I am a senior at a small university with a weekly paper. I wrote a story this past year for the paper that took an in-depth look at cocaine use at my school. I am very proud of the story and consider it the best journalism I've done in my fledgling career.

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The only problem I see is that the story is long — 4,000 words long — and I worry that when I send the clip to recruiters for internships and jobs in the fall they will glaze right over it while going through the piles and piles of applications in front of them. I know I could be worrying over nothing, but do you think this could become an issue, especially at papers without dedicated recruiters?

Also, how should I rank this clip compared with stories I've done at my internships? Will it have less value because it's at a school paper than, say, a story on a murder at a small daily?

Thanks for your help,

Jeremy

Would that be a story on a murder at a small daily, or a story at a small daily on a murder?

Either way, you can include both stories. Most editors will want to see six to 10 clips. And, if one is

Joe Grimm

especially long and compelling, enough of it may get read to do the trick for you.

So, I would include it, along with some clips of shorter lengths.

While work from commercial newspapers is generally preferred to work from student papers, I would not toss one of my best stories for that reason. I would simply pack it in with stories from mainstream papers.

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Coming Tuesday: After 25 years of experience, she is having a hard time getting a top managerial job and wonders if age is getting in her way. Potential employers are giving her very few clues.

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