How to hire a sports editor

How to hire a sports editor, step by step

Here's a step-by-step sports editor hiring guide:

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

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you post your sports editor job, you should take the time to determine what type of worker your business needs. While certain jobs definitely require a full-time employee, it's sometimes better to find a sports editor for hire on a part-time basis or as a contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

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

   Yes

   No

   Hiring the perfect sports editor also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   This list presents sports editor salaries for various positions.

   Type of Sports Editor	Description	Hourly rate
   Sports Editor	Editors plan, review, and revise content for publication.	$15-37
   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
   Editing Internship	An editorial intern is responsible for assisting the editorial department of an organization with publishing various media and digital content. Editorial interns shadow tenured editorial staff on researching stories, validating information, writing captivating articles, interviewing target audiences, and screening submitted manuscripts... Show more	$12-21

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Sports Coverage
   • Adobe Indesign
   • News Stories
   • Feature Stories
   • Editorial Content
   • Twitter
   • Adobe Photoshop
   • Sports News
   • Instagram
   • Facebook
   • Sports Stories
   • Local Sports
   • Staff Writers
   • NCAA

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Achieve a strong visible social media presence to 9,000 plus followers on affiliate GameTimePA twitter.
   • Achieve worldwide coverage with one particular article criticizing racism in soccer.
   • Proofread and copy-edite all stories in sports section.
   • Use Facebook insights to measure audience engagement and health of posts.
   • Run twitter account during basketball and football games, updating scores periodically.
   • Beat writer for the UK women's basketball team and UK women's volleyball team.

3. Make a budget

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

   • Location. For example, sports editors' average salary in nebraska is 54% less than in new york.
   • Seniority. Entry-level sports editors earn 57% less than senior-level sports editors.
   • Certifications. A sports editor 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 sports editor's salary.

   Average sports editor salary

   $50,996yearly

   $24.52 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level sports editor salary

   $33,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 15, 2025

4. Writing a sports editor job description

   A sports editor job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. Below, you can find an example of a sports editor job description:

   Sports editor job description example

   We have a commitment to investigative and enterprise reporting, and seek someone with an ability to guide reporters through challenging stories of impact to compete for national awards. Since 2018, AL.com journalists have won two Pulitzer Prize awards as well as earning a finalist nomination for journalism’s highest honor. This underscores the strength of our cohesive staff, which includes some of the nation’s top editors and reporters.

   We are a digitally-focused company, seeking a leader to help drive content 24/7 on our statewide site, AL.com, with a loyal and demanding following that extends well beyond Alabama across the Southeast and truly across the nation.

   This leader is responsible for development and distribution of authoritative content over all platforms that breaks news, delivers constant buzz and offers in-depth analysis, using digital approaches that build and engage audiences. Duties include strategic planning, project execution and supervision of reporters, managing performance-based metrics for the content team and individual employees.

   To be a good fit for this opportunity, you will need to have:

   • Experience working with video and social networking functionality / technology is highly desirable
   • Self-starter, very detailed oriented and have the ability to multitask, meet deadlines and manage multiple complex projects to on-time delivery
   • Successful experience leading multi-disciplinary teams
   • Solid track record of successfully developing projects through launch
   • Experience reading and understanding metrics reports and analyzing their implications
   • Working collaboratively to develop measurement methods, ability to align product offerings with audience
   • Mastery of social media and digital interaction
   • Ability to create and implement strategies to respond to the evolving nature of the industry by experimenting with new models, platforms and ideas to stimulate audience engagement and revenue generation/growth.

   Please include a cover letter, links to your work and social media presences.

   
   recblid m0w2u68n2a94gjt1hr94xu4815omth
   

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find sports editors for your business, try out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important talent pools for any company is its current employees.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and your current work to ask if they know any sports editors they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level sports editors with the right educational background.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have more than 3.5 billion users, and they're a great place for company branding and reaching potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your sports editor job on Zippia to find and recruit sports editor candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites such as problogger, media bistro, journalismjobs.com, content writing jobs.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Your first interview with sports editor candidates should focus on their interest in the role and background experience. As the hiring process goes on, you can learn more about how they'd fit into the company culture in later rounds of interviews.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   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 sports editor

   Once you've found the sports editor candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new sports editor. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

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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