Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Experienced PJ opening here (again)

Because of the time restraint, I'm going to keep this post on the blog's front page until the deadline. We're looking for the best shooter available. Tell your friends.

The Beaumont Enterprise, the leading daily paper and online news source in Southeast Texas, is seeking an experienced, creative, self-reliant and motivated photojournalist to shoot in a team-oriented, content-rich environment for a paper with a tradition of public service. The successful candidate will have a nose for news, a knack for story-telling and be able to find, develop and bring to life compelling stories for a paper that believes in the power of photojournalism and its potential for online applications. Competitive salary and great benefits. Send cover letter, resume and portfolio to:

Pete Churton, Assistant Managing Editor
The Beaumont Enterprise
P.O.Box 3071, Beaumont TX 77704.

Complete application packages need to be in Beaumont before Friday, Aug. 17, 2007.

The info above is the official company line. What follows are my thoughts. Please don't confuse the two.

Andrew is moving to Austin to freelance and help his family. It's been great to work with him. I wish him all the luck. Austin is getting a creative, hard-working shooter. Anyone who needs a stand-up guy with a good eye for their gigs, he'll help you out.

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This job is for an experienced, competitive, detail-oriented photojournalist who knows how to transmit on deadline from the field and is ready to be slammed by a hurricane. With changes currently taking place, this job is NOT for technophobes. Video knowledge or the ability to rapidly learn it is needed.

A four-year degree is required. U.S. citizenship or valid green card required. A PJ degree is preferred. Five years or more experience at a daily paper is preferred. Additional languages are preferred.

There is enough experience on staff to handle a minor learning curve if the perfect candidate comes along. We also have the coolest A.M.E. in the biz. The down side of this job is the successful candidate has to work with me and must tolerate my dumb jokes. ;-}

Beaumont is a Hearst metro newspaper. As such, it directly competes in-house against some of the top newspapers in the country. Additionally, it has good benefits and is privately held. Because it's not publically traded, it's far more stable and the focus is on content rather than stock prices.

The paper provides high-quality content and expects a high-quality photojournalist. It's consistantly named as the top newspaper in its division at the Texas Press Association Better Newspaper Contest.

Since I got a job here, candidates might be wise to look through the information I've posted in All PJ-related posts about getting a staff job. Of particular interest should be How to make portfolios, Make a cover letter, Make a resume, Complete the application package.

When applying for any job, mention you saw this opening on this blog (PhotoJournalism). Since the selection will be fast, SEND ME AN E-MAIL if you're applying so I can look over online portfolios and put in a good word for the folks who deserve it. Good luck.

Enough for now,
 

3 comments:

Mark M. Hancock said...

Originally posted July 25, 2007.

Greg Pearson said...

Forgive the multiple posts, but my original looked grumpy...

I would think a smaller paper of your size would be looking for someone with talent looking to GET the experience they need. Having said that, I realize many times finding those people only means losing them shortly down the road. I'm in Shreveport. A good sized paper, but in that mid-size range too. It's a balancing act to find talented shooters who arent looking to use your paper as a stepping stone. On first glance your 5 year requirement seems rough, but then you DID say PREFERRED. As I like to tell the younguns, a great portfolio and creative eye trumps everything else in the end. I have TWO degrees...useless if I can't find my way around an SLR...good luck with your search.

Great blog by the way. I visit every now and then.

Mark M. Hancock said...

This is a Hearst metro paper. It's the smallest metro, but we have the same expectations and rewards.
We need people who know what they are doing when they arrive.
If someone springboards from here, good for them. I've been there, and I'm happier here.
All our shooters can tell better stories here than if we were at larger papers. There's fewer of us, so the workload is spread evenly. Everyone is on the "A list" here and expectations are high.