Q. While the answer to my question will come too late for the application I'm working on, it'll help for future applications ... and there will be many.
I have many years of editing and translating experience, some in radio and a lot in print, for an international wire service. But it's nearly impossible to track down clips from this work, since the only retrievable stories via Nexis are the ones I wrote that have my byline on them. But I'm currently applying for editing and translating positions where the employer -- understandably -- wants clips in addition to the usual requirements for any application.
Do you have any suggestions on what I can do in this rather sticky situation? I obviously don't want to misrepresent myself in my application, but I also don't want to see my application headed straight for the round file since the clips are either incomplete, wrong or non-existent. I should add that for the application I just sent off, I simply sent writing samples, even though they required editing and translating clips.
Berlin A. Editors typically understand the circumstances under which the people they are hiring work, and they should understand the difficulties you describe.
The fact that they ask for these samples makes one wonder, however.
Because you see lots of applications in your future, I would squirrel away clips as you go rather than try to retrieve them after the fact. When you have done a good edit, simply save before and after versions of the text in your computer or on a zip drive. I should think that 10 to 12 good samples of your work would be more than enough. You would want to top those every year with better work, but you should not need a whole closet full of them.
Keep your resume current, your network clicking and your work samples up-to-date.
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Coming Friday: This journalist is thinking of a second career as a college journalism instructor but has only a master's degree. She wonders whether a doctorate is need to teach in college.
