How to Answer: What was the worst performing story you have ever written? What did you learn from the experience?
Advice and answer examples written specifically for a Journalist job interview.
17. What was the worst performing story you have ever written? What did you learn from the experience?
How to Answer
We all have fails in our career, from time to time. Talk to the interviewer about a story, or another piece of work that you have published, and what went wrong. Perhaps you cited an unreliable source, had plenty of typos (oops!) or mixed up names and facts, making for an uninformed read. It's okay to have failed at times, but what matters, is what you did to pick yourself up and recover.
Written by Rachelle Enns on January 27th, 2019
1st Answer Example
"When I was newer to journalism, I used an anonymous source without doing enough due diligence. I was green and got caught up in the excitement of a potentially breaking story. It was an embarrassing fallout which led to my making an apology, and a huge lesson learned. Now, I refuse nearly all anonymous sources and am sure to research any sources, heavily."
Written by Rachelle Enns on January 27th, 2019
2nd Answer Example
"When I look back at my writing, some of my pieces from the earlier years make me laugh. I covered small things in my hometown, such as interviews with councilors. I just scratched the surface in many of these interviews, never wanting to ask the tough questions. Simply put, I didn't deliver the value that I could have to my readership at the time. Now, I dig deeper into every piece, ensuring that my work adds value and is part of an important conversation."
Written by Rachelle Enns on January 27th, 2019