I ran into an old sub-editor colleague the other day and naturally the conversation turned immediately to how we were faring on the job front.

During the course of the conversation I mentioned how a couple of journalists we both knew had picked up some subbing shifts at various publications.

The reaction was interesting. “How did they do it? How? They’re so lucky.”

Well – yes and no. They are lucky in that they applied for a position just at the time the publications needed someone but they were also being very proactive about applying. And both of them did what it seems very few are doing these days – they picked up the phone and spoke to someone about work opportunities.

Being proactive about job hunting does not just mean logging onto online job sites and sending applications off to a place where you’re not sure they’re going to…