Clips

So I was just wondering if/when it is a good idea to send out Notebooks in your clips? Or should you just stick to mainly features?

 

I wouldn't suggest it. The only time I can think of a notebook being a decent clip would be if the lead item broke some fairly substantial news. I generally throw in one gamer and one or two breaking news stories along with mostly features and enterprise stuff, but I also tailor the clips package a bit to fit the job I'm applying for.

Good luck, noob.

 

It could add some weight to your package and I assume the papers already have notebooks. But it's something I have never considered. Let me know how it turns out.

 

Incredible.

 

If it's something you're proud of writing, include it. But it's the last thing that goes into your portfolio, unless of course -- like Barsuk said -- you broke something fairly significant. I'd put your features and gamers into the package first because that shows off your writing capability much better than a standard notebook; more story-telling, more inches, a better flow.

But you'd be surprised how many people don't know how to do a notebook, so including one wouldn't be the worst thing you can do. The more versatile the better, right?

If you think it belongs, include it. It will not hurt your chances -- unless it's filled with errors.

 

I generally include a notebook in my clips package. I think it shows some versatility in your work and that's important. For instance, instead of the usual hoops-football-baseball clips, I try to include a feature I wrote on a local karate team that went to a national competition to show them you can try different things.

If you think it belongs, go for it.

 

great post. It reminds me of a conference call I heard about a few years. All the mlb.com interns were on a call right after they got the internships. It was basically a Q&A about what to expect during the upcoming summer with the internship coordinator. Someone mentioned writing notebooks and another intern was confused and was wondering why the type of notebook they used mattered. He thought all were the same. I wasn't on the call, so I don't know the exact confusion or wording, but I know a few of the other interns had a good laugh.

 

I used a notebook when I was applying for my last job, but that's because I really liked the first item. It was 10-12 inches on an upcoming Big 12 football game in Texas and the impact it could have on the school recruiting players from the state. This was a story on media day so I also had notes on POW, injury report, depth chart changes and other small news and notes from the conference call. I think the lead item showed some creativity and initiative of getting a different story from the typical media day news, but that I was also news savvy enough to include the other items and get those notes.

 

Yea thanks.

Seems like it's good to include it, as with all other clips, if it shows off strong writing ability or, like you said above, good reporting sense and doing something different and/or interesting.

But sounds like applying for a beat job, one notebook can be thrown in to just show some versatility.

 

Last summer when I was covering minor league baseball, I asked an intern for boxes after the game. He went and looked for cardboard boxes. I had to hold it in though, since he was a friend of mine from before and didn't want him to feel too bad.