Writing Samples?

[Bristol Whipped]

When you guys include writing samples along with a resume, how does everyone do it? A link to the stories on the internet? Word documents? PDFs?

More importantly, those of you who do the hiring, what do you prefer?

 

[Greg Pickel]

This is a great topic and question, thanks to anyone who gives some feedback in this thread!

 

[Writer33]

I'm currently looking to fill a sports reporter position. There are a couple of things I've come across that were a bit bothersome. I've had a couple of instances where I've clicked to links that had stories, but I couldn't tell if they had been published. Linking a Web site is not a problem. It saves everyone time, but I want to be able to see that the stories were published. Not related, but in another instance, a candidate emailed his interest in the job. The problem was he had copied and pasted a previous email he had sent out. It included the email address of the editor he had sent it to. I felt bad for the guy, but he was immediately dropped from consideration. The best advice I can give is to carefully go over your material before you send it on its way. Good luck.

 

[Stitch]

http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/28205/
http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/37470/
http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/58987/
http://www.sportsjournalists.com/forum/threads/57366/

 

[flexmaster33]

I use pdf copies of the pages...in large part so employers can not only see my work as a writer, but also my photography and page design. Regardless, I find it to be the most universal way to get clips across, even if it's only story clips.

 

[BobSacamano]

I use PDFs because you'd be surprised how many journalists are too dumb to make one -- in this job climate, no less. It's cleaner, shows a grasp on technology, and is easier, in general.

One thing I like to do is find out as much as I can about the editor who will review my work. I go old school if the editor is a seasoned veteran. That means big ol' envelope, cover letter, and physical copies of clips. It's worked once, but I've heard back every time.

 

[Dan Feldman]

Not related, but in another instance, a candidate emailed his interest in the job. The problem was he had copied and pasted a previous email he had sent out. It included the email address of the editor he had sent it to. I felt bad for the guy, but he was immediately dropped from consideration. The best advice I can give is to carefully go over your material before you send it on its way. Good luck.

I was actually having a conversation with a friend about this topic recently.

Are you trying to hire the best journalist or the person who can put together the best application?

Should accidentally including the other editor's e-mail address really be a disqualifying offense? Sure, it's a negative indicator. But is it really that terrible you wouldn't consider the applicant and make an overall evaluation (with that mistake playing a factor)?

If that applicant had a mistake in one of his clips, would you stop considering him, or just consider it a negative? Isn't a mistake in an article more relevant?

 

[sportsguydave]

Not related, but in another instance, a candidate emailed his interest in the job. The problem was he had copied and pasted a previous email he had sent out. It included the email address of the editor he had sent it to. I felt bad for the guy, but he was immediately dropped from consideration. The best advice I can give is to carefully go over your material before you send it on its way. Good luck.

I was actually having a conversation with a friend about this topic recently.

Are you trying to hire the best journalist or the person who can put together the best application?

Should accidentally including the other editor's e-mail address really be a disqualifying offense? Sure, it's a negative indicator. But is it really that terrible you wouldn't consider the applicant and make an overall evaluation (with that mistake playing a factor)?

If that applicant had a mistake in one of his clips, would you stop considering him, or just consider it a negative? Isn't a mistake in an article more relevant?

It's a tough call, but I think a mistake like that speaks to a certain carelessness, or inattention to detail that we wouldn't want to see in a story. Of course, nowadays many of us are taking a shotgun approach to job searches, so I can see where such a mistake might occur. But still...

 

[Stitch]

I'm currently looking to fill a sports reporter position. There are a couple of things I've come across that were a bit bothersome. I've had a couple of instances where I've clicked to links that had stories, but I couldn't tell if they had been published. Linking a Web site is not a problem. It saves everyone time, but I want to be able to see that the stories were published. Not related, but in another instance, a candidate emailed his interest in the job. The problem was he had copied and pasted a previous email he had sent out. It included the email address of the editor he had sent it to. I felt bad for the guy, but he was immediately dropped from consideration. The best advice I can give is to carefully go over your material before you send it on its way. Good luck.

I'd fire you if your sports section has any errors in it.

 

[Mark2010]

I guess I'm old school. Still do the clip and copy thing. (That's why they're called clips, right?). Some websites only keep stories up for a certain amount of times. I have sent blogs, but I would always print them out and send on real paper.

I try to send a variety: game stories, features, profiles, columns, blogs, analysis.

 

[Writer33]

Not related, but in another instance, a candidate emailed his interest in the job. The problem was he had copied and pasted a previous email he had sent out. It included the email address of the editor he had sent it to. I felt bad for the guy, but he was immediately dropped from consideration. The best advice I can give is to carefully go over your material before you send it on its way. Good luck.

I was actually having a conversation with a friend about this topic recently.

Are you trying to hire the best journalist or the person who can put together the best application?

Should accidentally including the other editor's e-mail address really be a disqualifying offense? Sure, it's a negative indicator. But is it really that terrible you wouldn't consider the applicant and make an overall evaluation (with that mistake playing a factor)?

If that applicant had a mistake in one of his clips, would you stop considering him, or just consider it a negative? Isn't a mistake in an article more relevant?

Dan, I think you make a good point. We received a large number of applications for this opening. Far more than in the past. Additionally, the talent level of the applicants is superior. To me it was a sloppy mistake that could have easily been avoided with a little attention to detail. As for Stitch's remark, I've made plenty of mistakes in my time.

 

[mustangj17]

PDFs. PDFs always PDFs. Everything I send is a PDF.

 

[MonsterLobster]

I have some HTML/CSS skills, so I spent some time putting together a nice little portfolio site that has lots of writing, photography and design samples.

For the story samples, I took PDFs of the pages with my stories, cropped them in Photoshop, saved them as JPGs and put them on the site like that so they appeared like actual clippings and not just plain text.

I would then just e-mail a PDF cover letter and resume that both clearly point them to the website.

 

[blahblah]

PDFs. PDFs always PDFs. Everything I send is a PDF.

Same here, for the most part (I keep my cover letters in doc format).

If you're relying on links for your writing samples, you never know when a prior employer could make some kind of technical change with their archive that might affect accessibility, and some of the work you're most proud of could vanish. With PDF's, you don't have to worry about that potential issue, and it's completely self-controlled.

 

[sgreenwell]

PDFs. PDFs always PDFs. Everything I send is a PDF.

Same here, for the most part (I keep my cover letters in doc format).

If you're relying on links for your writing samples, you never know when a prior employer could make some kind of technical change with their archive that might affect accessibility, and some of the work you're most proud of could vanish. With PDF's, you don't have to worry about that potential issue, and it's completely self-controlled.

I totally agree with this. Right as I got laid off at my previous shop, they had upgraded their website. As a result, EVERYTHING dropped off, right as I was looking for a new job. That wasn't helpful.

 

[mustangj17]

PDFs. PDFs always PDFs. Everything I send is a PDF.

Same here, for the most part (I keep my cover letters in doc format).

If you're relying on links for your writing samples, you never know when a prior employer could make some kind of technical change with their archive that might affect accessibility, and some of the work you're most proud of could vanish. With PDF's, you don't have to worry about that potential issue, and it's completely self-controlled.

I totally agree with this. Right as I got laid off at my previous shop, they had upgraded their website. As a result, EVERYTHING dropped off, right as I was looking for a new job. That wasn't helpful.

Yep. I always copy and paste stories into a word doc shortly after being published. I can save them and clean them up later if I want. Never know which ones I may need to use. I usually base it on the position I apply for.