How to format a writing portfolio for an online job application
April 12, 2013 7:42 PM Subscribe
I'm job hunting for the first time in a few years, and I just saw a perfectly delicious looking Content Editor gig at a women's apparel website. They want me to include my writing portfolio, for obvious reasons.
What's the most current best practice for how this should be formatted and attached to my application email? I have a variety of blog, website, and social media content from my current and former jobs. Should I just pick my favorite clips, toss them in a word doc, and attach it? Something fancier? Any formatting specifics? Should I also include a link to my personal website with more samples? Thanks, writerly Mefites!
If they're not already hosted online, you could create a shareable Dropbox folder and link to that in your cover letter/email.
posted by radioamy at 7:55 PM on April 12, 2013
posted by radioamy at 7:55 PM on April 12, 2013
I'd attach one clearly named PDF per clip or a single PDF merging multiple clips in a row (as long as you can optimize the PDF to keep the file size down), plus your résumé in a separate PDF (regardless of which way you do the clips). (Although a word of caution: If this is a really corporate job, you might want to include your résumé in a Word doc, rather than a PDF, so it can be scanned by the software a lot of corporate HR departments use to screen applicants.) A carefully made PDF of a story in its original context is much more professional and useful to an interviewer than dropping just the text into a Word doc. If you have a good portfolio website, you should also include a link to that in your résumé, but do not just throw links to your stories in the body of your email cover letter—you can do that in addition to sending actual PDFs of stories, but it's not a good substitute for doing so.
I tell you this as someone who sits next to a gal who's in charge of hiring writers for my workplace's blogs and print editions on a regular basis (and as someone who's hired a number of writers, photographers, and editors myself). My officemate hates getting application emails where no clips are attached, because it means she has to go to each link and possibly hunt down the article in question if the link has changed at all, and/or figure out the right printing format so she can make copies once she's found the story. (Multiple people are involved in the hiring process, and passing around a stack of printouts is far more efficient than forwarding 50 applicants' emails or directing everyone to check out a folder on the server with 50 sets of résumés and clips...) This has consumed a lot of her time so far this month, and I can assure you, she'd be much happier right now (and probably not working over the weekend) if more people attached their clips to their application email in a concise, easy-to-print format.
It used to be, not even that many years ago, that you'd still compile a packet of your résumé and clips (perhaps including a CD of PDF versions) to send to a potential hiring manager. Emailing PDFs of your résumé and clips is the current equivalent in the writing world, even when you're applying for highly digital positions.
posted by limeonaire at 8:28 PM on April 12, 2013 [3 favorites]
I tell you this as someone who sits next to a gal who's in charge of hiring writers for my workplace's blogs and print editions on a regular basis (and as someone who's hired a number of writers, photographers, and editors myself). My officemate hates getting application emails where no clips are attached, because it means she has to go to each link and possibly hunt down the article in question if the link has changed at all, and/or figure out the right printing format so she can make copies once she's found the story. (Multiple people are involved in the hiring process, and passing around a stack of printouts is far more efficient than forwarding 50 applicants' emails or directing everyone to check out a folder on the server with 50 sets of résumés and clips...) This has consumed a lot of her time so far this month, and I can assure you, she'd be much happier right now (and probably not working over the weekend) if more people attached their clips to their application email in a concise, easy-to-print format.
It used to be, not even that many years ago, that you'd still compile a packet of your résumé and clips (perhaps including a CD of PDF versions) to send to a potential hiring manager. Emailing PDFs of your résumé and clips is the current equivalent in the writing world, even when you're applying for highly digital positions.
posted by limeonaire at 8:28 PM on April 12, 2013 [3 favorites]
An online portfolio shows you know the tech and are serious about getting the the job.
posted by vrakatar at 8:28 PM on April 12, 2013
posted by vrakatar at 8:28 PM on April 12, 2013
I am in the same field as you are. I have an online portfolio--particularly important for digital. Also, my online portfolio allows me to show range outside of what the position is specifically asking for. I also have all of my work as PDFs, in case the job posting asks specifically for PDFs.
However, I would say that the portfolio is definitely preferred, and a good one impresses the company.
posted by so much modern time at 8:54 PM on April 12, 2013
However, I would say that the portfolio is definitely preferred, and a good one impresses the company.
posted by so much modern time at 8:54 PM on April 12, 2013
I use a Carbonmade portfolio to organise my work online - very user friendly, there's a free version... and to add another opinion, now I'm hiring people I find going through PDFs quite tedious - one link is great!
posted by teststrip at 12:57 AM on April 13, 2013 [2 favorites]
posted by teststrip at 12:57 AM on April 13, 2013 [2 favorites]
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posted by Colonel_Chappy at 7:53 PM on April 12, 2013