I’ve done a lot of job interviews since I became a full-time journalist 35 years ago. That’s what happens when you work for eight newspapers.
Most of these interviews lasted a few hours. Others were longer, taking most of a day. I had to interview twice at the Commonwealth — those interviews were 10 years apart — before I got my current job.
My longest job interview was the first time I interviewed at The Clarion-Ledger of Jackson. That interview lasted two days and included a two-night tryout on the sports desk. (I was hired three separate times by The Clarion-Ledger, but I only count it once among my eight jobs.)
But before the interview came the “pre-interview.”
In the spring of 1986, I was in my second year at the Savannah (Georgia) Morning News and Evening Press. I enjoyed my job, assistant sports editor, and had a great boss, Tony Stastny. And Savannah is a wonderful place to live.
Nevertheless, I was restless in those days, alway looking for a bigger and better gig. Savannah was my best job yet, but I was determined to work for my hometown newspaper, The Clarion-Ledger, and its award-winning sports section.
I sent in my resumé and talked with Paul Borden, The Clarion-Ledger’s sports editor. One day, Paul called and said he was going to be in Augusta, Georgia, to cover The Masters golf tournament. Paul’s boss had suggested that I drive up from Savannah to Augusta for a “pre-interview.”
Masters Week was a big deal in Savannah, which is a golf-crazy town. The paper always sent two people to cover The Masters, the sports editor and the golf writer, in spite of the fact that the Augusta newspaper is owned by the same company as Savannah’s. In today’s cost-conscious journalism business, that might not happen.
The next tournament on the PGA Tour schedule after The Masters is the Heritage, played close to Savannah in Hilton Head, South Carolina.
The Savannah paper published a preview section before the Heritage. The newspaper’s golf writer would go to the PGA tournament in Jacksonville, Florida, which was a few weeks before The Masters back then, to interview players for the preview.
In 1986, the golf writer urgently needed to arrange an interview with Bernhard Langer. The year before, the German star had won both The Masters and the Heritage.
The golf writer had been leaving messages with Langer. Early one morning, the writer was awakened at home by a phone call.
“Zis is Bernhard Langer,” the voice on the line said.
The golf writer said, “Yeah, right. Corder, stop fooling around.” Then he hung up on one of the world’s top golfers.
I told Paul I would drive to Augusta. I went on Wednesday, the day before The Masters started.
When I got there, I had several hours to kill because Paul and the rest of the writers from The Clarion-Ledger and Jackson Daily News were still at Augusta National, the course where The Masters is played every year.
I met Cas Shearin, a fellow survivor of working at The Valdosta (Georgia) Daily Times, for dinner. Normally, this would have been an occasion for several drinks, but I limited myself to one (OK, maybe two) because I was going to a job interview.
When I arrived at the house where Paul and the other writers from Jackson were staying that week, I was nervous about having had a drink (or maybe two) beforehand.
But these were journalists and sportswriters, so now I don’t know what I was worried about. When I entered, one of the writers offered me a drink from a very large bottle of beer.
“Uh, no thanks,” I said.
Paul arrived a short time later, and we sat down to talk. Paul, who had a drink, asked if I wanted one, too. Relieved, and not wanting to be impolite, I said yes.
A few weeks later, I went to Jackson for my formal interview and tryout. Soon after, I started working at The Clarion-Ledger, where I would spend 20 of the next 23 years.
Oh yeah, the 1986 Masters was won by a guy named Jack Nicklaus. It was the last time he won a Masters (No. 6) and a major championship (No. 18), both records.
But when I think about the 1986 Masters, the first thing I recall is “the pre-interview.”
• Contact Charles Corder at 581-7241 or ccorder@gwcommonwealth.com.
