News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalist resume example

A resume for a News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalist needs to show the work itself: narrate or write news stories, reviews, or commentary for print, broadcast, or other communications media such as newspapers, magazines, radio, or television. Day to day that means work like this: write commentaries, columns, or scripts, using computers; coordinate and serve as an anchor on news broadcast programs. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

  • Anchor
  • News Anchor
  • News Reporter
  • Reporter
  • Radio News Anchor
  • Radio Talk Show Host
  • Staff Writer
  • Television News Anchor
  • TV News Anchor
  • Television News Reporter
  • Television Reporter
  • TV Reporter
  • Anchorman
  • Art Critic
  • Basketball Commentator
  • Blogger
  • Book Critic
  • Book Reviewer

O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation in total.

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

  • Write commentaries, columns, or scripts, using computers.
  • Coordinate and serve as an anchor on news broadcast programs.
  • Examine news items of local, national, and international significance to determine topics to address, or obtain assignments from editorial staff members.
  • Analyze and interpret news and information received from various sources to broadcast the information.
  • Receive assignments or evaluate leads or tips to develop story ideas.
  • Research a story's background information to provide complete and accurate information.
  • Arrange interviews with people who can provide information about a story.
  • Gather information and develop perspectives about news subjects through research, interviews, observation, and experience.
  • Select material most pertinent to presentation, and organize this material into appropriate formats.
  • Present news stories, and introduce in-depth videotaped segments or live transmissions from on-the-scene reporters.
  • Establish and maintain relationships with individuals who are credible sources of information.
  • Report news stories for publication or broadcast, describing the background and details of events.

30 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

  • Write commentaries, columns, or scripts, using computers, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Coordinate and serve as an anchor on news broadcast programs, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Examine news items of local, national, and international significance to determine topics to address, or obtain assignments from editorial staff members, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
  • Analyze and interpret news and information received from various sources to broadcast the information, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

  • Adobe After Effects
  • Adobe InDesign
  • Adobe Photoshop
  • Adobe Premiere Pro
  • Apple Final Cut Pro
  • Audion Laboratories VoxPro
  • Avid Technology Pro Tools
  • Desktop Technologies NewsBoss
  • ESRI ArcView
  • Facebook
  • FileMaker Pro
  • Grass Valley EDIUS
  • Hypertext markup language HTML
  • IBM SPSS Statistics

41 software entries are recorded in total.

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

  • Communication headphones
  • Compact digital cameras
  • Desktop computers
  • Digital audio recorders
  • Digital audio workstations
  • Editing consoles
  • Flash disks
  • High definition HD video cameras
  • Laptop computers
  • Laser facsimile machines
  • Microphones
  • Mobile broadcast units

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

  1. 01Speaking
  2. 02Reading Comprehension
  3. 03Writing
  4. 04Active Listening
  5. 05Social Perceptiveness
  6. 06Time Management
  7. 07Coordination
  8. 08Critical Thinking
  9. 09Active Learning
  10. 10Complex Problem Solving

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

  • English Language
  • Communications and Media
  • Law and Government
  • Computers and Electronics
  • Telecommunications
  • Customer and Personal Service
  • Geography

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Considerable Preparation Needed”. Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.

Common questions

What does a News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalist do?
Narrate or write news stories, reviews, or commentary for print, broadcast, or other communications media such as newspapers, magazines, radio, or television. Day to day that includes work like write commentaries, columns, or scripts, using computers and Coordinate and serve as an anchor on news broadcast programs.
What skills should a News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalist put on a resume?
O*NET rates Speaking, Reading Comprehension, Writing, Active Listening, and Social Perceptiveness among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalist list?
Software recorded for this occupation includes Adobe After Effects, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere Pro, and Apple Final Cut Pro. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalist work?
O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Anchor, News Anchor, News Reporter, and Reporter. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a News Analysts, Reporters, and Journalist role?
No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

  • No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
  • This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
  • Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.