write cover letters for a living. So why test them on this format? If you need someone to write articles, have them write an article. If you need them to write grant applications, create a writing exercise for grants.
By the way, any writing exercise that requires more time than a typical application process (let’s say one to two hours of work) should be paid. A few hundred bucks can go a long way to showing applicants that you value them and their work—and ensures that you’re not favoring applicants who have the ability to work for free.
3. Be clear about what you’re looking for
Even if you create an application with specific questions, you might not get the answers you want unless you are upfront about the criteria you’re judging against.
For instance, when we were hiring a Director of Marketing and Communications, one of the questions we asked was: “In your own words, describe City Bureau’s work and why you want to support it.” We wanted this response to help us judge people’s copywriting abilities. But some people interpreted this to be more of a personal question, and described their own experiences and history instead of writing for a larger audience. We ended up putting less weight into the response to that question because we realized that we weren’t setting folks up for success there. Which brings me to my last point...
4. Stop looking for ways to eliminate applicants; start looking for people who shine
I’ve heard hiring managers say, “If there’s one typo in your application, you’re out.”
OK. I’m an editor, so I get it. But as an editor I also know that typos aren’t really the measure of a good writer. In most situations, typos are easily fixed without any implication on job performance.
If we’re specifically looking for someone who can produce clean copy, we’ll add to the instructions, “Make sure to proofread your submission for any typos or spelling errors.” Sometimes a small reminder is all someone needs to succeed.
All that is to say, the job application process shouldn’t be full of traps and trick questions. Hopefully your workplace is not a Hunger Games-esque arena where every small mistake results in complete failure. A good job application process will allow folks with the right qualifications to truly stand out and shine, just like a good workplace is set up so people can succeed.
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