questions about clips

Is it best to have clips copied at real size so they're easier to read no matter how unwieldy they may be? Or is it better to have them copied on your standard 8.5 x 11 piece of paper?

I have the same type of question for e-mailed clips...Is it best to scan and e-mail them at real size or is it better to e-mail a story scanned at 8.5 x 11?

Is it necessary to date your clips?

How many clips should you include with a resume?

 

From one noob to another....

I've been told that cutting and pasting clips to a 8.5x11 page and scanning them is best. People like to see how it feels and looks. Always include the date and its best if the name of the paper is in there too.

And send as many as they as for... I always send whatever they ask for, but I'm also unemployed.

And dude, "the Ghost of Red Smith," that's a pretty lofty moniker.

 

I've never had anyone complain about a good old copy and paste into an MS word doc. Just make you copy the title, date, byline and the newspaper name.

 

The problem is I worked for a fold-out paper so some of my best stories and even my columns are larger than your standard sheet of paper. I was thinking I'd take my clips to Kinko's to have them shrink them. Then I could scan those copies.

Even though it shouldn't matter, I'm thinking that seeing the story as it appeared in newsprint makes a better impression, even if that impression is a subconscious one, than a copy-and-paste job in MS word. My guess is that'll be particularly true if I send clips for a non-journalism job.

For the record, my moniker is a humble tribute to my favorite sports writer of all time in the vein of Springsteen's "The Ghost of Tom Joad."

 

I'm not in a position to hire, but I'd always be a fan of seeing how clips look on a page. If you can do it, it can't hurt.

However, do be aware of the Kinko's route. That chain, specifically, has been notoriously difficult in letting writers photocopy clips after a large copyright scandal years back. They may not let you do it, even if you prove to them that it was you who wrote them.

 

From someone who does hire, my two rules: Keep them neat. Make them easy to read. Anything else is up to the writer. But if those two rules are followed, it will help you.

 

Wait your paper folded? No way. ;D

One more thing: If you go my route and put the clips in MS Word format, make sure you know the person can open them. If you are using the new word version from vista, older programs can't open it, unless you save it as a word 1997-2003 document, or 2003-2006 doc.

 

I tried that at a Kinko's one time and they outright refused to help. Even when I showed them my business card and ID. But the real kicker was that one of the clips was a column that had my picture right there. They still said that didn't prove I had the rights to make a copy. At the time I was pissed. Now it's kind of funny.

 

Why don't you get PDF's of your clips directly from your newspaper which will automatically resize when you print them. Then pair them with printed out copies of the same articles from a database, i.e. LexisNexis, which shows date, page placement, etc.

 

The last few jobs I applied for (and got), I used a program called Desk PDF, and just turned the actual Web pages into PDFs, and connected all six, eight, ten of them with a PDF of my Resume and cover leter...

Then you just send one big PDF with an e-mail to whoever you're applying to. It can't get any neater, and since they are all web pages from the paper, the reader knows they aren't fake.

Plus, if you keep up and make PDFs of each story you really like as they are posted, you can throw together a clips package with your resume and cover letter in about 10 minutes so you can be the first applicant for any new job.

 

Sounds like a good idea. The problem is I fell victim to my former paper's latest round of layoffs after working there for 20 years. All I have are the hard clips.

 

The problem I have with all this -- are there going to be any newspapers left to send clips to five years from now?