Television News Anchor

Be ready to have anecdotes about your experiences for these kinds of situational interview questions. They don’t have to be about the most interesting days you’ve had at work; instead, think of situations that have highlighted the fact that you’re mature and capable of working with a variety of people, even if you don’t always see eye-to-eye.

Some of our biggest success stories at CNN are employees who started with us as interns. It's an active recruiting pipeline for us.

The workload for a news anchor can be demanding. The day may begin very early, depending on the shift assigned. Once at work, the anchor will begin by reviewing the events of the last 24 hours, and then decide what and what not to cover. A large portion of the workday is devoted to reading news articles and searching out items of interest to the viewing or listening audience.

Beyond perusing your prospective employer’s website, think about how you, specifically, can contribute to their mission.

First, consider what your work style really is. And then consider whether that style is suited for the job and company culture you’re interested in. If you’re an extreme extrovert but the job requires hours of independent, fairly isolated work, you will have a much harder time answering this question than someone whose work style does in fact match the job. This question is really getting at whether your personality is a fit for the role and the company so try to answer accordingly.

This may seem like an unreasonable question, but if you think about it from the employer’s perspective, they are trying to hire someone to fill a gap or hole in their team. They have real, usually time-pressing needs and they want to see at least improvements in the issues they’re facing when they hire you. Therefore, be prepared to talk about what you think you will accomplish in a 1 to 3 month horizon. Ideally this is based on a clear understanding of what the job entails and what the company’s challenges are.

Hiring is a nearly constant activity for us as the work evolves. Between our full-time and freelance staff, we have approximately 3,500 employees around the world. The majority are based in the U.S.

This might seem random, but trust us, you’ll probably be asked this question at least once or twice during an interview. Employers want to know that you’re intellectually curious, and this question will give them a window into your particular interests.

I don't think there is a standard question. It is more important just to have questions and show that you are engaged and that you prepared for the conversation.

Again, no matter what job you’re interviewing for, it’s important to convey that you’re intellectually curious and well-informed about what’s going on in the world. Have a couple of your favorite news outlets in mind so that you’re not scrambling to come up with something if asked.

This is one of the most common job interview questions. If you’re interviewing for a role that might be relatively ‘standard’ across many other companies, it’s actually a very good question — so it's a good idea to have a ready answer. It also is a test to see how much you understand about the larger context and employer, itself.

Think about the interviewer's perspective and about the company goals. This is a time to show that you understand the company’s mission, its values or something about its culture. Remember, you want to make the interviewer feel good about where he or she works and make them believe you really want to join them.

We always like to know why a candidate is interested in this particular role. It's one way to see how their skills and interests are aligned.

We are investing in many parts of the business, but digital is seeing a lot of exciting changes and growth.

There are many types of interviewers, and those who really want to get a good sense of who you are might ask this question. This is often a question people ask to get a sense of what your values and aspirations are. There’s certainly no wrong answer -- you can name someone personal or a celebrity -- but being authentic here matters because there’s no point in trying to guess what someone thinks the right answer is. Your reasoning is also probably more important than the name of any individual.

This is a common question when a hiring manager wants to assess whether you will be a good fit, culturally. Be as honest as possible when you respond to this, but make sure it’s clear you’re comfortable working collaboratively and on your own. Companies want to hire people who are fun and easy to work with -- but also those who can manage whatever they need to on their own.

A couple of great entry points are our news assistants and technical operation assistants positions. The technical positions focus on work in the control room and studios. The editorial career path focuses on newsgathering, writing, and producing.

Average job tenure is growing shorter and shorter but that doesn’t mean hiring managers don’t get worried when they see someone that can’t hold a job down without changing every year or two. It’s a big investment of time and money to hire someone new and they want to make sure that you are not fickle or immature about your choices. If you can provide context about inevitable job changes that weren’t your fault (e.g. you had to move across the country to be with your spouse, the company closed down), that will put the interviewer at ease.

In the U.S. most of our jobs are Atlanta, New York, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles. Our people are deployed to all corners of the U.S. and the world covering stories.

We believe that anchoring your salary expectations to your prior salary is the surest way to get very incremental pay raises. Ideally, you’ve done your compensation research and understand the salary possibilities for the role. If not, and you must anchor your salary expectations to what you have previously earned, don’t frame the expectations that way. Simply state the number you believe you should receive for the role (and make sure it’s more than what you would settle for, just in case it sets an anchor figure for future pay negotiation).