How to put my clips together

[cincyjournalist33]

Hi everyone. I'm about to graduate and I'm in need of putting my best articles together to showcase for employers. The issue is some of these articles went into print in my school's newspaper and some were online only. How should I physically (or electronically) put together by showcase of my best work?

Thank you!

 

[Mark2010]

Hey mate,

I'm old school, so I often put together a set of hard copy clips. When it comes to stuff that appeared online, I'll usually just print out the web page, unless it is hopelessly cluttered with ads and such. In that case, I'd copy and paste into a word document.

In recent years, I've gone to sending clips electronically more often. Seems like more and more people prefer that, so fine. I have a set of files, each with various stories, that I can add as an attachment to an email. The files aren't too large, so that's not a problem. I used to worry about whether the person on the receiving end would have the necessary software to open the attachment, but that hasn't been a problem thus far.

Whatever format you choose, WHAT you send is far more important than the method you use to send it. For most positions, I try to include a mix of event stories, breaking news, enterprise, features and columns. If I know the details of a particular position (college beat, hockey, golf, whatever), then I'll often pick clips from that sport.

I should say I've been out of school for more than 20 years and have hundreds of clips to pick from. When I was just graduating, I'd send whatever I had that looked good: college paper, internship, games that I freelanced, anything that showed I could write nice and tight.

Best of luck in your search.

 

[spikechiquet]

Screen shot the online stories and save as a PDF. Less clutter and you can always print them out if you need to give a hard copy.

These threads make me sad.

Shut the eff up Ralph. A kid asks for help, you tell him "beer me newbie" and then help. Either that or GTFO. Quit being a waste of space.

 

[TopSpin]

Saving to Word works, but I recommend investing in a good scanner and save everything in PDF. Some places where you'll apply online will want the clips uploaded in PDF, same applies to your cover letter and resume.

Best of luck and congratulations on graduation.

 

[Madison Sports]

I have Word 97 and it allows me to save as a PDF directly through Word. Maybe that's because I also have Acrobat, I don't know.

I do know there are multiple free online utilities that convert and then email you PDFs of a Word doc. Here is one www.freepdfconvert.com of them (have not tested it). You'll get much cleaner results than with a scanner.

 

[SP7988]

If you have a lot of online work, I've found Pressfolios to be a good tool to use to organize everything. In the free version you're only allowed up to 12 clips, but I feel like that's more than enough.

I've only received good feedback from using it thus far.

 

[Turtle Wexler]

Do not EVER just copy your text and paste it into a Word document. That strips your work of the "proof of publication" that gives it credibility. I want to see where and when something ran. If you give me a Word doc with text I'm going to assume it was a class assignment and throw it in the trash.

Any clips that you send electronically -- either via email or uploaded to an application website -- should be PDFs. It's a universal format that you know the person on the other end will be able to open and view as intended. Don't bother sending any other file type unless it's SPECIFICALLY asked for.

You can make a PDF of print or online work. Get a scanner for the former (even better: if you can save a PDF directly from the pagination file), and screen shots for the latter.

Learn how to make a PDF. If it's too complicated for you on a PC, find a Mac.

 

[HookEm2014]

Both Firefox and Chrome have add-ons that allow you to make any webpage into a PDF. It's a quick and easy way to make a clip packet.

This is a great, free tool for combining PDF files into one document: http://merge.smallpdf.com/

 

[Matt Stephens]

To add to this, if any were published as centerpieces in the school paper and have really solid design work with them, try to get a PDF of that page. In my (albeit fairly limited) experience, the presentation of a solid story can make it pop even more to an editor.

 

[boundforboston]

Do not EVER just copy your text and paste it into a Word document. That strips your work of the "proof of publication" that gives it credibility. I want to see where and when something ran. If you give me a Word doc with text I'm going to assume it was a class assignment and throw it in the trash.

Both Firefox and Chrome have add-ons that allow you to make any webpage into a PDF. It's a quick and easy way to make a clip packet.

.

What's the name of the add-on? I tried web2PDF, but it didn't work and said the file was corrupted.

 

[HookEm2014]

Do not EVER just copy your text and paste it into a Word document. That strips your work of the "proof of publication" that gives it credibility. I want to see where and when something ran. If you give me a Word doc with text I'm going to assume it was a class assignment and throw it in the trash.

Both Firefox and Chrome have add-ons that allow you to make any webpage into a PDF. It's a quick and easy way to make a clip packet.

.

What's the name of the add-on? I tried web2PDF, but it didn't work and said the file was corrupted.

I have it on Firefox, it's called "Save as PDF" 1.5. I know Chrome has something similar, can't remember the name off the top of my head though.

 

[alanpagerules]

I have Word 97 and it allows me to save as a PDF directly through Word. Maybe that's because I also have Acrobat, I don't know.

I do know there are multiple free online utilities that convert and then email you PDFs of a Word doc. Here is one www.freepdfconvert.com of them (have not tested it). You'll get much cleaner results than with a scanner.

Thank you for posting that -- turns out I was looking for just that.