Thursday, July 5, 2007
Develop a Cheap Online Portfolio?
I am 26, three years out of college and a journalism (actually, communication) major who found a job in a completely unrelated field. I still do freelance writing -- sports for my local suburban Chicago daily and business for a local bi-monthly business paper -- and I am trying to get a full-time gig.
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I applied for a local law publication here in Chicago, and they wanted five clips either faxed or online as part of the app. I wasn't able to do either, no fax at home and the papers I write for don't keep clips in their archives for long -- at least not for free. So in the app I stated that my clips were available upon request. I received a response back telling me not to bother sending my clips since I was unable to follow instructions!
This ticked me off, since I knew the instructions, but I was stuck, so I was trying an alternative solution.
My question is, since many employers want online clips, how can I host mine online without paying a bunch of money to do it? Or should I just send the original Word documents, which haven't been through a final edit? I'd care not to lose out on another potential interview.
Also, in a general sense, how does someone like me get back in the game? I ended up in the 9 to 5 world because I needed a job to pay the bills, and I didn't get hired in journalism fresh out of school. I am going to grad school at my alma mater in the fall. I hope that puts me on the right track.
Tim
OK, right off I'm going to say that you should have sent that editor the clips in the first place. He sounds mean, but there are so many ways to get to a fax machine, you flunked a mild test of your resourcefulness. You can't do that again. You simply must find a way to meet reasonable requests.
And you have to be ready to spend some money (faxes, overnight mail, copies, server space, subscriptions) to get the job you want.
I'd begin to build an online portfolio by experimenting with Google pages. They're free, once you set up a free Gmail account, and you can find free tutorials on the Web for just about everything.
Make the next employer see how much initiative you have. Make things happen.
Coming Friday: He's ready to leave his current job and wonders how to explain that on his resume or cover letter.
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