The subject line – “The Best Crime Beat Ever” – is a bit of a stretch, because it suggests that we’re not just talking present tense but reaching all the way back to Jack the Ripper newspaper days. However, the body text more than makes up for it.

From today’s announcement that Las Vegas Review-Journal deputy editor James G. Wright is on the hunt for a new “Dashiell Hammett on deadline:”

An aggressive mug who can think at a dead run in a 24-hour news town where maybe you’re coaxing quotes from the neighbors at a triple murder and next thing you know you’re chasing after Paris Hilton in handcuffs. A pushy sort who can turn cab drivers and waitresses into sources, and persuade tough cops to spill.

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We didn’t think it was possible. But with today’s missive “Ass Face, a Retired Actress and a Horny 41-Year-Old: Respecting Yourself and Your Job,” Harrison Barnes (pictured) has outdone himself.

The Malibu-based founder and CEO of The Employment Research Institute likes to share long, winding daily reams of wisdom with subscribers to various job search websites affiliated with his company. Barnes can always be counted for an unfiltered view of the 21st century workplace and details that often seem like they are straight out of a Hollywood screenplay.

Today’s column is all about three bad hires Barnes made, the lessons he learned and (arguably) the warning signs he ignored:

At some point during the [telemarketing job] interview, Rachael pulled out her cell phone and started showing me various pictures of a tumor that had been removed from her body not too recently. It was giant and grotesque. It had come out of her back and was at least two feet long. It looked like it had a head. It was five pounds and this monster had somehow managed to grow up the entire length of her back. She had a bunch of pictures of it on her IPhone that had been taken from all sorts of angles.

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There’s a ton of new job ads today on Mediabistro, including one that has us tipping our hat to TMZ. The managing editor search starts off with a delightful setting of the newsroom scene:

No need to have experience in Celebrity News – it’s not brain surgery.

Excepting perhaps future coverage of a famous person admitted to Cedars-Sinai for treatment of a serious head injury, that is absolutely correct. Then comes the cool kicker. Site founder Harvey Levin is going to be traveling to Austin for SXSW and is more than willing to make time for worthy candidates while there:

Harvey will be at South by Southwest on Saturday and Sunday, March 9th and 10th. He’d welcome meeting qualified candidates.

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Looking for a new job? Are you feeling bruised and battered from pounding the pavement without results?

“Score That Job” is a new show from mediabistroTV that will guide you through the never ending maze of online resumes, emails to nowhere and phone calls that go unanswered. Join career expert, author and mediabistro editor Vicki Salemi as she gives you the inside scoop on how to “Score That Job.”

In this episode, Vicki finds out what it takes to get hired at Rubenstein Public Relations.

You can view our other MediabistroTV productions on our YouTube Channel.

In his over 20 years in the fashion business, Elle creative director Joe Zee has worked for such titles as Details and Allure and styled advertising campaigns for companies like Gap and DKNY. And, in our Media Beat interview, the Toronto native and star of Sundance Channel’s All On the Line with Joe Zee was very clear about how he got to the top.

One: he worked for people he could learn from, namely legendary fashion stylist and editor Polly Mellen. (“She taught me what it was like to have a passion for something.”)

And, two, he worked his butt off. “I won’t put stock in people who tell me they wanna work in fashion, because they wanna be glamorous. They wanna be famous. They wanna be well known,” he said. “If you wanna be those things, wrong business.”

Part 1: Elle‘s Joe Zee Puts It All on the Line for Sundance Channel
Part 2: Elle‘s Joe Zee Reveals Exactly What a Magazine Creative Director Does

One benefit of today’s down economy is that those with the resources for new hires have even more talent to choose from.  Yet, as a manager, you have to know how to dig a little deeper to find the person who’s really the best fit for the position.

For starters, use the interview to glean info that isn’t on the resume. And an easy way to do this to ask about what happened between jobs. ”Find out why the person changed roles or employers. If a transition doesn’t make sense, then probe more deeply,” said Caroline McClure, principal at recruiting consultant ScoutRock. That information is sure to be more useful than a canned response about previous job duties.

Get six more tips for maximizing an interview in 7 Job Interview Tips for Employers. [subscription required]

With all the upheaval in the media industry as of late, companies are being forced to slim down and stretch further. Working at a leaner organization isn’t a bad thing, but sometimes there are signs that your talents would be better off elsewhere. How can you tell that the company is really in trouble, and not just experiencing some ups and downs that go along with the industry?

“If you’re worried about layoffs, it’s a good idea to begin on an exit strategy,” advised veteran HR consultant Mary Hladio in Mediabistro’s latest AvantGuild feature. If you see signs that the company is in trouble, like multiple restructures or missed financial projections, it might be a good idea to look for greener pastures.

To read more, check out 5 Signs It’s Time to Leave Your Job. [Mediabistro AvantGuild subscription required]

For many journalism junkies, there are few things more honorable than landing a spot on the masthead. However, being an editor requires much more than just a love for media or a knack for grammar. For one, you need to be able to multitask and manage the various projects and personalities of the staff.

“When you’re a writer, it’s a very singular experience,” said Jayson Rodriguez, a writer-turned-editor of XXL. “But here, I’m in touch with the art team; I’m in touch with the research department; I’m trying to make sure things can align on the front end as fast as they can so they have appropriate time on the back end. I’m thinking in terms of the whole product instead of just one story. In a lot of ways, it’s like you’re an ambassador of the process.”

Read more in 5 Signs You’re Ready to Be an Editor. [subscription required]

– Andrea Hackett

Sure, unpaid internships are the backbone of countless media and film companies in LA, but that doesn’t mean they’re all effective or even legal. Just look at Harper’s Bazaar, Charlie Rose and the movie Black Swan – all companies were hit with lawsuits over unpaid work by former interns.

So, avoid all the headaches by first re-evaluating your hiring process. ”Haphazardly hiring interns can be a huge waste of time for both the intern and the company,” said Marc Scoleri, co-founder and CEO of creativeinterns.com.

Instead, think of the internship as an investment and plan accordingly. “An interview and discussion about the candidates’ skills, future plans and career interests will help clarify if the candidate will be a good match — and possibly a future employee,” he said.

For more tips on developing a mutually beneficial program, check out 7 Things That Are Ruining Your Company’s Internship Program.

This article is exclusively available to mediabistro.com AvantGuild subscribers. If you’re not a member yet, you can register for as little as $55 a year and get access to these articles, discounts on seminars and workshops, and more.

Follow the conversations @juneambrose has with her “style socials” (or Twitter followers to you and me), and one thing becomes clear: people either want to dress like her or be her. So, in the final installment of our Media Beat interview, we got the celebrity stylist and star of VH1′s Styled by June to tell us the biggest mistake aspiring stylists make on the job.

“[A lack of] Osmosis. You know, sometimes, just sitting back and just sucking it all in, you learn so much,” Ambrose said. “When you’re new on the scene, I’ll definitely ask you trick questions just to kinda see where you are. Humility is your best aspect when you’re entering a new area, and I learned that. I would just sit around and just listen.”

But what about fashion courses — are they worth it? And how does a newbie afford the clothes necessary for editorial shoots? Watch the full video to find out.

Part 1: June Ambrose on Styling Diddy, Jay-Z and Hip-Hop’s Most Iconic Videos
Part 2: June Ambrose on Her New VH1 Show, Styled by June
Bonus! Stylist June Ambrose on Her Trademark Turban