Ask the Recruiter

Q. I have a semester left of college, which I will begin at the end of the month. I am interning now with a mid-size daily metro and I know I have a good chance of being offered a job here after graduation. I was wondering at what point I should begin sending out resumes and clips: before school starts, after or closer to graduation?

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Also, my fiance has several job prospects in various locations, and he is guaranteed to make several times the amount I will make as a reporter, so I am not sure whether to just apply everywhere and hope that something near where he could go offers me a job, or should I only look at papers near where he will be so as not to waste employers' time? Do you think I am potentially setting myself up for not getting hired if I only look in areas near where my fiance's job is? I just figured that since he will make more money, following him makes sense financially but I don't want to limit myself too much, either.

I read your column daily and have found it extremely helpful and encouraging, so I was really hoping to get your advice on this.

Thanks!

Samantha

A. The two of you are lucky to have the chance and some time to try to work your careers in tandem.

Joe Grimm

Your best chance seems to be the paper you're working with now. If you like it and your fiance can get a good job in the area, I would start working on the editors now and try to extract a commitment for a job upon graduation.

If that isn't in the cards, begin a wider job search about six weeks prior to graduation. While limiting your search to places where he can work might limit you geographically, it sounds as though the added flexibility provided by dual incomes will more than make up for that.

I have a chapter on transitioning from internships to jobs in Breaking In: The JobsPage.com Guide to Newspaper Internships.

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Coming Monday: She wrote an article that a businessman viewed favorably and now wonders whether it is OK to ask for a discount at his event center, which she could never afford otherwise.

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