Trainee Reporter Resume Example
A trainee reporter resume example for journalism graduates, showing published bylines, newsroom experience, and multimedia storytelling skills.
Laddro Team
Overview
Journalism is a portfolio career from day one. Editors hiring trainee reporters do not care about your grades nearly as much as they care about your clips. How many stories have you published? Can you file to deadline? Can you do a door knock and come back with quotes? These are the questions your resume needs to answer.
This resume belongs to Caitlin, a Journalism BA graduate from City, University of London who completed an NCTJ accredited course, interned at the South London Press, and contributed to the university's award winning student paper. Her resume works because it leads with published output: 65 published bylines, 12 front page stories at the student paper, and 4 multimedia packages.
Published bylines are everything
If you have published bylines, lead with them. Count them. Caitlin lists 40 bylines from her internship at the South London Press and 25 from her student paper. A hiring editor sees those numbers and knows she can produce under deadline pressure.
If you have published work online, include URLs in your portfolio. If your work appeared in print, name the publication and the approximate number of pieces. For broadcast, count the packages or live reports.
NCTJ qualification
The NCTJ (National Council for the Training of Journalists) qualification is the industry standard for UK journalism. If you passed your NCTJ diploma or individual modules (shorthand, media law, court reporting, public affairs), list them. Caitlin lists her NCTJ Diploma in Journalism with 100wpm shorthand. For many local newspaper roles, the NCTJ is a strict requirement.
Newsroom experience: speed and volume
Journalism is a speed game. Caitlin's internship at the South London Press involved filing 3 to 4 stories per day, covering courts, council meetings, and community events. Her resume mentions covering 8 magistrates' court sessions and producing 40 published stories in 10 weeks. This tells an editor she can handle the pace.
Multimedia skills
Modern newsrooms expect reporters who can shoot video, record audio, take photos, and publish to a CMS. Caitlin's resume mentions producing 4 video packages, using Adobe Premiere Pro for editing, and publishing to WordPress. These multimedia skills are increasingly non negotiable, even for print first newsrooms.
Was this resume example helpful?
Rate this example to help us create better content for you.
4.7 average from 107 ratingsRelated resume examples
Junior Translator
A junior translator resume example for languages graduates, showing translation volume, CAT tools, and subject matter specialisation.
Junior PR Assistant
A junior PR assistant resume example for public relations graduates, showing media coverage results, press release writing, and campaign metrics.
Editorial Assistant
An editorial assistant resume example for English literature graduates, showing proofreading, manuscript handling, and publishing industry experience.
Junior Account Executive (Ads)
A junior account executive resume example for advertising graduates, showing campaign management, client liaison, and creative briefing experience.
Junior Research Officer
A junior research officer resume example for anthropology graduates, showing ethnographic fieldwork, qualitative analysis, and cross-cultural research skills.
Junior Publishing Assistant
A junior publishing assistant resume example for publishing graduates, showing manuscript handling, production workflows, and rights management basics.
Research Assistant
A research assistant resume example for psychology graduates, showing how to present participant recruitment, data collection, and SPSS analysis skills.
Graduate Trainee
A graduate trainee resume example for philosophy graduates, showing transferable analytical skills, structured thinking, and commercial awareness.
Museum / Heritage Assistant
A museum and heritage assistant resume example for history graduates, showing collections management, visitor engagement, and archival research skills.
Community Development Officer
A community development officer resume example for religious studies graduates, showing interfaith work, community engagement, and project management skills.
Junior Policy Researcher
A junior policy researcher resume example for politics and international relations graduates, showing policy analysis, briefing writing, and research skills.
Junior Social Researcher
A junior social researcher resume example for sociology graduates, showing qualitative and quantitative methods, NVivo, and policy research skills.
Junior Linguistic Researcher
A junior linguistic researcher resume example for linguistics graduates, showing corpus analysis, phonetic fieldwork, and computational linguistics skills.
Junior Media Planner
A junior media planner resume example for media studies graduates, showing campaign planning, audience research, and media buying tool experience.
Related articles
Career Gaps Don't Scare Recruiters Anymore. Bad Explanations Do.
84% of hiring managers look for growth stories, not perfect timelines. Career gaps aren't the problem. Leaving them unexplained is.
Career Pivots in 2026: How to Rewrite Your Story Without Starting Over
Changing careers doesn't mean starting over. Reframe your experience, highlight transferable skills, and build a resume that tells your new story.
The Cover Letter Isn't Dead. But the Old One Is.
The generic cover letter is dead. Good. But 83% of hiring managers still read the specific ones. The kind that couldn't have been written for anyone else.