7 Tricky Job Interview Questions and How to Answer Them Like a Pro

Expert-backed strategies for the questions that catch most candidates off guard

Joel Schwartzberg is a workplace communications coach, speechwriter, and bestselling author whose books include "Get to the Point!" and "The Language of Leadership," with articles published in Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, and Newsweek. He brings over two decades of senior communications and editorial leadership experience at organizations including the ASPCA, PBS, and Time Inc.

6 min read • Originally published January 24, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Joel Schwartzberg

6 min read • Originally published January 24, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

One of the biggest job interview fears is getting a question you didn’t see coming: not a “trick” question sadistically designed to trip you up (which rarely happens), but a strategic question meant to squeeze between your talking points and solicit a more honest, and often awkward, truth.

Handling these queries well requires anticipating the topics the hiring manager will likely be interested in and preparing your answers in advance.

So prevent those “ums” and “uhs” and check out how job experts recommend you tackle seven such zingers.

1. “Why did you leave your last position?”

This is particularly tricky if you just got fired or quit shortly after being hired, but it is still possible to leave your interviewer’s office with your reputation intact.

“If you were part of a downsizing, layoff or reorganization, it’s safe to be honest about that,” says Tiffani Murray, human resources consultant and author of Stuck on Stupid: A Guide for Today’s Professional Stuck in a Rut. “You won’t be the first candidate in this situation a recruiter’s encountered.”

If you must share details about your last job, try to blame things that were out of your hands, such as a lack of growth opportunity, the position changing dramatically after you took it or the functions being misrepresented during your interview.

Personal and corporate branding expert Steven Mason recommends positioning the old role as one that “didn’t enable the company to take full advantage of your talents and passions.” In other words, you were being underleveraged.

No matter what explanation or diversion you choose, it’s best to be honest, for your conscience and your career.

“Transparency is the best policy with these types of questions,” says Matt Tovrog, a partner at Bell Oaks Executive Search, “because a former boss can easily be contacted as a reference check.”

2. “Why all the gaps on your resume?”

For awkward questions like this, Jeanine Hamilton, founder and president of Hire Partnership, a Boston-based staffing solutions firm, recommends well-rehearsed honesty.

“Everyone has a story to tell,” she says, “but you need to practice your story so that it sounds accurate, believable and is still succinct.”

Caroline Ceniza-Levine, career coach with the firm SixFigureStart, recommends drawing attention away from the presence of gaps by talking about how you filled them.

“Focus on what you gained during the gaps and not the problems that caused the gaps,” she says. “If you were laid off, of course, mention it but then move on.”

Suki Shah, co-founder and CEO at GetHired.com, suggests avoiding details about your job exits and quickly turning the conversation to how you’ve remained relevant by attending classes, volunteering and doing freelance work during your unemployment.

3. “What’s your salary requirement?”

This is a game called “Who’ll Say a Number First?” The trick is not letting it be you. “Whoever speaks first loses,” says Andrew Schrage, founder and hiring manager at MoneyCrashers.com. “Do your best to make the HR person throw out a figure first.”

Most experts say offering a range is a better idea than stating a hard number, but do some research first so you can start the range at the right place.

“We recommend always quoting a preferred salary range with the bottom of that range no lower than your current salary or that being advertised,” says Jessica Bedford, inbound marketing manager at Parasoft.

Ceniza-Levine reminds her clients to tie salary expectations to the new role, not your old one. “If your past role is very different from this upcoming one, then point that out,” she says. “You should anchor the new salary to your new job.”

Also know how big a range you can offer. “The range should be realistic based on current salary,” says career management coach Bettina Seidman of Seidbet Associates. “For example, a range can be as small as $15,000 if you earn under 60K, or around $50,000 if you earn over 100K.”

4. “Why did you like or not like your previous employer?”

When it comes to expressing likes and dislikes professionally, Mason offers this rule of thumb: “Likes should always be things that highlight your skills and abilities,” she says.

“Dislikes should always be things beyond the control of you and the company: ‘It was a great opportunity, but winters in Barrow, Alaska, are just not for me.'”

While it can be tempting when asked about your previous boss or employer to let the dirt fly, stay mum. “You’ll scare interviewers if you badmouth your last job,” says Mark Swartz, author of Get Wired, You’re Hired!. “It shows you might do the same here.” Instead, bring up some positives about your previous employers, then tie in the reason you left to show how this new opportunity is the one you’ve really been looking for.

5. “Do you like to work independently or as part of a team?”

The goal is not to pigeonhole yourself as exclusively one or the other. Executive coach Ronald Kaufman, author of Anatomy of Success, recommends the word “adaptable,” as in “I’m adaptable, so whatever works best to achieve the goals is how I’d proceed.”

Schrage advises targeting the answer to the obvious needs of the company, but always saying you’re “a team player who enjoys collaboration” anyway. “Regardless of the position, no one wants to hire a hermit,” Schrage says.

Mason says, “This is one of those trick either/or questions. The right answer is: ‘I’ve never seen those as opposite choices. Almost all jobs require independent work and teamwork. I enjoy both.'”

6. “What would your former co-workers or boss say about you?”

Keep it positive here, naturally. “This is not the time to be humble,” Swartz says. “When asked what your friends and former co-workers and former boss say about you, it’s time to blow your own horn.”

But to make it sound realistic, stick to personal attributes more than professional accomplishments. “Trustworthy,” “dedicated” and “approachable” are strong, but “effective” and “goal-oriented” seem cold, as if people didn’t like you. Approach it as if you’re describing the qualities of a good friend.

Your best bet is to use actual quotes from past reviews or LinkedIn recommendations (start asking for them now).

“You want to be honest because if you embellish, this could always come back to bite you in the reference check portion of the interview process,” Murray says.

7. “What’s the biggest mistake you’ve ever made at work?”

This zinger is a sibling to the classic question, “What’s your biggest weakness?” The key is to shift the focus from something you did wrong to something your team could have done better.

“Never openly admit to a mistake that might have caused damage to a client relationship or delayed a project,” says Murray.

“Speak more in terms of lessons learned from successful projects. Point out a learning experience that was beneficial to both you and the company.”

However you approach these questions, one final, crucial tip is this: Think before you speak. “The most important thing to remember in the actual interview is to take your time,” says Bedford.

“It’s okay to consider the question for a moment and think of an answer that truly shows who you are and what you bring to the company’s culture.”

If you can pull that off, then even a handful of tricky questions can’t stop you.

If you’d like to hone your interviewing skills even more, consider getting the help of a pro. Mediabistro’s Career Services offer everything from a mock interview to several sessions of career counseling to tackle interview and networking skills, career transition and more.

Topics:

Get a Media Job, Get Hired, Interview Tips

media-news

Eric Dane’s Career Maps the Network-to-Streaming Shift

By Mediabistro

The Mediabistro editorial team draws on 25 years of media industry expertise to cover jobs, careers, and trends shaping the industry.

6 min read • Originally published February 23, 2026 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Mediabistro

The Mediabistro editorial team draws on 25 years of media industry expertise to cover jobs, careers, and trends shaping the industry.

6 min read • Originally published February 23, 2026 / Updated March 19, 2026

Eric Dane died at 52, after a battle with ALS. The tributes came from two distinctly different corners of television.

The Grey’s Anatomy cast remembered him as the charismatic anchor of their network ensemble. Sam Levinson, creator of Euphoria, mourned a collaborator who brought unexpected depth to prestige TV.

That split tells you something about how careers work now. Dane spent six seasons as McSteamy, the smoldering disruptor on ABC’s biggest medical drama, then played a repressed, violent patriarch on HBO. Same actor, completely different ecosystem.

His trajectory maps directly onto the structural shift that has reorganized the entertainment workforce over 15 years. The path from network star to prestige character actor used to signal decline. Now it signals range.

From there, messier territory: a British tabloid facing scrutiny over sourcing practices, a misinformation campaign exploiting a real family tragedy, and a legacy publisher betting hard on owned video distribution. The thread connecting all of it is reinvention under pressure, whether that’s an individual navigating industry change or institutions trying to rebuild credibility in a fragmented information environment.

From McSteamy to Cal Jacobs: Two Eras of TV, One Career

Dane joined Grey’s Anatomy in 2006, during the last great era of network television as a star-making machine. Dr. Mark Sloan was designed to generate heat and storylines. Dane delivered both with the kind of effortless charisma that keeps ensemble dramas running for two decades.

As Variety’s critical appreciation puts it, he was “a gleeful agent of chaos” who could remix existing relationships just by showing up. That’s a specific skill set, one that requires both magnetism and generosity. Network ensemble work is collaborative architecture. You have to make everyone around you look good.

By 2012, when Dane left Grey’s, the industry was already shifting. Prestige cable had opened a second track for actors who wanted darker, more complex material. Streaming platforms were beginning to disrupt traditional development pipelines.

The old career model, where you did your network run and then either moved to film or faded into guest appearances, was becoming obsolete. Dane spent the next several years doing what smart actors do during transitions: working steadily, testing different formats, staying visible without chasing the wrong opportunities.

Then came Euphoria. His casting as Cal Jacobs, the deeply repressed father whose violent urges simmer beneath a suburban façade, was the kind of against-type choice that only works if you’ve built enough credibility to absorb the risk.

Levinson’s tribute emphasizes the friendship and the honor of collaboration. But the professional dimension matters too. Dane’s performance gave the show its most disturbing adult presence, the character who made you understand how trauma calcifies across generations. McSteamy’s opposite: internal, controlled, radiating menace instead of charm.

Career Insight: There’s no hierarchy anymore between network and streaming work, just different creative ecosystems with different economic models. Professional longevity requires recognizing when the center of gravity shifts and being willing to rebuild your identity accordingly.

That both communities mourned him equally says something about how the industry has bifurcated. Dane proved you can build legitimacy in both, if you choose projects that expand your range rather than just extend your brand.

Who Controls the Story

The question of how information gets sourced, validated, and distributed is producing three very different test cases.

Start with the most consequential: Prince Harry’s ongoing privacy litigation against Associated Newspapers. A senior former policeman has cast doubt on a key source in the case, specifically around claims that the Daily Mail targeted Doreen Lawrence through illegal information gathering.

The former handler of a police informant testified that he heard no evidence of such targeting. This matters for newsroom standards and press law in ways that will outlast this particular case.

Tabloid journalism has always operated in ethically ambiguous territory, balancing public interest against intrusive sourcing. The British press has been fighting these battles since the phone hacking scandal forced a reckoning with investigative methods that had become industry standard. This case tests whether publishers can be held accountable for sourcing practices that leave minimal documentation, and whether testimony from informants and handlers can establish patterns of behavior that individual stories don’t reveal.

The outcome will shape how aggressively UK tabloids pursue high-profile targets and what legal exposure they face when methods are challenged in court.

Second: misinformation exploiting real tragedy. After Savannah Guthrie’s mother was abducted from her Tucson home, the Today host made a public appeal for information. What followed was a viral misinformation campaign falsely naming her husband as a co-conspirator in the Epstein files. Poynter documents how the falsehood spread, attaching fabricated allegations to a real, traumatic event in ways designed to maximize engagement and evade moderation.

The mechanics are depressingly standard: take a high-profile name, connect it to a scandal with ambient cultural presence (Epstein), add fake documentation, let social platforms do the distribution work. The defense against this isn’t better sourcing. It’s faster correction, platform accountability, and audiences who understand how viral falsehoods get engineered.

Third, something more constructive. The Sun, Rupert Murdoch’s tabloid that has spent decades navigating its own credibility challenges, is making an aggressive play for owned video distribution. The publisher has grown its video audience to over a billion monthly views by launching 25 new shows and building a video operation that doesn’t rely on Facebook or YouTube’s algorithmic whims.

Distribution Strategy: The Sun’s billion-view bet represents the inverse of the misinformation problem. Instead of reacting to how information gets weaponized, build infrastructure to reach audiences directly on platforms you control.

The show slate includes true crime, sports, and celebrity content, the tabloid trifecta that has always driven newsstand sales. Video allows for longer storytelling and higher production values than print ever could, and owned platforms mean you’re not subject to sudden algorithm changes that crater your reach overnight. Whether this model proves economically sustainable at scale remains open. But the strategy is clear: if you can’t trust platforms to distribute your work fairly, build your own pipes.

What This Means

These stories share an underlying dynamic: institutions and individuals navigating an industry that rewards reinvention and punishes stasis.

Dane’s career worked because he recognized when his initial platform was losing cultural centrality and repositioned himself. The media institutions in the second section are attempting similar pivots, with varying degrees of success and ethical clarity.

For people building careers in this environment, the through-line is adaptability without abandoning standards. Dane didn’t chase prestige by taking any dark role offered. He chose projects that expanded his range while staying true to what he did well: embodying charisma and menace in equal measure.

Credibility is now a competitive advantage in ways it wasn’t 20 years ago. When anyone can publish anything and platforms amplify based on engagement rather than accuracy, the organizations and individuals who maintain rigorous standards stand out. That’s a market argument, not a moral one. Audiences are learning, slowly and painfully, to tell the difference between information that’s been vetted and content engineered to go viral.

If you’re looking at your own next move, whether that’s transitioning between platforms like Dane did or building new skills as the industry restructures, browse open roles on Mediabistro to see where hiring is actually happening. If you’re on the employer side, trying to find people who can work across the network-to-streaming divide or build video operations from scratch, post a job on Mediabistro to reach the professionals already navigating these shifts.

The industry that launched Dane’s career doesn’t exist anymore. What works now is what worked for him: recognizing structural change early, building skills that transfer across platforms, and maintaining standards even when the incentives push toward abandoning them.

This media news roundup is automatically curated to keep our community up to date on interesting happenings in the creative, media, and publishing professions. It may contain factual errors and should be read for general and informational purposes only. Please refer to the source of each news item for specific inquiries.

Topics:

media-news

Job Search

The Media Job Search That Actually Works in 2026

By Mediabistro

The Mediabistro editorial team draws on 25 years of media industry expertise to cover jobs, careers, and trends shaping the industry.

6 min read • Originally published February 18, 2026 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Mediabistro

The Mediabistro editorial team draws on 25 years of media industry expertise to cover jobs, careers, and trends shaping the industry.

6 min read • Originally published February 18, 2026 / Updated March 19, 2026

In this article: The Market Reality | Where to Find Jobs | What Hiring Managers Screen For | How to Stand Out | Start Your Search

The media and creative job market in 2026 rewards precision, not persistence.

Most professionals still search the way they did five years ago: scrolling Indeed, blasting the same portfolio link, waiting. But the landscape has fragmented. Graphic design hiring runs on different rails than social media management. AI has reshuffled which skills are table stakes and which separate you from the pile.

The Media and Creative Job Market in 2026: A Reality Check

The market isn’t collapsing or booming. It’s reorganizing, with growth concentrating in specific verticals while cooling in others.

Mediabistro’s search data over the past 28 days shows where demand is clustering. Graphic design, data annotation, and social media were among our most-searched job terms. These reflect real activity from professionals hunting and employers posting.

AI is reshaping these roles rather than eliminating them. Recent reporting from Adweek suggests AI is making marketing jobs more complex, not scarcer. Professionals who can work alongside AI tools are the ones landing offers.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects faster-than-average growth for web developers and digital designers, with related creative roles expected to benefit from expanding digital demand through the end of the decade.

Hybrid arrangements have become standard for creative and media jobs in major metros. Fully remote positions still exist and attract fierce competition (some of the latest hot remote jobs were just featured in our wrap-up post). However, many companies expect at least occasional office presence.

Where to Actually Find Media and Creative Jobs

Indeed and LinkedIn surface media roles, but bury them under volume. A “social media manager” search on Indeed returns corporate communications coordinators, restaurant shift supervisors managing Facebook pages, and actual social media professionals, all jumbled together.

Use Specialized Job Boards

Niche boards like Mediabistro, Behance, Dribbble, and We Work Remotely concentrate relevant listings. Employers posting on these platforms are specifically hiring creative talent, not sorting through 800 applicants for a vaguely titled marketing coordinator role.

Tap Into Professional Communities

Slack groups like #CreativeMornings, Content + UX, and Superpath for content marketers surface roles before they hit public boards. So do subreddits like r/forhire and r/graphic_design, and Discord servers organized around specific verticals. Hiring managers post there first, or referrals originate there.

Optimize Your LinkedIn Presence

Your LinkedIn profile isn’t a resume. For media professionals, it’s a portfolio landing page.

The Featured section should carry more weight than the Experience section. Engage with content from target companies’ creative leads, not just recruiters. Set job alerts with hyper-specific keywords: “motion graphics” instead of “designer,” “content strategist” instead of “writer.”

Try Strategic Direct Outreach

Direct outreach works in creative fields because the work itself is visible and commentable. Identify companies whose creative output you respect. Follow their work publicly: share it, comment with specific observations. Then reach out to the creative director or hiring manager with a brief pitch tied to something concrete about their recent output.

Watch for scams: Recent reporting has flagged a rise in remote job scams. Use reputable, curated boards. Red flags include vague company names, upfront payment requests, and interviews conducted exclusively via messaging app.

Consider Adjacent Opportunities

Film and TV production is decentralizing globally. Recent investment in more diverse regions signals a broader trend: media jobs are expanding beyond the usual hubs. If you’re willing to look past LA, NYC, and Atlanta, opportunities exist in regional markets that weren’t on anyone’s radar five years ago.

What Hiring Managers in Media Actually Screen For

Portfolio Strategy Beats Portfolio Volume

Having “a portfolio” isn’t enough. Hiring managers want to see process, not just output.

Case studies that show strategic thinking (brief, research, iteration, result) outperform galleries of finished pieces. For social media roles, show metrics and strategy alongside creative samples. For design roles, show systems thinking, not individual assets in isolation.

A single project demonstrating how you solved a real problem is worth more than twenty polished compositions with no context. Across creative verticals, specialists who articulate how their work connects to business outcomes get hired. Generalists who show range but no depth get passed over.

Role-Specific Expertise Has Evolved

Social media management requires fluency in analytics, community management, and, often, paid media expertise. If you’re positioning yourself as a social media professional, demonstrate comfort with platform analytics, audience segmentation, and content performance analysis, not just posting schedules. For more on what it takes to break into social media roles, read our detailed guide.

Graphic design has expanded well beyond traditional print and web. Employers hiring for graphic design jobs often expect candidates to move fluidly between static assets, animated content, and interface design. If your portfolio only shows one type of work, you’re narrowing your options before anyone reads your cover letter.

AI Fluency Is Baseline

Listing Midjourney or ChatGPT on your resume isn’t impressive. Showing how you used AI to solve a specific creative problem is.

Did you use generative AI to produce concept sketches that informed a final design? Did you draft ten headline variations with an AI writing assistant before choosing the strongest? That’s the difference between listing tools and demonstrating outcomes.

Red flags employers notice: Generic cover letters, obviously AI-generated with no editing. Portfolios on free platforms with broken links. Tools listed without outcomes shown. Applications for roles clearly outside your experience level with no bridge narrative explaining the pivot.

If you’re actively developing skills that advance your career, make that visible. Employers gravitate toward candidates who treat professional development as an ongoing practice.

How to Stand Out When Every Applicant Has the Same Tools

Customize Ruthlessly

For creative roles, adjust your portfolio’s lead projects to match the company’s aesthetic, industry, or specific challenge.

Three relevant case studies beat twenty scattered samples. Applying to a health tech company? Lead with health-related work. Pitching a media outlet? Show editorial projects. Have no directly relevant work? Create a speculative project. Redesign their homepage. Write three sample headlines for their vertical. Produce a mock campaign. This gives hiring managers a preview of what you’d deliver on day one, and AI makes it possible to do without spending an inordinate amount of time in customizations.

Treat Your Cover Letter as a Writing Sample

In media and content roles, how you write the cover letter is the audition. Make it concise, specific, and demonstrative of your voice. Reference something concrete about the company’s recent work.

If you can’t find anything specific to reference, do more research or reconsider whether the role is actually a fit.

Follow Up with Substance

After applying, follow the company and its creative leads on social platforms. If you produce relevant work (a blog post, a design experiment, a case study) share it and tag them when appropriate.

The follow-up isn’t “just checking in.” It’s demonstrating ongoing relevance.

Translate Your Experience If You’re Pivoting

Pivoting into media from another field? Lead with transferable outcomes, not transferable tasks. “I managed a six-figure budget and significantly grew engagement” translates across industries. “I made PowerPoints” does not. Frame experience in terms of results, not responsibilities.

Before reaching out with references, make sure you’ve prepared your job references properly. Hiring managers notice when candidates haven’t briefed their references or when contact information is outdated.

Start Your Search with a Plan

The creative job market rewards people who treat the search itself as a creative project, with research, strategy, iteration, and a clear point of view.

Search jobs on Mediabistro to explore roles that match your skills. The platform surfaces opportunities across graphic design, social media, content strategy, data annotation, and editorial, all curated for creative and media talent.

If you land an offer, read our guide on what to do once you receive a job offer. Negotiation, timing, and how you handle the transition matter as much as the search itself.

If you’re hiring for media roles, post your jobs on Mediabistro to reach qualified creative professionals actively searching for their next opportunity.

Precision over persistence. Go find your role.

Topics:

Job Search

How to Get Rid of Job Search Stress: Practical Tips for Staying Sane

Looking for a job doesn’t have to stress you out. Here’s how to make the search less of a struggle

By Valerie Berrios

@valerieberrios

Valerie Berrios is a published author and senior content manager with nearly two decades of experience in digital publishing, including roles at Audible, Disney Streaming, Everyday Health, and Mediabistro. She specializes in content strategy, editorial operations, and international content launches.

6 min read • Originally published October 17, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Valerie Berrios

@valerieberrios

6 min read • Originally published October 17, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

There’s a lot to get stressed out about in a job search: You have no idea why you weren’t called in for an interview, or, if you had an interview, why you didn’t get the offer.

You don’t know who else is in the running for that opening you know you’d be perfect for. If you’re out of work, your bank balance may be getting low; if you’re in a job you hate, you may just want make a change, fast.

Looking for a job—especially if you lost your last one—can be one of the most stressful events in your life. But take a deep breath and relax: There are ways around the stress, especially if you know the main causes.

Here are five of the most common job search stressors, and how to nip each one in the bud.

1. Being impatient.

“Finding a new job is a job in itself,” says Nicole Williams, founder and CEO of WORKS, a career consulting company for women. “It takes time to find the right next move.”

Sure, it’d be awesome if you scored an interview after the first job application you sent out, but that’s just not realistic, especially if you’re in a competitive media industry. Patience really is a virtue in a job search, as it can take anywhere from six months to 18 months to land an offer.

Stress buster: Use your time wisely. You might think checking the job boards every few hours is productive, but a better plan is to set up job alerts so opportunities come to you.

Maximize your time by spending the majority of your job search networking in person or on LinkedIn and other social media sites; researching companies you’re most interested in and reaching out to contacts who work there or may know someone who does; and sprucing up your resume.

2. Feeling overwhelmed.

The job search cliche is true: Looking for a job is a job, especially when you’re unemployed. And since there are no regular office hours with this particular gig, the whole multistep process—networking, looking for openings, revising and reviewing your resume, preparing for your interview, repeat—can be monotonous, unfulfilling and all-consuming. It’s easy to start feeling overwhelmed by the seemingly nonstop loop.

Stress buster: Get organized. Create a job search schedule you can stick to, with a detailed checklist on which you can actually mark off completed to-dos. This will help you take control over the process, and keep you from feeling as if you’re looking for a job 24/7.

Set aside a specific period of time (maybe it’s a couple of hours on the weekends or every Monday and Wednesday night) to take on a single task on your list.

For every milestone you hit, such as refreshing your online portfolio, give yourself a reward—say, a favorite sweet or savory treat, a nap, or a Netflix binge-watching session. You’ll soon replace that I’m-not-making-any-progress frustration with a feeling of achievement.

3. Letting anxiety get the best of you.

When you’re unemployed—or desperate to get out of a bad job situation— and not getting calls for interviews, it’s easy to get uneasy.

“When people feel stress or pressure, it can cause anxiety or even depression—due to rejection, most likely, when searching for a job,” explains Dr. Jason Richardson, a psychologist and author of the self-help book It’s All BS! We’re All Wrong, And You’re All Right.

“Stressed out or depressed people tend not to take care of themselves as they would when things are going well,” he adds. “They also tend to disengage socially and possibly emotionally. In some cases of stress or high anxiety, people lash out at those closest to them.”

Stress buster: Stay active. Keeping busy with activities you enjoy is one of the best remedies for stress and anxiety. Use any downtime to meet up with a friend for lunch or drinks, check out what’s new at your local museum or art gallery, start that book you’ve been meaning to read, or go window shopping.

Also get regular exercise: The release of endorphins will help keep your emotions in check, and the activity will help you get enough sleep, which is crucial to reducing stress and anxiety.

It’s also important to monitor your mood and look for professional help, if necessary. “Situational depression can be treated by working with a clinical counselor or in a group therapy setting,” says Richardson.

4. Psyching yourself out about the competition.

“I’ve met many job seekers who give more credit to others applying for the job they want than they give themselves,” says Don Raskin, senior partner at marketing firm MME and author of The Dirty Little Secrets of Getting Your Dream Job.

Raskin recalls one job candidate who worked herself into such a state during her interview with him that she fell apart, unable to keep her composure, within the first few minutes. Fortunately for the candidate, Raskin was generous enough to give her a chance to start again.

Later, he says, “She told me that she didn’t think she could measure up to what I was looking for in a job candidate. She had all the qualifications, so, in reality, her stress was needlessly built up in her head.”

Stress buster: Exude confidence—even when you don’t feel confident. You’ve heard it before: Fake it till you make it.

“If you have prepared properly, have a story to tell, present yourself professionally and close the interview well, you will be ahead of the competition,” advises Raskin.

“You have something to sell and employers want to hear it, but only if you can package it up in a desirable way,” he adds. “If you can, it is very likely that job offers are going to come your way.”

Richardson, who coaches and speaks to high-performing athletes and professionals, adds that the best remedy for job search stress is actually getting the job.

“I would ask not only what are you doing, but what are you not doing? What are you learning from this experience? These moments are not comfortable, but are fertile ground for huge growth and self-reflection, which can have big returns in years to come,” says Richardson.

5. Searching for a new job when you already have a job.

So you’ve decided you’re ready to move on from your current company. How do you squeeze in the time to search for new opportunities when you have a demanding media job?

And if you do score some interviews, how do you maneuver sneaking out every few days to meet with potential employers? There are only so many personal days you can take before your boss gets suspicious.

“The last thing you want to do is get fired for missing work while looking for a new job,” cautions Williams.

Stress buster: Be strategic about scheduling interviews. Work around your current job schedule to avoid missing important meetings or critical deadlines. If you’re going through multiple rounds of interviews at a single company, or have calls for single interviews with several companies, consider using vacation or personal days.

“If mornings are traditionally slow at your job, schedule your interviews for those times to minimize stress,” advises Williams. Better yet try to schedule interviews for early mornings or after work.

Worried about appearing non-accommodating to your potential employer? “Remember that a hiring manager will always understand and appreciate you have a job and are juggling things around to make the timing work for everyone,” says Williams.

Now stop stressing, and focus on your end goal: Finding the right job for you.

Topics:

Get Hired, Job Search

Interview Tips

9 Things You Should Never Do on a Job Interview

These big blunders could be the reason you didn't get the job

By Joel Schwartzberg

6 min read • Originally published December 28, 2015 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Joel Schwartzberg

6 min read • Originally published December 28, 2015 / Updated March 19, 2026

By far, the fastest way to blow a job interview is to get on your interviewer’s nerves.

Of course, no one sets out to annoy his or her potential boss, but knowing where those frayed nerves are isn’t as obvious as you might think. Below, harried hiring managers and other fed up experts gladly share nine of their personal—and personnel—pet peeves.

1. Be Clueless About the Company

Knowing the basics about a company is as simple as pointing and clicking. Yet, some applicants still come in woefully unprepared. “It’s always a huge turn-off when the applicant doesn’t take the time to learn about a company before coming in,” says Rania Eldekki, digital marketing manager for Hudson Horizons.

Eldekki, who helps hire social media staff for the company, has a simple recommendation for interviewees: “Read the company’s About page online and browse through other sections of their website, so you understand what the company is about before your interview.”

Workplace consultant and former public policy executive Jeanne Miller Rodriguez says she’s frustrated by job applicants who “haven’t reviewed the company mission statement and expect a verbal tour of the organization.” She points out it’s not only annoying, but dumb.

“Without having done their homework,” she says, “applicants can’t reasonably expect to articulate what skills and abilities they have that fit the position or the needs of the organization.”

“I don’t care if you have to walk uphill both ways in a blizzard to get to your local library to utilize their computers: Research the company,” says Lisa K. McDonald, career coach and strategist with Career Polish, Inc. “If you can’t take the time to know what we’re going to be discussing, I would prefer not to waste my time talking to you.”

2. Talk Too Soon About Money

Any good HR expert will tell you not to be the first person to bring up salary, yet some foolishly think the opposite. “When candidates bring up money early in the discussion,” says human resources consultant Rodney Evans. “It’s an immediate turn-off.”

“If a candidate seems more interested in how much they’ll be paid than in learning whether they’ll be a fit for the role,” she adds, “they likely aren’t someone I want to hire.”

Samantha Lambert, director of HR for Blue Fountain Media, shares this annoyance. “Why should we talk about the offer before I know if we’re going to make one?”

3. Be Late (or Worse, Too Early)

Showing up late, canceling at the last minute and not being flexible with your schedule are big-time annoyances.

“Arriving late to an interview is not an option,” says Robin Toft, who runs the San Diego office of Sanford Rose Associates, an executive search firm. “You should drive there in advance and understand the lay of the land before interview day.”

Sheryl Bender, senior HR representative with the Port of Long Beach, Calif., says some circumstantial tardiness may be understandable, but “not calling us to let us know you will be late and not apologizing for being late when you do arrive, or even worse, not addressing the tardiness at all” is unforgivable.

Know that arriving too early can also send a bad sign. Arriving more than ten minutes early for an interview “is a dead giveaway that the job seeker has too much time on his or her hands,” says Melanie Benwell, managing director of boutique recruitment firm PathWorks Personnel. “Don’t diminish your desirability by appearing desperate.”

“Five minutes early is fine, but anything more than that is a little bit creepy,” says career coach Rita Friedman of phillycareercoach.com. “If you’re half an hour early, go hole up in a coffee shop or walk off some nervous energy—don’t ask to sit in my waiting room.”

4. Forget Copies of Your Resume

Don’t assume an interviewer has a copy of your resume handy, no matter how many times you’ve sent it or to whom.

“Why should I have to search my inbox through thousands of applications to find your resume?” says Lambert. You’ll also often meet new people during your interview who’ve never met you or your resume, so bring several copies.

Penny Locey, vice president of career management company Keystone Associates, recommends also bringing a pen, a spare pen, a list of references and directions. If you forget to bring one of these items and then need it, “it signals you’re not organized,” she says.

Borrowing office supplies or services from your interviewer is the last thing you want to do. Remember: You want to be working for them; don’t start the process by asking them to work for you.

5. Trash a Previous Employer

“The fastest way to talk yourself out of a new job is to say negative things,” Benwell says. “No matter how reasonable your complaints, you will come out the loser. The interviewer will assume that you would similarly trash him or her.”

McDonald doesn’t limit her no-talk-about list to former bosses. “Airing dirty laundry, expressing frustration with your current search, venting about personal problems and dishing dirt about former bosses or co-workers are all surefire ways of not getting hired,” she says. “Remember, it’s a job interview, not a therapy session.”

6. Lack Enthusiasm

“The most common error is candidates not being excited about the company’s mission and vision,” Toft says. “Candidates need to do their homework and be as enthusiastic as they can be about it.”

“If you don’t care, I don’t care,” says Adam Lyons, founder of Insurance Zebra. “Sell yourself and get me excited to work with you. Sometimes people come off like they are sleeping — no excitement, no passion — and it’s a big turn-off.”

7. Forget to Ask Questions

Asking questions illustrates your enthusiasm and interest in the position and simply shows you’ve been paying attention.

“If an applicant has no questions, I assume they haven’t done their homework and don’t truly understand what our company does,” says Kelsey Meyer, co-founder of Influence & Co. “It also tells me they don’t naturally have an intellectual curiosity, which is a must in our workplace.”

Don’t wait for sudden inspiration — prepare strong questions in advance, even if you already know the answers.

8. Talk Too Much

Bender calls people who talk too much “the bane of an interviewer’s existence,” so watch the rambling.

“We understand that you want to answer the question fully,” says Bender, “but being concise — as long as you’ve answered the question — is truly okay. The longer you talk, the higher your chances of turning the interviewer off to your answer.”

Pay attention to social cues; if the interviewer frequently has to cut you off in order to move on, you’re probably talking too much.

9. Leave Your Cell Phone On

Unlike at the movies, there’s no one at an interview telling you to turn off your cell phone, so you need to remind yourself. McDonald can’t stand a “continual barrage bleeps, noises and a cutesy ring tone coming from your pocket.” She counsels applicants to not bring in their phones at all.

“Being interrupted by a cell phone completely undermines your message,” she says. “I actually had an interviewee answer a call during an interview. He raised his finger and asked me to excuse him because he needed to take that call. I told him to take his time — we were done.”

If you’d like to hone your interviewing skills even more, consider getting the help of a pro. Mediabistro’s Career Services offer everything from a mock interview to several sessions of career counseling to tackle interview and networking skills, career transition and more.

Topics:

Get Hired, Interview Tips

Interview Tips

After the Interview: 8 Key Steps to Land the Job

Get an offer with these expert tips

By Joel Schwartzberg

6 min read • Originally published March 29, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Joel Schwartzberg

6 min read • Originally published March 29, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

You found the job opening, scheduled the interview, met the boss and now all there is to do is wallow in anxiety and check your email every 15 minutes, right? Wrong.

As in dating, there are some tactical follow-ups to your first interview that may help secure your second, or even get you a job offer. But, if you think it begins and ends with a simple thank you note, think again.

Below, job specialists share important tips for making a successful post-interview impression.

1. Say Thanks

“You can send a thank you note” by e-mail, snail mail or the pony express. Just make sure that you send one,” says award-winning speaker and former human resources recruiter Abby Kohut. “Leaving the relationship with the interviewer on good terms will always serve you well.”

Yet, in the epic debate over email versus hand-written thank-you notes, manual writing seems to have the upper hand. “I have employers tell me all the time what a difference a handwritten thank you note makes,” says Lynne Sarikas, executive director of the MBA Career Center at Northeastern University.

“Those are the candidates they remember, and if they’re having trouble deciding between two candidates, the thank you note can tip the scale.”

“The employer will not always remember what you said in your interview, so use this as another final opportunity to prove yourself,” says Tom Gimbel, president & CEO of LaSalle Network, a Chicago-based staffing and recruiting agency. “Thank the employer for taking the time to meet with you, reiterate your interest in the position and express your excitement in next steps.”

Most consultants also recommend thanking everyone you meet, not just those who interview you. “Send a note to anyone who was particularly helpful to you, such as an administrative assistant,” says Ronald Kaufman, executive coach and author of Anatomy of Success. “And be sure to make each note unique.”

2. Show Off Your News Sense

Heather Huhman, founder and president of the content marketing consultancy Come Recommended, advises job seekers to forward the hiring manager interesting relevant articles.

“Read industry publications and pick an article on which you have an opinion and believe the hiring manager will also enjoy,” she says. “The easiest way to send it is via email with a short note about why you’re sending it.”

If you’re familiar with the company (and you should be if you want to work there), you can also send unsolicited ideas and suggestions. But don’t be critical of what the company is doing or suggest anything controversial. The point is solely to illustrate your strategic approach, creativity and strong interest, not how you’d run the company.

3. Make That Connection

Leverage what author, speaker and human resources consultant Dianna Booher calls your “relationship capital.”

She recommends offering to link your interviewers with others who can do something for them, including potential clients, strategic partners, sources of industry information and job candidates (not for your job, duh.)

Other connection boosters: Ask to be added to company newsletters and other communiqués and take advantage of industry events.

“If your industry has a networking event in the near future, ask the hiring manager if she will be attending,” says Huhman, “Gently remind the hiring manager by sending a ‘hope to see you there’ email with details about the event and why you think it would interest him.” And, oh, show up.

4. Check Your Spelling

Keep in mind all the ways follow-up notes with your potential employer can be assessed.

“Recruiters like me know that career coaches help candidates write their cover letters and resumes, but rarely does anyone seek advice for a note,” Kohut says. “For us, they’re a sneaky way to learn about the real you — your true spelling and grammar ability and your creativity shine through.”

“I’ve personally had candidates lose job offers because they emailed letters that had not been proofread and were full of errors,” says Bruce Hurwitz, president and CEO of Hurwitz Strategic Staffing.

“I also know of occasions when a bad interview followed by a good letter actually repaired the damage and got the candidate the job, so what a person does after an interview is critical.”

5. Keep Researching

You should know well the company you’re hoping to work for, not only for your happiness and security, but also to seed conversations with potential employers. If you haven’t done it already, this is the time to double check that match.

Look up the company on Wikipedia or get specific information from BizJournals.com, making sure to check out relevant news headlines as well as basic information. You can also look up executive names on LinkedIn. You may have more in common than you think, including colleagues.

Why so much research after the fact? Because, if your first interview was a good one, you’ll ideally be called in for that crucial second meeting with the person you’ll be reporting to should you land the job. And, since he or she will have whittled the list of candidates down to two to three at this point, you want to do everything possible to become the top pick.

Staying abreast of the company’s happenings and industry news to align them with your experience is a good way to make an even stronger impression.

6. Be Patient

What do you do after sending a perfect follow-up? Wait.

“Exercise as much restraint as possible not to call or email the hiring manager for at least one week,” says Kohut. “Delays happen and trying to rush the process may be detrimental to your success as a jobseeker.”

Huhman advises job seekers to keep emails or phone calls to one per week, paying close attention to timelines shared by the hiring manager. “If you don’t hear anything back after contacting the individual three to four times, it’s probably time to move on.”

However, don’t simply “check on the status” of the opening when reaching out. “Make each and every point of contact with the organization meaningful,” says Huhman.

Clark Baumgartner, director of human resources for D&B Supply, says that too many of the same follow-ups create a negative impression. “Coming across as desperate is not a redeeming quality,” he says. “And if the company is interested, you’re now in a poor position to negotiate.”

7. Mind Your Social Networks

Even if you haven’t heard back from your future professional home, they could still be Googling you as they make their final decision.

“If your social media does not reflect the skills you presented during the interview, be sure to update Facebook, LinkedIn and anything else that’s floating around out there about you,” says Sherry Beck Paprocki, co-author of the Complete Idiot’s Guide to Branding Yourself.

In other words, don’t post anything online you wouldn’t be comfortable saying to your new boss’s face, including anything about your previous employers, what advocacy groups you support or your Neil Diamond obsession.

8. Know What You’re Worth

Salary typically doesn’t come up in the initial interview, so use this down time to decide on your “magic number.” Sites like Salary.com, Glassdoor and SimplyHired can help.

If you use another online salary reference, just make sure to check the date—the salary information you go on shouldn’t be older than your wallet. Knowing the standard salary for your next job is a separate issue from what you’re currently making, and key to getting what you want.

If you’d like to hone your interviewing and follow-up skills even more, consider getting the help of a pro. Mediabistro’s Career Services offer everything from a mock interview to several sessions of career counseling to tackle interview and networking skills, career transition and more.

Topics:

Get a Media Job, Get Hired, Interview Tips

Go Freelance

Freelance Writing Jobs in the Age of AI: What the Data Says and How to Position Yourself

The floor is falling out of commodity writing. The ceiling for specialists has never been higher. Here's how to end up on the right side.

By Mediabistro

The Mediabistro editorial team draws on 25 years of media industry expertise to cover jobs, careers, and trends shaping the industry.

6 min read • Originally published March 6, 2026 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Mediabistro

The Mediabistro editorial team draws on 25 years of media industry expertise to cover jobs, careers, and trends shaping the industry.

6 min read • Originally published March 6, 2026 / Updated March 19, 2026

If you’re a freelance writer in 2026, you’ve heard the doom chorus: AI is coming for your job. And if you’ve been paying attention to the data, you know there’s some truth in it. But the full picture is more interesting, and more useful, than the headlines suggest.

The freelance writing market has been split in two. The bottom is collapsing. The top is thriving. Where you land depends less on talent than on how you position your services. Here’s what the numbers actually say, and what you can do about it.

The data: what’s really happening to freelance writing jobs

A landmark study by researchers at Imperial College London, Harvard Business School, and the German Institute for Economic Research analyzed nearly two million freelance job postings across 61 countries between July 2021 and July 2023. Their finding: within eight months of ChatGPT’s launch, demand for freelance writing jobs fell roughly 30%, the steepest decline of any category they studied. Software development dropped about 21%. Graphic design fell 17%.

The Vollna Upwork Market Report, which analyzed 2.2 million projects, confirmed the earlier trend is accelerating. Writing projects on Upwork declined 32% year over year in 2025, the largest drop of any category on the platform. Eleven of twelve major work categories saw declines. Entry-level project availability fell below 9%, down from 15% the prior year.

And it’s not just volume. A Brookings Institution analysis found that freelancers in text-heavy services like copyediting and proofreading saw roughly a 2% monthly decline in new contracts and about a 5% decrease in total monthly earnings on platform. Perhaps more surprising: high-skill freelancers were not insulated from these effects. They were, in some cases, disproportionately affected.

Meanwhile, a separate February 2026 study (“Payrolls to Prompts” from Ramp) found that more than half of businesses that spent on freelance platforms in 2022 had stopped entirely by 2025. Freelance marketplace spending as a share of total company spend dropped from 0.66% to 0.14%. AI model spending went from zero to 2.85%.

That’s the floor collapsing (always give the bad news first).

But here’s the ceiling

While generic writing gigs dried up, something unexpected happened at the top. Upwork reported that AI-related freelance work crossed $300 million in annualized value by late 2025. Freelancers working on AI-related projects earned 44% more per hour than those on non-AI projects.

The same pattern showed up in Upwork’s Q3 2025 earnings report, where gross services volume grew 2% year over year overall, but 52% of that growth came from AI-related work. Content writing was still listed among the top 10 most in-demand AI-related skills on the platform in September 2025, because businesses want writers who can work with AI tools, not writers who pretend AI doesn’t exist.

Fiverr’s data tells a similar story from the buyer side. Spend per buyer rose 8.3% year over year even as the total number of active buyers declined. Fewer clients, but bigger checks.

Niche specialists reported the strongest gains. Finance writers averaged about $73,000 per year. Fintech writers earned as high as $0.95 per word. White paper specialists commanded $6,000 or more per month. Medical writers charged $60 to $150 per hour. The pattern is consistent: commodity content vanishes, specialized content gets more valuable.

What clients actually want now

The shift isn’t just about who’s hiring. It’s about what they’re hiring for. In an Upwork survey, 58% of businesses said they would prioritize AI proficiency when hiring freelancers. But at the same time, 39% said they lacked trust in AI’s accuracy. That tension is the opportunity.

A University of Copenhagen study of 25,000 workers across 7,000 workplaces found that AI’s productivity impact was underwhelming for most businesses. The majority of workers saw only about a 3% time savings. Companies that went all-in on AI content are now discovering they still need humans who can think, not just humans who can type. Multiple freelance writers have reported a rebound in inbound client inquiries in late 2025 and into 2026, with clients explicitly requesting subject-matter expertise and original content without AI involvement.

So the market is sorting itself out. Clients who want cheap, undifferentiated content are using AI directly. Clients who want content that actually performs (ranks, converts, builds authority) are seeking out writers who bring something AI can’t replicate. That “something special” is what you need to sell.

How to position your freelance writing services right now

Positioning isn’t branding fluff. It’s a business decision about what you sell, to whom, and why they should care. Here are five concrete moves that the data supports.

1. Pick a vertical, not a format

Don’t call yourself a “content writer” or “blog writer.” Those labels describe a format that AI can produce. Instead, position yourself in the industry you serve: fintech, healthcare SaaS, cybersecurity, e-commerce, and real estate tech. The industry niche is the moat.

Specialized freelancers routinely charge two to three times more than generalists, and the gap is widening. A cybersecurity writer who understands threat assessments, or a medical copywriter with FDA submission experience, faces essentially zero AI competition. Clients in regulated and technical industries need writers who already speak the language and understand the stakes. They’re not going to explain their business to someone who “writes about everything.”

2. Sell outcomes, not word counts

The $0.30-per-word era is over for anyone serious about making a living. Reframe your services around what the writing does for the client’s business: organic traffic growth, lead generation, conversion rate improvement, reduced churn through better onboarding content.

When you tie your work to revenue or pipeline metrics, you move from the “cost center” column to the “investment” column in the client’s head. This is also what protects your rate from downward pressure. AI can produce words, but it can’t own a business outcome.

3. Become AI-fluent, not AI-dependent

According to a Freelancer Kompass 2026 report, 84% of freelancers now regularly use AI tools, up from 41% three years ago. The data from Upwork is clear: clients prefer writers who use AI to augment their process, not writers who either avoid AI entirely or who let AI do the thinking.

The winning position is “I use AI to work faster and deliver better work, and my expertise is what makes the output actually good.”

That means learning to use AI for research, outlining, first-pass drafts, and editing assistance while keeping your judgment, voice, and subject matter knowledge as the irreplaceable layer. Workers using AI for augmentation outnumber those using it for automation by more than two to one, and that ratio tells you where the market values human involvement.

4. Build proof, not a portfolio

Traditional writing portfolios are table stakes. What clients want now is evidence that your work produced results. Case studies with metrics (traffic growth, leads generated, conversion improvements) are worth more than a dozen published clips. If you’ve helped a client rank for a competitive keyword or grow a newsletter subscriber list, document it. The shift toward measurable outcomes is accelerating, and writers who can show their ROI will have a permanent advantage over those who can only show their prose.

5. Package your services as retainers, not one-offs

The freelance writing gigs most vulnerable to AI are one-off commodity projects: a blog post here, a product description there. Those are exactly the tasks that a client will eventually hand to ChatGPT or Claude. Position yourself for recurring revenue by offering ongoing content programs, editorial calendars, quarterly content audits, newsletter management, or brand voice consulting. Retainer relationships are harder for AI to replace because they’re built on trust, context, and accumulated knowledge of the client’s business.

They also smooth out the feast-or-famine income cycles that make freelancing financially precarious. Subscription-based freelance services are gaining traction across the market, and writers who can pitch a monthly program instead of a per-piece rate will be better positioned this year and beyond.

The bottom line

The freelance writing market in 2026 is not dying, exactly. But it’s splitting and changing, and arguably, becoming even more important as a differentiator for business.

Commodity writing is being absorbed by AI, and no amount of hand-wringing will reverse that. But the demand for specialized, strategic, human-driven content is growing. Writers who position themselves on the right side of that split, by choosing a niche, selling outcomes, using AI as a tool, building proof, and packaging their work as ongoing partnerships, may be able to earn more than they ever did before.

The data supports this. The question is whether you’ll position yourself to benefit from it.

Topics:

Go Freelance

Interview Tips

Salary Negotiation: How to Boost Your Job Offer, Ask for a Raise & Negotiate Beyond Money

Top negotiators show you how to ask for what you're worth

By Brittany Taylor

Brittany Taylor is an enterprise marketing manager and content strategist with over a decade of experience in B2B content marketing, brand building, and ghostwriting, with bylines in SELF, Teen Vogue, and Mediabistro. She currently leads content and branding across multiple brands at HireQuest Inc.

7 min read • Originally published February 19, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Brittany Taylor

7 min read • Originally published February 19, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

Let’s talk shop about one of the biggest hurdles you’ll be dealing with during the job hunt: salary. Both sides of the table know that’s the end game—and always will be, at least until your landlord agrees to barter blog posts or infographics for rent—but nobody wants to bring it up first.

And if you’re a woman, that’s especially true. “We don’t always think we should be negotiating things and when it comes to compensation, we also tend to be paid less,” says Fatimah Gilliam, CEO of The Azara Group, a consultancy company that focuses on negotiation and diversity services.

The thing is, when you don’t negotiate, it has major financial repercussions. Over the course of your career, the $5,000 you may have left on the table when accepting your first job offer, no questions asked, can add up to hundreds of thousands. Raises are pegged to your baseline salary, as are bonuses. Remember learning about compounded value in high school math? Here’s where that idea comes into play.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a recent college grad or a media veteran making a lateral move. “No matter what stage of your career you’re in, accepting whatever offer comes your way is a big mistake,” says Diane Domeyer-Kock, executive director of The Creative Group.

Per Katie Donovan, founder of Equal Pay Negotiations, 84 percent of hiring managers expect you to. “What that means is that at least 84 percent of offers do not have all of the money available in that offer,” Donovan shares. “They’re proactively low. It’s on purpose. They expect you to come back and say, ‘Hey, wait a minute, that’s not right.'”

So how do you play the game without flinching, folding or showing your cards too soon?

Take a deep breath, steel your nerves and read on.

How to Boost Your Job Offer

The most power you’ll ever have throughout your relationship with an employer is before you accept a job offer.

Your goal during the interview process is to make the hiring managers fall in love with you. The more they want you on their team, Donovan says, the more power you hold. In an ideal world, they’ll be the ones to bring up salary terms.

If you handle it right, you can get them to do just that. Leave “desired pay” fields on applications blank (or fill them in with placeholder text). When they bring up how much you want to make, swallow your “a cool million, thanks” retort and try responding with one of Donovan’s favorite lines: “I don’t know enough about the job to know what it should pay,” or, “Well, what’s it budgeted at?”

Whatever you say, make it about what the job’s market value is. To establish market value, you’ll need to do some research. “You can never negotiate in a bubble and say, ‘OK, I want X more just because,'” Gilliam tells us.

“You need to speak to your friends. You need to speak to people in different industries.” Salary.com, Glassdoor and job sites with listings that offer salaries or ranges are all great places to start your investigation.

Try salary calculators, too, and be on the lookout for consistent answers rather than outliers. When you present your research, suggest a number from the higher end of the market range. Chances are you won’t get the number you throw out—the company will want to get you down lower.

If you aim on the higher side of what’s reasonable, you and your prospective employer will probably agree on an average salary.

The Right Way to Ask for a Raise

Asking for a bump in pay is all about timing—and we don’t mean when you need more moola in the house-renovation fund. “The best time to ask for a raise is not necessarily when you need the money; it’s when you’re most likely to get your request approved,” Domeyer says.

“This could be after you’ve finished a successful project and your valuable contributions are top of mind, or a positive time for the company, such as when the business lands a deal or realizes an upswing in quarterly revenue.”

Don’t wait for your annual review, Donovan warns, because your company has already allocated money for that season. Set it up earlier, she advises, like three or four months before. And when you do, Domeyer urges you to schedule a meeting with your boss and let him know in advance that you want to talk about your compensation. You want him to be ready to talk money, not be caught off-guard.

Once you’re face-to-face, “start talking about how you’re doing in the job. You want them to agree that you’re doing good [work],” Donovan says. “Then, once they say that, you say, ‘Well, that’s why I was so surprised to find out that I’m underpaid for the market.'” Make it about the market, not about you, and keep the tone along the lines of “how do we fix this problem” rather than “I want $10,000 more a year.”

If your manager asks you for a number, pull out your research and say something like, “Based on what I’m seeing, it should be…” And just as you would do at an interview, quote the higher end of the range rather than the median.

What to Do When the Answer Is “No”

One of Donovan’s biggest pet peeves is when employees take the first “no” as their final answer. “The negotiation actually starts with ‘no,'” she shares. “Keep going. Don’t walk away.” If you’re told that the company can’t afford to pay you a higher salary, try coming back with details supported by your research (yep, here it is again).

“Say, ‘I’m surprised to hear that because I know our company has doubled profits the last four years—whatever the data is,” Donovan urges. “Have a response so that ‘no’ is thrown to the side and you can move to, ‘So, can I get my $10,000 raise?'”

Often, employers will set certain qualifications on discussing and approving a raise—perhaps you can talk about it in six months, or you need to hit certain sales goals. Never take that “no” at face value. “Try to find out what conditions would qualify as a better time to approach the subject. If your boss tells you that he or she doesn’t think you deserve more money, find out why,” Domeyer says. “Ask for guidance on what you need to do to warrant the raise.”

And finally, Gilliam says, you have to know when it’s time for you to walk away. Ask yourself if you’re comfortable with a smaller raise, or returning to the topic during the next quarter, or jumping through various hoops to be eligible.

As you ponder these questions, keep in mind this is about you, not about what your significant other thinks you should settle for or when your mother thinks it’s time for you to take a stand and quit.

Negotiating Beyond Money

Job titles, heath care, company-paid training, vacation time—there are all sorts of other extras that are part of your compensation package that a lot of candidates think are set in stone. And you know what? They’re not. While your prospective employer might not have a lot of wiggle room, money-wise, “that doesn’t mean that there aren’t other things you can negotiate for,” Gilliam says.

Do you want a more flexible start or end time? Do you need to move your start date? Would you like to telecommute a few days a month? Would you really like to work for so-and-so rather than whoever? All of these options tend not to change the bottom line for the company, but they can make a huge difference to your job satisfaction.

If you think asking for these sorts of extras just isn’t done, think again. Domeyer tells us that a survey conducted by The Creative Group found that more than one-third of advertising and media execs worked with candidates to make things like flextime a possibility.

Remember, a new job isn’t (just) about making more money. You want to be successful, whether you’re moving to a new company, starting in a different industry, or working your way up the corporate ladder. Being successful has a lot to do with being happy. If you know what would make you look forward to coming to work in the a.m., there’s only one way to get it: Ask.

One way to make yourself more valuable in the eyes of your employer is by learning a new skill. Check out Mediabistro’s online courses, where our industry experts teach you the in-demand skills to keep you competitive in the media industry.

Topics:

Get Hired, Interview Tips

Productivity

14 Habits & Career Success Secrets of Media Pros

Hint: Take a night off. How easy was that?

By Allie Misch

Alexandria Misch is a multimedia journalist and content strategist with over a decade of freelance experience, with bylines in New York Magazine, Esquire, the Los Angeles Times, and The Verge. She is based in New York City and works across writing, editing, photography, and production.

6 min read • Originally published October 12, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Allie Misch

6 min read • Originally published October 12, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

To be successful (or even gainfully employed) in this era of industry uncertainty, it seems like you have to go above and beyond the general requirements. Read on to understand how easy it is to implement these little life hacks and keep your career in check.

1. Be good to your body

Even though movies make it seem like members of the media pay rent by writing (whiskey in hand) in dark corners of empty bars, it’s not sustainable.

Taylor Lorenz, director of emerging platforms at The Hill, pays special attention to what she puts in her body. “It’s very hard to eat healthy while working in media,” she says. “Your schedule is often long and unpredictable–you’re either sitting in front of your desk or on the run for a story, [but] by prioritizing what goes into your body you can operate on a higher level by remaining healthy and more resilient.”

Lorenz never eats processed foods, limits her alcohol intake to less than two drinks a month, and drinks almost three gallons of water a day. “Lots of people think I’m a wacko health freak, but keeping my body healthy allows me to operate at maximum capacity and my diet has been critical to my professional success,” she says.

2. Stop obsessing over email

Have you ever caught yourself sitting there debating signing off Best or Sincerely, then backspace entirely, revert to your old-standby of Thanks! and get too stressed out to send the email? You’re not alone.

“I will deliberate over one message for half an hour ensuring that I’ve expressed myself clearly and kindly to a client or collaborator,” says Abby Carney, a freelance journalist and editor. But especially in the freelance game, time is money. Read over the message to make sure it’s free of errors, then fire it off.

3. Disconnect during downtime

We’re not just talking WiFi here. Try heading outside, away from any outlets.

Heather Whaling, founder and president of Geben Communication, avoids checking email, social media or taking calls when she’s at home with her young son. This may sound impossible as the head of a PR agency with offices across the midwest, but Whaling insists it’s actually added-value at the office.

“By incorporating these periods of disconnection into my schedule, I’m sharper and more creative when it’s time to focus on work,” she says.

Ready to take your media career to the next level? Find your next position among Mediabistro’s job listings today.

4. Call your grandma

“I know the thought of a phone call paralyzes a lot of fellow millennials,” Lorenz acknowledges. “But there’s no replacement for a good heart to heart over a long phone call.”

You may even find it easier to dial 10 numbers instead of composing a tweet in exactly 140 characters proclaiming how much you miss your sister. Catching up with friends and family keeps things in perspective when life seems out of your control.

5. Know what’s happening in the world

Whether she’s in Chicago or Columbus, Whaling starts every morning with the New York Times. “[It] helps me get a frame of reference for the day, monitor trends that could be relevant to our clients and stay informed about current events,” she says.

Plus, reading today’s headlines not only helps you as a conversationalist at cocktail parties, but you’re also supporting your industry peers at the end of the day.

6. Pay attention to trends

Knowing what’s in the news will keep your consumption well-rounded, but you should also seek out specifics.

“I spend a lot of time keeping up on tech trends, researching forward-thinking brand campaigns and understanding how technology is changing communications and business,” says Whaling. “With that foundation, I’m able to help clients infuse innovation and creativity into their communication and take a fresh approach to best practices.”

7. Don’t just hashtag #goals, create them

Every day Lorenz looks at her list of long-term goals and her five and 10-year plans. Her weekly to-do’s are the background of her cell phone. And with a resume boasting companies like Time, Inc., Refinery29, Business Insider, and the Daily Mail, it’s safe to say she’s hitting her marks.

“I change my goals constantly,” she says. “But this way I make sure I’m always moving forward. This includes (but is not limited to) six detailed spreadsheets to make sure she’s on track.

8. Stay in school, kids

Learning to cook a meal, cut hair and apply makeup has very little to do with being a journalist, but Lorenz took classes in all three. Since graduating college, she’s been enrolled in at least one (if not two or three) classes outside of work.

“It’s so fun to learn new skills!” she says of her extracurricular studies on copywriting, creative writing, graphic design, advertising and marketing, to name a few. “[It] always broadens your horizons and keeps your mind fresh, even if you never put those skills to use.”

9. Connect with your community

Whaling recently rolled out a program allowing her employees to use up to 30 hours of “work time” to volunteer for for nonprofits they believe in.

“Of course, being involved in the community is the right thing to do from an altruistic perspective, but it’s also good for business,” she says. “By making community involvement a core component of my workflow, it helps me add value to causes I believe in, plus it generates new business opportunities.”

10. Block out your schedule ahead of time

And avoid the inbox timesuck.

“I used to spend so much time in my inbox that I was focusing on whatever happened to be at the top of my inbox, instead of focusing on the things that truly warranted my time and attention,” says Whaling. Now she schedules three or four times per day to check emails for about 20 minutes each time. She quickly assesses each email, responding to those that take “less than two minutes of attention.” If it requires more brain power, she’ll “calendar block” time to take care of it.

11. Go old-school when list-making

Carney is meticulous when it comes to making lists. She keeps two “old-school” (paper) day planners to write in all of her appointments, social engagements, to-do lists and deadlines.

“I was highly neurotic [as a child] and panicked about missing any homework assignments,” she says. “I always wanted to make the best marks. I’m still the same when it comes to my career.”

12. Don’t blow your deadlines

Maybe the list-making does the trick, but word on the street is Carney doesn’t miss a deadline. As both a writer and editor, Carney contributes her success to staying ahead of schedule.

“I never imagined that anyone would blaze through a deadline or wait until the last minute to ask for an extension unless it was an emergency situation,” she says.

13. Realize what’s worth your time

“To be successful in journalism in 2016, I think you sadly can’t get stuck on making every assignment top-notch,” says Carney. With the Internet, inevitable deadlines, and an increase of content creation, sometimes speed is all that matters.

“You have to churn it out day after day, and hopefully if you churn enough, you’ll have more time to work on assignments that really matter to you, and you can write something you’re proud of,” says Carney, who speaks from experience as assistant editor at Time Out New York, which still prints weekly.

14. Give yourself a break

No matter your profession, it’s important to give yourself one night of nothing to recharge.

“Every week I spend four nights working on my freelance jobs, one night in class or teaching myself a new skill, one night either going to a talk, meetup, or event or socializing with friends,” Lorenz explains. The last night she treasures as her night off to cook, listen to music on her record player, or walk around the city.

“It can be tempting to skip my ‘night off’ and meet friends for dinner or to go out,” she says. But she protects it for her sanity’s sake, which isn’t a bad idea for us all to consider.

Topics:

Be Inspired, Productivity

Climb the Ladder

How to Write a Thank-You Email After an Interview (With Copy-Paste Templates)

By Scouted

Scouted was a hiring marketplace that matched candidates to roles based on potential, serving clients from high-growth startups to Fortune 500 companies.

5 min read • Originally published January 12, 2021 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Scouted

Scouted was a hiring marketplace that matched candidates to roles based on potential, serving clients from high-growth startups to Fortune 500 companies.

5 min read • Originally published January 12, 2021 / Updated March 19, 2026

So, you had a job interview. Great!

Before you sit back and begin the waiting game, we’re here to tell you that your work is not done. Nope! You may be thinking that you kicked butt at your interview and you’re obviously a shoo-in. Or… maybe not. But did you know that your interview actually isn’t over yet? Yup, you’re still in the spotlight, and even if your interview went great, you can still mess up your job prospects.

Don’t sweat it! We want to tell you how you can help seal the deal—or at the very least get some clarity about your chances of getting the job. We’re here to talk about two types of emails you should send your prospective employer after your interview.

The first type of email we’re going to talk about should ALWAYS be sent.

Always always always always.

Always. Send. A thank-you.

The Thank-You Email

The nice thing about the thank-you email is that you really shouldn’t have to think too much about it. Think: short, sweet, and polite. That said, there are a couple of best practices to follow when sending your thank-you note.

Do Send your thank-you note very soon after the interview, preferably within 24 hours.

Do Make sure to address your interviewer(s) by name and send it to each person who interviewed you.

Do Include the words “Thank You” in the subject line so your interviewers understand that you’re not trying to hound them about the job right after the interview. Also include the title of the position you applied for to jog their memory. Something like “Thank You – Data Analyst Interview.”

Do Briefly mention your qualifications again.

Don’t Be long-winded. This isn’t your cover letter, round two. While it’s okay to restate why you think you’d be a great fit for the job and address any concerns the hiring manager may have had, it’s important to respect their time and keep your note to the point.

Don’t Make spelling or grammar mistakes. Even if you had a great interview, this could hurt you—a lot.

Pro tip: The key is to be genuine. Be genuine and friendly during the interview so you have something real to mention in your thank-you note, and then be genuinely grateful that you’re being considered for the position. Even if you’re nervous about getting the job, try to believe that you really are the best person for it—and your potential employer will think so too.

According to this survey, 80% of HR managers said it was either somewhat helpful or very helpful to receive a thank-you message from a candidate. Despite this, the study also found that only 24% of candidates ever sent one. Basically, if you’ve been looking for a way to stand out, this could be it.

Thank-You Email Template

Hello HIRING MANAGER NAME,

It was great to meet you in person! Thank you for having me by the office today and taking the time to talk more about COMPANY NAME and the POSITION TITLE role. It was also great meeting with OTHER INTERVIEWERS and learning about their experience at the company and getting more detail on the day-to-day responsibilities.

I’m excited about where COMPANY NAME is headed and believe I can contribute to its success. My conversations with you confirmed that this role provides the perfect chance to be challenged and grow in INDUSTRY/FIELD. I’d be excited to use my experience in YOUR RELEVANT EXPERIENCE to help your company meet its goal of GOAL DISCUSSED IN INTERVIEW.

Please let me know if there is any other information I can provide. I’d be happy to follow up on anything we discussed or provide samples of my work.

Best,

YOUR NAME

YOUR PHONE NUMBER

YOUR EMAIL

Michelle, who coaches candidates through the application and interview process at Scouted, explains why this template works:

“It’s long enough to show that the candidate put thought into it, but concise and to the point. It appropriately reinforces interest in the role with specific reasons why. It lists each person the candidate met, along with specific details from those chats. It’s enthusiastic and positive without using too many exclamation points.”

Now we get to our second type of follow-up email…

The “I Haven’t Heard Anything in a Week” Follow-Up Email

Now is the time when you become frustratingly familiar with the last email that popped into your inbox, desperately waiting for a new, unread message with your interviewer’s name on it.

You may be tempted to forgo a follow-up altogether, imagining the worst-case scenario: Did the manager laugh at you as soon as you left the room? Did you horribly offend them? Bore them? Did they see right through your fear of feeling like an imposter?

Here’s what we’re going to tell you:

Hiring managers are busy. They’re real people with a real workload—which might be heavier than usual seeing as they’re trying to hire someone.

Some hiring managers might even be happy to see your email pop into their inbox and think, “Right! I was supposed to email them three days ago!”

It’s with this mindset that you should follow up with your interviewer. If you were given a date by which they said they would get back to you and that date has come and gone, feel free to type up your email. If you weren’t given a date but it’s been over a week and you haven’t heard back, type away.

Guidelines for Following Up After an Interview

Always assume they’ve been busy.
Always be polite and thank them for interviewing you in the first place.
Remind them of your interview—bring up something specific you discussed so they remember you.
Address any concerns they may have had and reassure them that you’re a great fit.
Restate why you’d be a great fit for the role.
Ask if there is anything else or more information they need from you.
Leave a way to contact you, just in case.

Follow-Up Email Template

Dear HIRING MANAGER NAME,

I hope you’re doing well!

I wanted to follow up on my interview last week for the POSITION TITLE role. I’m still very excited about the opportunity and believe I’d be a great fit due to my experience in RELEVANT EXPERIENCE. I’m confident I could help your company GOAL FROM INTERVIEW.

Please let me know if you need any additional information from me or have any further questions.

Looking forward to hearing from you,

YOUR NAME

YOUR PHONE NUMBER

YOUR EMAIL

You shouldn’t ever worry about sending a follow-up email to a prospective employer as long as you keep it short and sweet, grateful, and not pushy. Follow these guidelines, and your email will simply demonstrate your interest and enthusiasm for the position.

Got some follow-up or thank-you email advice of your own? What was the best follow-up message you ever wrote?

Topics:

Candidates, Climb the Ladder