8 Journalist Resume Examples & Guide for 2025

As a journalist, you strive to deliver accurate stories that resonate with your audience. The job involves tight deadlines, low pay, and grueling schedules, especially in broadcasting with overnight and holiday shifts.

But these experiences shape the most determined and resilient journalists. This guide will help you build a journalist resume that shows your bylines and makes it clear to media recruiters how good you are at your job.

Here’s a quick overview of what we’ll cover in this guide:

Building a strong resume is vital for journalists. Let’s explore the best format to emphasize your writing talent and professional experience.

Journalist resume sample

Take a look at this journalist's resume example to inspire your own.

Now that you've seen an example, let's find the best format for your journalist resume.

How to format a journalist resume

For journalists, using a reverse-chronological resume format is often the best approach. This layout emphasizes your latest work experience, making it easy for recruiters to trace your career development and the stories you've brought to life.

Here’s a suggested order for your resume sections:

• Header
• Summary/Objective
• Professional experience
• Education
• Certifications
• Skills
• Languages

With this structure in mind, let's look at some resume designs to help your application stand out.

Resume designs

• Stick to 1-inch margins for readability and use a two-column format for a sleek design.
• Select professional fonts like Rubik, Arial or Lato, sized between 10 and 12 points, and apply soft color touches to emphasize your skills.
• Keep the resume to one page if you have under 10 years of experience and expand to two pages for a more extensive career history.

Contact information

• Add your name, phone number, and professional email to the resume header.
• Match your job title to the journalism position you’re targeting, and consider a headline that underscores your specific storytelling skills.
• Include a link to your LinkedIn profile and a personal portfolio to demonstrate your professional network and achievements.
• Skip the photo to keep the attention on your qualifications and experience and reduce the chance of bias.

File format

• Name your resume file clearly, for instance, "AlexMorganjournalistResume.pdf."
• Always save it as a PDF unless the job listing asks for another format.

Take advantage of our free AI-powered resume checker to optimize your document for applicant tracking systems.

Now that we’ve taken care of the details, let’s turn to the highlight of your resume: your work experience.

How to write your journalist resume experience

Getting the experience section of your resume just right is important for journalists because it shows the difference your reporting has made. Simply listing your tasks isn’t enough.

Instead, customize your resume to match the journalism job you’re aiming for. Identify where your experience aligns with the publication’s needs, and emphasize those points to your advantage.

The right way to tailor your journalist resume to the job description

When you tailor your resume to fit the journalism job description, you ensure your top qualifications shine. This approach helps you grab the hiring manager's attention. By prioritizing the skills and experiences that the publication values, you clearly demonstrate why you’re the ideal candidate. This is known as a targeted resume.

Let’s take a look at this journalism job offer to customize our work experience section.

This is how we matched this section to the role’s needs:

This resume addresses the job ad's key points by:

• Underscoring experience in producing multimedia content, showcasing strong storytelling and digital media skills.
• Emphasizing coverage of major events, resulting in a 20% increase in digital engagement.
• Proving impact with metrics, such as boosting social media engagement by 25% and improving content workflow efficiency by 15%.
• Covering essential skills like shooting and editing videos, capturing compelling photos, and managing content for various platforms.
• Demonstrating collaboration with freelancers and staff, key for maintaining content quality and meeting deadlines.

By starting each bullet point with an action verb and focusing on results, your contributions become clear and impactful. In journalism, where tangible outcomes are key, this approach really matters.

We’ll explore how this can boost your resume in the next section.

How to quantify your experience on a resume

Using measurable results on your journalist resume is crucial, as they offer tangible evidence of your effectiveness. Emphasize areas like audience growth, social media buzz, or the resonance of your stories. Quantifying achievements makes your resume distinguished.

Consider this:

No journalism experience? You can still improve your resume by underlining relevant skills and bylines.

Learn more below.

How do I write a journalist resume with no experience

Even if you're new to journalism, your resume should still include essential details like contact information, skills, and any bylines, just like experienced journalists. Here’s what else to add:

• Use a skill-based resume format to illustrate relevant skills (e.g., writing, editing, or photography) and downplay the lack of direct work experience. Provide concrete examples of your abilities without exaggerating.
• Point out any journalism-related classes, workshops, or training, even if they aren't formal programs.
• Include transferable skills relevant to journalism, such as communication, information research, languages, etc.
• Mention contributions to school newspapers, blogs, or other writing-related activities that show your interest and dedication.
• Note any hobbies that show creativity or skills relevant to journalism, like storytelling, photography, or blogging.
• List any freelance writing or content creation you’ve done, even if it was unpaid or for personal projects, to demonstrate your initiative.
• Reference internships, volunteer work, or any projects where you’ve applied journalism skills, proving your proactive approach to gaining experience.
• Add a link to your online portfolio showcasing your best work, including articles, blog posts, photography, or multimedia projects, to provide actual evidence of your skills and creativity.

Resume objective for beginner journalists

An objective statement sets the tone for your resume, instantly showing editors what you bring to the table. It's your chance to make a strong first impression, particularly if you're just starting out in journalism.

To create an impressive personal statement, keep in mind the following:

• Keep it concise (no more than 3 sentences) while expressing your passion for journalism and your dedication to building a career in the field.
• Write what you hope to achieve, such as honing your skills in investigative reporting, digital media, or a specific beat.
• Mention any standout abilities or traits, like exceptional storytelling, social media savvy, or bilingual communication.

Now, check out this strong example from a multimedia journalist’s resume:

Now that we’ve explored your job history, let’s take a look at the skills you bring as a journalist.

How to list your hard and soft skills on your resume

journalists need to demonstrate a diverse set of skills, displaying both their broad expertise and the new abilities they’re developing. This is essential since the industry requires staying current with evolving media platforms and technologies.

To move forward in the hiring process, spotlight your key skills in a separate section. When selecting which skills to include, focus on those that match the keywords in the job offer. This approach allows editors to quickly recognize your suitability for the position.

Here’s a list of sought-after hard skills featured on journalist resumes:

When listing skills on a journalism resume, don't just enumerate them but provide brief descriptions or context. Many successful journalists prefer to integrate tools and technologies into their experience entries, where they add more weight to previous roles.

The same goes for your soft skills. They should be supported by evidence. For example, if you list "time management" as a skill, include a short description in your Strengths or Achievements section, such as: "Managed tight deadlines across multiple projects, consistently delivering high-quality content on time."

Here are some common soft skills found on a resume for journalists:

After discussing how to distinguish your journalism resume's skills section, it's important to consider another key enhancement. Adding relevant education and certifications can further highlight your specialized knowledge and commitment to professional growth.

How to list your education and certifications on your resume

Media is a field where your educational background can significantly shape your career. In this profession, having at least a bachelor's degree in journalism, communications, or a related field is often expected, with many journalists also pursuing advanced degrees or specialized certifications. To make your journalist's resume stand out, it’s essential to craft the education section with care.

It should include:

• Your degree and major (e.g., B.A. in Journalism and Digital Media)  
• The name of the university, location, and year of graduation  
• Relevant coursework (e.g., Investigative Reporting, Multimedia Journalism, Media Ethics)  
• Key projects (e.g., Capstone project on community journalism or a multimedia documentary)  
• Any honors and awards (e.g., Dean’s List, Society of Professional journalists Award)  
• Additional certifications or training (e.g., Digital Journalism Certification, SEO for journalists)  

Here’s an example tailored to the journalist role we've been discussing earlier.

The education section for this journalist catches attention as it:

• Shows a Bachelor's Degree in Digital Media, which is ideal for this role.
• Includes all the essential details: degree, school, location, and dates.
• Spotlights relevant coursework, such as Digital Content Creation and Multimedia Storytelling.
• Mentions leadership experience as Editor-in-Chief of the student digital media publication.
• Demonstrates academic excellence by noting honors at graduation.

You can further enhance this journalist's resume by including a certifications section. While not every journalist role requires specific certifications, having them can boost your credentials and open up more career opportunities.

Now that you know how to underscore your expertise, let’s create a resume summary that truly sets you apart as a journalist.

How to write your journalist resume summary

The summary section of your journalist resume delivers a brief overview of your skills and accomplishments.

For an effective resume summary:

• Begin with your job title and the number of years you’ve worked in journalism.
• Emphasize key abilities and achievements, backed by specific examples.
• Include your expertise with relevant tools and platforms, such as content management systems, and video editing software.
• Keep it brief with 3-5 strong sentences, using compelling language to highlight your accomplishments, and avoid the first-person narrative.

Here’s an example summary customized for the journalist role we discussed earlier.

This summary does a great job of illustrating crucial journalist skills, such as researching, writing, and editing. It also features measurable accomplishments, like boosting reader engagement by 20%, clearly demonstrating the candidate's value and impact to recruiters.

Additional sections for a journalist resume

Optional sections can be an excellent way to underscore distinctive aspects of your background that make you stand out from other candidates. Include these only if space allows or if they contribute value to the journalism role.

• Professional associations: Mention memberships in industry groups, such as the Society of Professional journalists or the Online News Association, to showcase your active participation in the journalism community.
• Passions: Include hobbies and interests that are relevant to journalism, such as photography, creative writing, or blogging, especially if they demonstrate your passion for storytelling.
• Language abilities: Note any additional languages you speak, particularly if they align with the publication’s readership or international focus.
• Publications or presentations: Draw attention to any articles you've authored or talks you’ve given on journalism-related topics. This reflects your expertise and thought leadership in the field.

In conclusion

This guide is crafted to help journalists develop a top-notch resume by focusing on key skills, accomplishments, and relevant certifications. It also emphasizes the need to customize your resume for the particular role you're targeting, ensuring you show the most important qualifications. With a polished resume, you'll be ready to capture the attention of potential employers.