I’ve often related landing a broadcast job to winning the lottery. You have to have the perfect combination of attributes to land the job you are applying for. Recently, I was promoted to crime and courts reporter at my station. Thus, my old bureau position (where you work weekends at the main station serving as lead live reporter) became open. I sat down with an individual in management–who shall remain nameless–and peppered them with questions as to what it took to get their attention and what sent dozens of resume in the garbage even before they were looked at. Yes, the position is filled–if you are thinking of applying. Here are some questions I asked and the answers I received.

Q) How many reporters applied?

A. There were roughly 300 applicants. (Jackie’s jaw drops) Yes, you are up against hundreds for these jobs.

Q) Do cover letters really matter?

A. A cover letter can hurt you more than it helps you. You have more opportunity to make mistakes with spelling and grammar. If you have to write one, make it short and sweet. Think less than 500 words.

Don’t use the same cover letter for each job. I had a man apply that gave me a cover letter for a communications consultant spot. Really?

Q) Are there demos you don’t even look at? If so, why?

A. Yes. If I get a letter or email that says, ‘Dear Sir or Madame,’ I toss it immediately into the garbage. Put it this way, you want to be a reporter and you cannot even find out who the hiring manager is or my name? I am immediately not interested and well, you are not worth my time. I threw out dozens of demos because of this. Didn’t even look.

Q) Can I call you?

A. If in the job listing it says DO NOT CALL or DO NOT EMAIL–do not do either. Doing this will just irritate me and show me you cannot follow instructions.
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By: Mike Brannen

You’re a cub reporter, months away from graduating with a journalism degree, and are ready to work in the “real world” (ironic the “real world” gets quotations as if it’s a fictional thing!). You’ve got your top cities and news outlets picked out. It’s time to convince them to hire you. At this stage, your resume lacks years of experience. Sure you’ve padded it with internships, but that’s not going to impress me, or the people who are actually going to hire you. Chances are, you have to compete against someone who has more experience than you. But you have an opportunity to outshine them, by delivering a knock-them-out-of-their-seat cover letter.

A resume tells me what you’ve done. A cover letter tells me who you are. A resume shows me what you’ve accomplished before; your cover letter shows me what you are going to do next. If I’m the person hiring you, I need to get an idea that your personality, and what you believe in, will benefit my newsroom.
I believe that I got my first job, in Seattle, and right out of school, because I had a strong cover letter. My current Executive Producer seemed to like it enough to call me with a job opening after I sent it to him.

There are two ways to frame your cover letter: tell a story, or tell your creed.

Your Story
A true journalist naturally embellishes a bit. We do it out of necessity to grab the attention of viewers and readers. It’s time to put those skills to work in your cover letter.

Take some time to think about a day where you kicked butt on the job, or nailed a big story. Describe what you did and why each step was important.

You must weave into your story a way to “brag” about your skills. By “brag,” describe a challenging experience, but not blatantly mention how difficult it was. Let the accomplishment speak for itself.
Sell your reader on why you have a cool job and why it beats anything else.

I would avoid the cliché “I remember the day I knew I wanted to be a reporter” story. Everybody writes that one. As an employer, I don’t care what got you into the business; I want to know what’s keeping you in it.

Your Creed
I wrote mine in this fashion. I detailed what I think are the three main elements of delivering TV news (Live, Local, Now). This formula reveals your values, your news judgment, and your decision-making process.

Your creed is your take on what’s wrong or right with journalism; things you want to see improved, or eliminated. You don’t need an explanation for the things you believe in, at least not in the letter. You probably will once you get to the interview part.

I think the creed is more of what employers want to read about. They can distinguish if the applicant is worthwhile, or meant for the garbage pile.

The creed letter is a bit riskier because what you believe in might not fit the newsroom personality. But, if you’ve done your research, and your letter is tailored to the station’s mission, then you are in a good position for a future interview.

Overall, the type of letter you write should be dictated by the job you want. A story tells me about you. A creed tells me your beliefs.
For either one, make the first line the strongest one in the entire letter. Write it so you know the reader wants to know what comes next. It should be a sentence that no one in history has ever written before, or will ever write again.

Be bold. Be creative. Be original.

Mike Brannen is a morning newscast producer for KIRO7, the CBS affiliate in Seattle. He recently received a Master’s Degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia and completed his thesis, Motivational Use of Twitter. He previously worked multiple positions at KOMU-TV in Columbia, Missouri during for four years. You can follow him on Twitter: @MikeBrannen