Print Clips

Once you have your clips, posting them online is a paper and stamp free way for employers to browse your talent.

The following steps can help you make that happen.

1. Scan in all desired clips

2. Convert all desired clips to PDF (portable document format)
By converting your clips to PDFs, you are ensuring that your clips are readable by anyone, anywhere, on any system. Your file will appear in a compressed format, looking exactly how you wanted it. The best way to do this is by using Adobe Acrobat. Adobe Acrobat can be downloaded on the Adobe Web site and is also available on most university systems. Because Adobe is always looking out for our needs, going to this site will allow you to turn five of your favorite files into pdfs free!

Adobe Acrobat provides specific conversion directions here.

3. Once your clips have all been converted, link them on your blog/site however you’d like, either by date, by subject, by publication, etc.

4. Finished material will look similar to this.

To provide a professional perspective, Yvonne Mihalik, managing editor of the Boulder Women’s Magazine, shared her views on digital clips.

Personally, I prefer someone to apply digitally. It is so much easier to look at things online then have a cumbersome pile of papers. For freelance journalists, applying digitally is probably the best way. For a staff job, it would probably be wise to have both methods (paper and digital)available, because every editor has his or her own personal preference of how he/she likes to look at things. Usually, the simpler the better.

…if I were to access someone's materials online, I would like to see the resume first, including experience, credentials, as well as what the person is interested in writing or doing (both with my publication and in the future). Then I would like two or three writing samples available to read. Including different styles of articles is preferable, such as a profile or interview piece, an informative piece and a reflective piece.

What I really don't like is when a writer emails me with a vague query and requires me to get back in touch just to find out what the writer is really pitching. I usually don't even respond to these people. The people I do respond to are the ones who write a nice, two or three paragraph email about who they are and what they would like to do, with a resume and writing samples attached.