Does one typo kill a clip?

[zagoshe]

All of this assumes the people doing the hiring are actually reading these clips, which I am fairly certain is not always the case

 

[Tucsondriver]

All of this assumes the people doing the hiring are actually reading these clips, which I am fairly certain is not always the case

From what I know, that's mostly true, but not completely. There are so many applicants for most openings it's pretty much impossible for anyone to read all of them. From talking to those on the hiring end (I'm not) most openings draw between 100 and 300 applications. Most of the time the hiring editors have already made their decisions and are posting the openings because they're required to for whatever reasons, so don't expect a thorough reading of your clips in those cases. When postings are for jobs that are actually in play, hiring editors immediately eliminate at least 90 percent, or however many they need to narrow it down to a manageable number. At some point, whether they're down to the final three to 20 (probably depends on the hiring editor), clips will get read to some extent. How much they'll care about typos/mistakes, again, probably depends on the hiring editor. In my opinion, it's the midsize paper where they're going to want meticulous copy. The smaller papers that pay below fast food wages will take what they can get, and the metro dailies theoretically have enough competent copy editors that afford them the luxury to look for the best athlete. In other words, I think they're be more concerned with the structure and content of your copy. The midsize papers will want good storytellers, but their priority will be turning in clean copy on deadline, because they don't have enough depth on the desk to catch every typo.