Editor Interview Questions And Answers

To improve my writing skills, because I believe as an editor or in life in general one can never stop learning or perfecting their craft. So yes eventually I want to become a lecturer.

Once I moved into the interviewer seat, this is the question I noticed other people stumbling over the most. Editors know you’re probably applying to 10 zillion other places, but they at least want to feel like you’d be more excited to work at their brand than, say, your hometown gas station. Challenge yourself to come up with something unique and personal. (When I worked at a teen magazine, 99 percent of people said they wanted to work there because they “loved it growing up.” That’s great, I thought, but why do you want to work here now?) Is it the magazine you always save space for in your suitcase? Do you love a particular writer? Did they publish a story that impacted your life in a meaningful way?

I was once asked if I would be OK with writing the Table of Contents even though it had been years since the page was part of my job description. But I said yes, and got the job, and actually didn’t mind doing it until it was eventually taken off my plate a year or so later. Bottom line: Just say yes. Job descriptions are what you make of them once you get your foot in the door—until then, just prove that you’re someone who is willing to roll up your sleeves and get the job done.

This is an opportunity to show that you know a little bit about the company, its background and training programmes.

I sometimes find this question a bit difficult because I think it wouldn’t be as simple as people in the police force, hospital staff or local councillors.

Think about others who could give a tip off for a story – for example key people in the area such as teachers, shop owners or other key members of the community.

Tell the interviewers how you would get to know people in the community so you’d be the first one they’d contact if a news story broke out.

It’s usually the people you least expect who give you a diamond of a story.

I would have a private meeting to understand how they are feeling and what they feel when I edit their work. I would explain that their work is very good (if it was!) and that editing it was just bringing it up to scratch with house-style. They don't need to take it personally as it is not a reflection on the quality of their work, it's just my job to do that.

I have read blogs but I cannot remember any of them at this time. What I could say is that they did help me to improve my writing and editing greatly which is why I am here today.

This can be an intimidating question to answer on the spot, but that’s why I’m telling you about it now! Editors typically ask this in a very genuine way—an interview is an easy way for them to get feedback directly from a reader. Brushing up on a few back issues should spark a few ideas (and is good prep overall), but the key here is to use soft, constructive language. Instead of “I hate this,” it’s, “I’d love to see more of this.”

Editors always love hearing a good answer to this question, but they also use it to see if your goals align with the position for which you’re being considered. Answer honestly, but try to connect the dots as much as you can.

If you are going into a management programe they might ask this. It can seem tricky if you're just out of university and you think you haven't had a job.

Leadership comes in all facets of life – through clubs or societies, through managing your local football team. Try to bring it up to date as much as possible rather than harking back to school days when you were a prefect.

If you go to an interview for a trainee reporter role and haven’t found your own story before, then there is something wrong!

Being able to find your own stories is a key quality of a journalist, so make sure you have at least one example to show to the interviewers.

It doesn’t have to be anything groundbreaking, but a it should be a story that shows you can do the following: spot a story idea, have the confidence to pitch the idea to a newspaper, know who to talk to for quotes, are able to write the story without help and can take a picture.

All of this shows initiative and that you already have the basic skills of a reporter.

In my last two interviews I never spoke about my experiences of working a part-time job at Costa Coffee, because I didn’t think they were relevant.

In my last interview, however, I was encouraged to talk about it and it enabled me to find the perfect example of working as a team whilst under a lot of pressure.

If you have an example of working as part of a team in a newsroom then use it, but if you don’t, think about the time when you ran the student newspaper or when you were at work and had to make 10,000 lattes in a day, whilst showing the new person what to do and talking to the customers at the same time.

This gives you a a chance to demonstrate your awareness of television and radio news and of current affairs programmes.

I think the immediate return on your investment is the best thing. Some careers, it may take years to see the results of your labor. But mine is there daily, waiting for me in my driveway every morning.

I don’t know if the people outside of the business, looking in, realize how much time goes into it. We give up a great deal of personal time to do this job.

There’s no such thing as a typical workweek. You never know what kind of day you are going to have until you get to work and see what phone messages you have, and what is going on in town. And there is a lot of administrative work – payroll, HR issues.

Some careers, it may take years to see the results of your labor. But mine is there daily, waiting for me in my driveway every morning.
I typically get to work about 8 a.m. and work sometimes as late as midnight. Two of my reporters are on a salary, meaning they can work more than 40 hours without being paid overtime, but the rest of my staff is paid hourly, so the burden falls on me or one of my other editors if extra work is needed. We are all supposed to work five days with two days off, but that often doesn’t happen, or when it does, the next week we make up for it by working six days. My typical week is 50-60 hours, and sometimes 70. Also, keep in mind, I do a lot of my work at home. And I often eat lunch at my desk.

This can verifying your interest in writing.

Door knocks or ‘death knocks’ aren’t a myth and unfortunately these things happen more often than you may think. In case you don’t know, death knocks are when a reporter goes to the house of someone who has recently been bereaved to interview them.

I once heard a horror story of a journalist who went on her first death knock and someone opened the door, greeting her by chucking a bucket of water over her head.

Horrific huh?!

In my last interview I got asked how I would cope with door knocking and even though they sound like horrible things to do, you have to approach the situation with sensitivity but in a firm manner.

You have to respect the families wishes if they tell you to go away. Leave your number with the family, sometimes they will call you. Refer to the PCC code and talk about the ethics of journalism.

There isn't necessarily a right or a wrong answer to these kind of competency-based questions. If you are just out of university, the interviewer knows that, and wants to hear you talk through your thought processes as you attempt to solve the problem.

I will not say that I am the best, I think that each person is has their own gift, mine is an undying will to keep going even when things that going my way, so if you choose me that is what you are going to get, a relentless worker.

I have been on the newspaper since the beginning of freshmen year, and I have only missed maybe 2 meetings. I am dedicated and will be at every meeting.

This is when you give the elevator pitch about how perfectly qualified you are for this job. Hopefully, you’ve read up on the job description by this point, so here, talk up anything relevant to that description. And hey, we all know interning can equal major grunt work, but whatever you do, don’t speak poorly about anywhere you’ve worked. You’ve known this editor for what, 5 minutes? Trash talking that quickly can only make you look bad, and the editor will assume you’ll do the same at his/her magazine.

I never had to edit anything under a strict deadline but if I did I believe the only way to meet the deadline is to deal with it as soon as possible.

This question comes up time and time again in some form, so be prepared for it.

It shows the interviewers you are a modern day thinking journalist. So for example, if this is an interview with a newspaper, in this digital age the first thing you would do is get something up on the website.

Explain how you would get something up and published like: “It has been reported there has been an explosion in an industrial building in Chilwell, more to follow.”

Inform your editor and get someone to check social media for pictures and eyewitness accounts, which you’ll use for quotes for an updated version of the story.

Call the emergency services so they can officially confirm what has happened. What ever you do, keep updating the website with more information.

Talk about your writing skills, your willingness to sometimes work irregular hours, your determination to succeed and to work to deadlines.