Additional training

People mock certain companies for their "digital first" approach and if they are forgetting to produce quality journalism to go along with all the bells and whistles, they deserve it.
But lately a few jobs that I've tried for I haven't gotten because while I have the experience in the writing/reporting aspect, I've lacked knowledge of things such as Java, HTML, streaming video, etc.
Any suggestions on what avenue I should take to get this kind of training? I have friends with experience in those fields who have offered to set up tutorials for me, but I'm not even sure if there are certifications employers are looking for in this regard or what? Are there specific programs I should be looking into or is the fact someone says they have the knowledge enough?
Thanks.

 

Community college classes. Most papers just want to know you can handle a Flip camera and can edit video in iMovie.

 

Stitch is right on. Several of my laid-off co-workers enrolled at community colleges to learn HTML, powerpoint, web design, etc. Some states even have tuition waivers if you've been laid off. And when you're done, you get a certificate of completion, so it's a good addition to your resume/cover letter/application.

 

If you can design and program with Flash, look for a better job than newspapers.

 

Chris,

You can easily teach yourself these things. Most places don't want you to be able to code an entire website from scratch, just be able to insert simple elements into a blog post. It's far less intimidating than you think.

 

I agree with this -- if you know how to report and edit, the other will take care of itself -- but experience in such things will give you a little edge in a race among equals, so any additional training you can get is also helpful.

 

All good points, Chris. I think if you show you're skilled at getting quality information, a newspaper can fairly easily show you the ropes as far as presenting it in a multimedia format.

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Related question, from this quasi-luddite:

I'm trying to help a colleague of mine who's looking to move on. One of the jobs she's interested in has this in the J-Jobs ad: "Send a CV, cover letter and your
five best published articles to ..."

Maybe I'm an idiot, but what is a "CV" in this instance?

 

Curriculum vitae

 

Is this for a Canadian or U.K. publication? A curriculum vitae is different in the U.S. than it is elsewhere, where it's a resume. A CV is mainly used in academia in the States.

 

It's an "alternative newspaper" in the state of Washington.

I was guessing either they meant to type "CD" or it was an alternate version of a resume.

Thanks guys.

 

I'm guessing the editor or whoever wrote the ad is pretentious.

 

Seconded.