How to hire a market reporter

How to hire a market reporter, step by step

Here's a step-by-step market reporter hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a market reporter job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new market reporter
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the market reporter you need to hire. Certain market reporter roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   A market reporter's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, market reporters from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   The following list breaks down different types of market reporters and their corresponding salaries.

   Type of Market Reporter	Description	Hourly rate
   Market Reporter	Reporters, correspondents, and broadcast news analysts inform the public about news and events happening internationally, nationally, and locally. They report the news for newspapers, magazines, websites, television, and radio.	$23-58
   Video Journalist	Video journalists make videos conveying the news and factual stories for the audiences. Their day-to-day duties may vary but typically include editing, researching, and reporting, developing and planning live or taped video segments, and compiling data from various sources... Show more	$19-53
   Journalist	A journalist is responsible for creating written correspondence, covering various subjects as the management requires. This task involves a lot of research investigations, conducting interviews, and gathering reliable sources to verify the authenticity of data before releasing the articles on news portals and other social platforms... Show more	$18-45

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • News Stories
   • Commodities
   • Derivative
   • Market Data
   • Street Journal
   • Construction Projects
   • Market Coverage
   • Bloomberg
   • Futures
   • General Contractors
   • CME
   • Plan Room
   • Stock Market
   • Telephone Calls

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Report to managing editor as member of editorial staff, contribute to newspaper editorials.
   • Monitor Bloomberg and Reuters energy trading data, and derivatives trading activity to include spot prices, futures, and options.
   • Enter commodities and futures bids, trades and sales into the computer while on the catwalk on the trading floor.
   • Work closely with CFTC personnel observing the trading floor and monitoring trading activities.
   • Work closely with brokers, locals, and CME personnel to ensure price discrepancies are resolved quickly and efficiently.
   • Perform statistical analysis modeling of futures and derivatives.

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your market reporter job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A market reporter salary can vary based on several factors:

   • Location. For example, market reporters' average salary in hawaii is 56% less than in district of columbia.
   • Seniority. Entry-level market reporters earn 60% less than senior-level market reporters.
   • Certifications. A market reporter with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in a market reporter's salary.

   Average market reporter salary

   $77,211yearly

   $37.12 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level market reporter salary

   $49,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 16, 2026

4. Writing a market reporter job description

   A good market reporter job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a market reporter job description:

   Market reporter job description example

   The Role
   
   We are seeking an experienced journalist to cover the dual industries of Financials and Technology.
   
   Key Responsibilities
   
   Developing a coverage strategy for high yield indices and ETFs;
   
   Reporting on performance of credit funds and the flow of capital into and out of the high yield and leverage loan sectors;
   
   Sourcing our proprietary Ion Analytics data to craft story ideas on debt capital market activities of the big banks.
   
   Portfolio management strategies and ideas around fixed income or fixed income replacements.
   
   Employing a more traditional Debtwire approach to covering the corporate financing side of financial companies such as payday lenders, banks, REITs, the gambling/gaming industry, and fintech companies.
   
   Delving into software companies as well as fintech instruments that offer high return potential, including crypto currencies, NFTs, and other forms of alternative assets.
   
   Ongoing source development: staying in touch with market contacts and cold calling to make new connections.
   
   Report and write exclusive scoops, in addition to analytical trend pieces.
   
   Uncover market-moving intel: mandates, investment strategies, deal negotiations, restructuring deal terms for distressed companies, private financials, LBOs, fixed income trading strategies.
   
   Stay aware of and respond to public market events of relevance such as key earnings announcements, regulatory disclosures, litigations, conference calls
   
   Teamwork: confirming leads from your colleagues, and also landing news leads from outside of your designated beat.
   
   Required Skills, Qualifications, and Experience
   
   Desire to break news
   
   Ability to write clean, accurate copy under tight deadline pressure
   
   Knack for networking and source building
   
   Strong organizational and time management skills
   
   Idea generation for editorial content
   
   Strong editorial vision for branding new content sets
   
   Collaborative aptitude for partnering with data and research teams
   
   About Us
   
   We're a diverse group of visionary innovators who provide trading and workflow automation software, high-value analytics, and strategic consulting to corporations, central banks, financial institutions, and governments. Founded in 1999, we've achieved tremendous growth by bringing together some of the best and most successful financial technology companies in the world.
   
   Over 2,000 of the world's leading corporations, including 50% of the Fortune 500 and 30% of the world's central banks, trust ION solutions to manage their cash, in-house banking, commodity supply chain, trading and risk.
   
   Over 800 of the world's leading banks and broker-dealers use our electronic trading platforms to operate the world's financial market infrastructure.
   
   With 10,000 employees and offices in more than 40 cities around the globe, ION is a rapidly expanding and dynamic group.
   
   At ION, we offer careers that provide many opportunities: To invent. To design. To collaborate. To build. To transform businesses and empower people around the world to do more, faster and better than before. Imagine what you can do and experience. This is where you can do your best work.
   
   ION is committed to maintaining a supportive and inclusive environment for people with diverse backgrounds and experiences. We respect the varied identities, abilities, cultures, and traditions of the individuals who comprise our organization and recognize the value that different backgrounds and points of view bring to our business.
   
   ION adheres to an equal employment opportunity policy that prohibits discriminatory practices or harassment against applicants or employees based on any legally impermissible factor.

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5. Post your job

   To find the right market reporter for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with market reporters they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit market reporters who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your market reporter job on Zippia to find and attract quality market reporter candidates.
   • Use niche websites such as problogger, media bistro, journalismjobs.com, content writing jobs.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit market reporters, engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. During the following interview, you'll be able to go into more detail about the company, the position, and the responsibilities.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new market reporter

   Once you have selected a candidate for the market reporter position, it is time to create an offer letter. In addition to salary, the offer letter should include details about benefits and perks that are available to the employee. Ensuring your offer is competitive is vital, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and it is important to be open to discussion and reach a mutually beneficial agreement. After the offer has been accepted, it is a good idea to formalize the agreement with a contract.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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