Journalism & PR Interview

Creative, media and marketing hiring in India usually runs a recruiter or HR screen, a hiring-manager round on your portfolio, clips or campaigns, a role round where a lead critiques your work or gives you a short live brief or assignment review, and a culture or behavioural conversation, spread over one to three weeks. Agencies and brands often add a take-home test or writing sample before the final round; newsrooms add a copy test or on-camera screen test; design teams add a portfolio presentation. ExamPilot compresses this into one 17-minute panel: an HR screen, a hiring-manager round on the one piece of work you are proudest of and what it moved, a role round led by a creative director, editor or senior lead who critiques your work and gives you a brief to think through aloud, a STAR behavioural round and a closing on expectations. Every round is scored on role knowledge, problem solving, communication and attitude, with specific feedback on how well you defended your choices and whether you tied craft to an outcome.

1. 1

   News sense

   A fire at a garment factory in Tiruppur kills four workers. What is your lead, and who do you call first?

   What a strong answer covers

   A clear lead with what happened, where, the toll and why it matters, then sources: police, fire department, hospital, factory management, workers and labour officials. Mention verification. Avoid speculating on causes before confirmation.

2. 2

   Verification

   A viral WhatsApp video claims to show a communal clash in your city. How do you verify it before reporting?

   What a strong answer covers

   Trace the earliest upload, reverse-search key frames, match landmarks, signboards and weather to the claimed place and date, and confirm with police and local reporters. Weigh whether reporting even a debunk would spread it further. Avoid publishing first and verifying later, or naming communities on the strength of a forward.

3. 3

   Media ethics

   A source offers you exclusive documents but wants to remain anonymous. How do you decide whether to use them?

   What a strong answer covers

   Verify the documents independently through a second source or official records, understand why the source is leaking, follow the newsroom's policy on anonymity, involve your editor and protect the source's identity. Avoid building a story on one anonymous voice or promising protection you cannot legally guarantee.

4. 4

   On-air mistakes

   You are live on air and realise you have just read out the wrong figure for casualties. What do you do?

   What a strong answer covers

   Correct it on air at once in one clear sentence, give the right figure and its source, and move on. Tell the producer so the ticker, website and social posts are fixed and a correction note is logged. Avoid ignoring it, waiting for the break, or a long apology that distracts from the news.

5. 5

   PR pitch

   Give me a headline and a two-line pitch to a journalist for a startup that has launched an app helping farmers check mandi prices.

   What a strong answer covers

   A newsworthy headline focused on impact, then a pitch that explains why it matters now, with a data point or human story and an offer of access. Avoid promotional language or vague claims.

6. 6

   Crisis communication

   Your client faces a product recall that is trending on social media. Draft the key messages for the first statement.

   What a strong answer covers

   Lead with concern for customers, state plainly which batches or models are affected, what customers should do now, how refunds or replacements work and where to get help, and commit to the next update time. Keep one spokesperson. Avoid denial, blaming suppliers, legal jargon or going silent while the hashtag trends.

7. 7

   Ethics

   Where is the line between PR and journalism, and how do you handle a client who asks for guaranteed coverage?

   What a strong answer covers

   Explain that editors decide coverage on news value, PR's job is to offer genuinely newsworthy angles and access, and any paid placement must be labelled as advertorial. Reset the client's expectations with likely outcomes instead. Avoid promising guaranteed coverage or hinting at paid news, which damages both the client and media relationships.

8. 8

   On-air delivery

   For a radio jockey role: introduce the next song and a traffic update in a way that sounds natural, not scripted.

   What a strong answer covers

   Speak conversationally with energy, connect the song to a mood or listener, give the traffic update clearly with specific locations and timing, keep it brief. Avoid reading robotically or overloading details.

9. 9

   Behavioural

   Describe a story you worked hard on that was spiked by your editor. How did you react?

   What a strong answer covers

   A STAR answer: the story, why the editor spiked it, how you asked for and accepted the reasoning, whether you strengthened and repitched it, and what you now check before pitching. Show professionalism. Avoid bitterness, implying censorship without evidence, or blaming the editor for your gaps.

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