Hiring Journalists

Q: Why are charities not interested in hiring professional journalists or public-relations people? In the last several years, I’ve mailed about 400 personalized cover letters and rsums. If I received a response at all, it was to say that I was not qualified –this despite the fact that the job’s ad plainly asked for strong communication and marketing skills. I’ve volunteered at four nonprofit organizations. What am I doing wrong?

A: The nonprofit managers we contacted found your situation puzzling, indeed. “I can only speak from my own perspective, but I’m very open to hiring journalists and public-relations people,” says Bernadette M. Horgan, director of media relations for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. In fact, she says, one of her current staff members is a former journalist: “I really appreciate the perspective that he brings to the job, the understanding of what journalists on the other end of the phone are up against.”

Susan Hofer, communications manager at America’s Second Harvest, a hunger-relief organization in Chicago, says that her own career path is proof that charities hire former public-relations managers and reporters, as she spent 20 years working in journalism and public relations, shuttling back and forth between for-profit, nonprofit, and government jobs. It’s possible, then, that your situation has little to do with nonprofit employers’ reluctance to hire people with communications backgrounds. Based on what you’ve told us in your letter, we can attempt a few guesses at the real problem.

First, keep in mind that in today’s bleak economy, it’s not uncommon to send out dozens of résumés and receive no response at all, especially from larger organizations. That you’ve sent out a whopping 400 inquiries, however, raises a red flag. Both of our sources wondered if you’ve been too quick to apply to every job that seems even remotely appropriate. If your idea of “personalizing” simply means sending a cookie-cutter letter with the name and address changed, they say, your résumé probably won’t survive the first cut.

From your public-relations background, Ms. Hofer says, you should realize that “pitching a new employer is comparable to pitching a reporter.” Unless you’ve got some kind of major news story, for instance, it’s often far more effective to persuade one particular journalist — someone whose needs and interests you understand well — why he or she should be interested in your story, rather than faxing out hundreds of media alerts. In other words, you may need to more thoroughly research the needs of the organization to which you’re applying, and connect those needs to your specific abilities and background.

The place to make your case, of course, is your cover letter. “I’m always impressed with people who write a cover letter that makes it clear that they have a strong sense of what the organization is about and what the work is about,” Ms. Horgan says. For more advice on writing effective, attention-getting cover letters, see the recent Philanthropy Careers article on the topic.