Q. I recently had some success at an awards banquet for a regional newspaper association.
Several of my stories won recognition. One was a first-place award; the others were second or third place.
I was also one of six nominees for Journalist of the Year, though I did not win.
My question: Are only first-place finishes worthy of being put on my resume for jobs, fellowships or graduate school down the road? What about nominations?
Thanks,
Curious
A. Congratulations on those honors. They are absolutely resume-worthy.
A second or third-place win in a regional or national contest can mean much more than a first-place win in a small one, so feel free to put some of yours down.
Further thoughts on listing awards:
- Favor recognition by journalistic organizations as opposed to awards sponsored by industry groups or non-journalistic associations.
- Where space matters (paper resumes vs. online profiles on sites like LinkedIn), recency matters. Most awards can be dropped when they are several years old. I would keep major national awards, however.
- If you have many, list only the best. “More than two dozen journalism awards, including … one, two, three,” plays better than using 300 words to describe them all.
Some journalists use contests to challenge themselves, sharpen their skills and show what they have achieved. Others largely ignore most journalism competitions. Either approach works.
Coming Tuesday: This editor wonders whether the craze for videos and blogs makes sense for his news site. Why should he even bother?
