Intrepid Miami journalist

Introduction: Competition for quality jobs is quite intense in this post-pandemic labor market.

In my view, it's the toughest time I've seen in three decades as a reporter and editor from Philadelphia to the San Francisco Bay Area to land a new career-advancing position in journalism. I also don't think this career management challenge is unique to the journalism industry, one bedeviled by continued financial, operational, structural, strategic and staffing issues.

I'm not going to take a deep dive into the details attached to each of these media woes. Rather, I want to emphasize and underscore the utmost importance of one particular element that's part of my tactical arsenal during my ongoing free agency since leaving the Miami Herald as business editor; it should be for anyone in the same boat determined to score another attractive opportunity to write the next chapter of their careers.

Key positioning: It is that you must do everything possible to get yourself, meaning your resume which is the summary of your professional story, in front of hiring managers in charge of making the critical decision to extend job offers to fill positions you covet and desperately would like to have.

While this might seem obvious, to achieve it today in a world in which technology has completely changed the recruiting and hiring process is not easy. Certainly, it still can be done, but not without some careful planning and decisive action on your part.

Online resume recycling bin: Before I use a recent personal example to show one way of grabbing the attention of hiring managers, let's be clear what doesn't qualify. The common practice of clicking away on your laptop to write a cover letter, then attaching it with your resume to an online job application and answering all of the questions asked on said company application for particular open and eye-catching position doesn't usually get you in front of the hiring manager.

What that does is put you in an invisible digital bucket of applicants typically in the hundreds for many attractive positions. Often, if your resume clears the first hurdle -- the artificial intelligence-powered review more companies are using to weed out unqualified people -- then you join the crowd awaiting examination and vetting by a talent manager/human resources specialist within a company or hired as a contractor to help with recruiting.

If you take that passive, more traditional route, eventually a very small group from the horde of applicants for most quality positions today finally will get their resumes in front of the eyes of managers who will decide which applicants to interview, and ultimately the senior manager who will make the hiring choice.

Who's making hiring decision? There's a better way to accomplish this and increase your chances of getting interviews for positions you most desire. First, you have to do your homework, including reviewing the respective company's website and talking to people in your professional network, to determine who the actual person is who will make a hiring decision. Sometimes you figure it out for sure, and other times you make a good educated guess based on the information you've gathered.

Once you've figured out the hiring manager for a particular opening, then you can attempt to make contact with the person by email, telephone or text. After the person replies to you confirming indeed they are recruiting for the position, then you are in the golden spot of being able to sell yourself, your talents, experience, potential. Now you are really in contention to land an interview, or multiple interviews to compete hard to be the person who eventually scores the job offer.

Recently, I've been involved in a scenario that shows multiple important tactics used to successfully get a hiring manager's attention and land a key interview. Many of you might have had similar experiences. If not, I'd suggest you give this a try in your search for your next career post and destination.

A LinkedIn peek: Shortly after I'd applied online for an editor opening at a highly respected, market-leading media outlet, I noticed one day a particular senior editor had viewed my LinkedIn profile. Immediately, I seized the chance to send the person an email, introducing myself as an applicant for this posted opening, a short explanation of my interest, qualifications and the desire to talk with her to learn more about the company's expectations for the job. (Anytime a hiring manager views your LinkedIn profile after you've applied for a position and you don't engage the person, that's a big missed opportunity.)

I successfully identified the hiring manager and we exchanged a few messages. Ultimately, the senior editor told me the position I was vying for would be filled internally ... a common outcome these days even after jobs are posted and candidates are interviewed. However, she was friendly and suggested I monitor the organization's careers page on its website for future openings.

Bingo! A short time later, this Pulitzer Prize-winning statewide news organization posted another editor job, actually more appealing for several reasons than the previous position. After applying online, I sent an email to this senior editor who already knew me and exchanged emails with me. Alerted her to my fresh application and my sincere interest in this opening.

She replied and revealed to me the top editor -- her manager -- was handling the hiring for this position. Then she went ahead and copied this top editor on her final note to me, so he could see it and our entire email thread.

In short order, I sent a new note introducing myself and expressing high interest in the editing position to the No. 1 editor at this media outlet. Also, I attached my resume to the email to him, even though it's included with my online application.

Persistent follow-up pays off: Next day, excellent news arrived in my inbox: the top editor replied and said he wanted to schedule a phone call with me about this critical editor position. He and I confirmed a day and time next week to have a first conversation.

Now I know I'm a serious contender who has a chance to tell my professional story and compete to prove I'm the best person to hire for the open position. To be sure, it doesn't mean I'll get the offer. But I'm in the best position to make a strong impression to the top editor, advance through subsequent interview rounds, receive careful consideration from the company and hopefully land the job offer.

Separately, I've got one more takeaway for you in this dispatch. Certainly, a job search and/or career transition requires hard work. It's usually time-consuming and comes with setbacks and frustration, before you taste success and reach your goal.

Careful with social media: However, you can sabotage your diligent efforts with an ill-advised, deeply negative social media post. With that in mind, it's best to only convey a positive outlook on social media; so it's wise to stay away from posting on days when you're tired, upset or aggravated.

This week I stumbled across a LinkedIn post by a veteran journalist I don't know that made me stop. The word choice itself was disturbing and I felt awful for the poster. The obvious frustration and desperation came through in the words. But I had to wonder if the person realized while some of the points written were true and said before by others it painted this poster in such a negative light. Therefore, it's likely any hiring manager reading this would think twice about interviewing or hiring this person.

Avoid doom and gloom: The crux of what the journalist wrote was young and aspiring journalists seeking entry level positions would have little to no chance of securing a solid first job and should look elsewhere, in any other field. Along with venting about the rigors of the journalism industry and toiling unsuccessfully to land another position, the writer declared the profession dead and wrote college graduates seeking journalism jobs would have better chances hawking apparel out of their cars or online.

Everyone rightly has a sacred freedom of speech in our great nation. However, the listener or reader of that speech can have a range of reactions. That's why you should take great care and consideration before you write passionately about topics, such as politics, religion, on any social media channel. Because once it's written in the digital world, generally everyone who wants to can see or read what you wrote.

And there can be consequences. It's become common in recent years for many companies to review a job candidate's social media activity, as part of recruiting and preemployment screening. I've seen situations in which social media posts were deemed over the line or extreme, so job offers were revoked or withheld from people who otherwise likely would've been hired.

Hope you'll continue this journey with me to my next career chapter. Please feel free to connect on LinkedIn or Substack , or at [email protected] to offer your thoughts, suggestions and job leads.