As I was reading Paul Conley’s latest post about skills students need to get hired, something clicked. He references another post he made that’s worth reading: Folks with resumes need not apply. The more important post, however, is the three things j-school students need to know to get hired.

I agree with that entire post. But here’s the thing that clicked:

Few things tell me less about a prospective hire than clips from a college newspaper.
Yet most of the students I meet use clips as the center of their job-searching efforts. The students, apparently at the urging of teachers, are often quite proud of their clips. And they have come to believe that the perfect clip will lead to the perfect entry-level job.

…

Most importantly, a clip ties a student to the part of the industry that is least likely to hire him — print. When a student hands a clip to a publishing executive today he’s likely handing it to someone who has already laid off a slew of print-only reporters. It’s an exercise in absurdity for students to market themselves as talented print journalists to executives who have laid off talented print journalists by the thousands.

I learned this relatively early in my job search from an editor who was impressed with my resume, mostly by my demonstrated new-media experience. But she raised one extremely valid point about my package. In her words, “Why is this carbon-based?” Good question. Why was I, of all people, applying on paper?!

As soon as she said it, I knew she was right. It was the catalyst I needed to organize my professional work online. The next week, I registered a domain, started my blog, uploaded my resume and posted my clips online in one central location.

As I sent out a few more applications for jobs or e-mails to editors inquiring about postings or openings, it was that site I sent. Usually with the note itself serving as the cover letter and an attached resume document. I always offered to send a package of clips. But I was not once asked to.

Until about two weeks ago, I’d still been collecting the papers/tear sheets with my stories at the paper where I work now. Thinking, of course, I should keep my clips, at least the best of them, in print.

Now, I’m going to recycle the papers when I finish reading them unless it’s a presentation I think comes across better or particularly well in print, and even then, I’m saving it for my own benefit. Because, duh, it dawned on me, there really is no need to do that. The job I will apply for next is not going to be one where printed clips are expected. If they are, it’s not the job for me.

In fact, none of the papers I actually interviewed with when looking for a job post-graduation ever saw my clips in print before my in-person interview. A large part of me thinks it wasn’t those clips that got me the interview.

Paul Conley is absolutely on target. If all you have to show for yourself after your undergrad experience is a few solid clips from a newspaper, then you’re wasting your ink. (As well as several thousand dollars in tuition at a school that obviously didn’t adequately prepare you.) Seriously.

People will be far more impressed even by a blogspot or wordpress account that keeps a running list of your latest stories than by a stack of copies that will likely end up in some filing cabinent to be stumbled upon several months later and then tossed (and hopefully recycled). At least post your resume online. But why not step beyond that? At a minimum start a blog about something you care about. It’s free, and it’s easier than ordering a coffee at Starbucks. Then start making some videos or podcasts, start experimenting. Keep a flickr account. Organize your interests in del.icio.us. Etc. Show that you have mastered the technology that news organizations are moving towards not the very thing they’re running from. That will help you land the elusive job you covet.

And as for the alternate story forms Conley talks about in the latest post? You better believe this is important, whether you are writing for print or online. At every paper I interviewed with, I was asked how I would either re-do a story they had already run in an alternate way, OR given a hypothetical story and asked how I’d present it in a unique way, OR asked to give an example of a time where I had opted for a non-traditional story form.

And guess what? I’ve done a lot of non-traditional stories since starting my job at a newspaper. In tomorrow’s paper, I have six “charticles” running as a package for an annual award given instead of a linear story. This is real.

Some random thoughts before I get off for the night:

• Working Sunday really isn’t that bad, even the 8 a.m. shift when you’re alone in the office babysitting the scanner and updating the site. The drawback is there is pretty much nothing going on that isn’t somehow church-related. I’m not sure how my editor took it when my reaction was, “You want me to… cover a church service?” But luckily, we were able to come up with a pretty sweet angle. I’ll probably post that story in the clips tomorrow when it runs (not because it’s amazing or “clip-worthy” but because I liked it). Add to the mix that it was a holiday and Sunday, and today was the slowest news day of my working life.
• I also work Christmas this year. Both of these holidays I inadvertedly talked myself into working. I should keep my mouth shut.
• I have been wasting too much time on Twitter already. It’s cutting into my Facebook time. ;)
• Speaking of Facebook, I have a question and want to hear some opinions. One of my co-workers, about my age and also a member of Facebook, today told me I was “brave for listing your political leanings” on Facebook. While I’m not a hardcore anything, and I do understand how having my political leanings known could be perceived as a conflict of interest, I’m wondering if it actually matters? I’m not out there crusading for any causes or signing and circulating any petitions. I know it really depends on the organization’s policy, and I would have to ask my editors if it was a definite don’t. But I wanted to hear some thoughts. I’ve discussed this blog with the powers that be at my paper, and we kind of came up with some ground rules. One of them being I can’t go off on political rants. (I wouldn’t anyway. I don’t know enough or care enough about politics to get into it. Most of it’s just semantics anyway.) But I don’t see how admitting I lean liberal is a horrible thing? It’s a bias I know exists and because of that, when dealing with issues where it comes into play, I almost overcompensate for it. I do not cover government where political parties really play any role, and I don’t really ever want to do such reporting. Though, the same person also raised the point that being registered as a member of one party or another falls in the same category. I definitely disagree with that. If I want to vote in a primary election, I have to pick one party or another. Should my job dictate that it is not OK for me to vote in a primary election, which is part of my constitutional rights? (Granted, either way it doesn’t matter this year — we have no contested seats in primaries in the county.) My argument was my Facebook also indicates I am “Christian.” Should that bar me from covering anything that has to do with religion because I have stated publicly what camp I stand in? I don’t know. But thought it was an interesting topic to bring up.
• I have pretty much finished reading Somebody Told Me and can already tell that I am a stronger writer because of it. I think I am more aware of the nuances of word choice and descriptive details after noticing how effortlessly he weaved them in and impressed me. Seriously, at several points I was jealous of his talent at finding the perfect words and phrases to describe people, places, actions or even ideas. They say reading makes you a better writer. Anyone wanting to write, I recommend reading the articles in that book.
• Currently, I’m reading The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time. I really like it so far. I read one of the quotes on the book that said it was like the Sound and the Fury meets the Catcher in the Rye. I agree, and think it’s equally as good as both of those classics.
• All of this reading is part of my effort to get through the mountain of books I have purchased but not had time to read. It is actually getting ridiculous in that I am out of room on my shelves for anymore unread books. And I really miss visiting Borders. So I need to clear this queue quickly. I also really want to sign up for the local libraries, but I can’t because I feel guilty looking at the stacks of unread books for which I’ve actually paid.
• At the end of this week is my 90-day mark at my job. This means I’ll be eligible for health insurance and all that fun stuff. That is, as long as they don’t think I suck too bad and decide, eh, it’s not working out. (The first 90 days are “probationary.”) I looked over my review checklist already, and it looks like I’ll be sticking around. So yay for not being horrible at journalism and not failing at my first job. I know it’s silly, but I have a tendency to worry about these things.
• Also, I can’t believe I’ve only been here three months. It seems like I’ve been here for only a few weeks and also like I’ve been doing this for years. It’s hard to describe. There is still so much unconquered territory, even just on my own beat. (In my defense, I’m responsible for something like two dozen school corporations spread out across 10 counties, each with several schools.) But I’m also taking on more responsibilities here and starting some new projects. It’s also a reminder that I’ve been gone nearly a semester from the Stater, and yet that world still turns without me. God, so much to learn!

That’s all I’ve got. What, like that isn’t enough?

I’m sure anyone with a Web site that has stats attached to it watches them with interest. I know I do.

I get a lot of hits from Google searches, and sometimes they make me laugh. And sometimes they seriously creep me out. Oftentimes people are searching for answers that I wish I could give them in real time.

Searches that creep me out include…

• people searching for my name, first and last. I Google other people all the time as a part of my job and out of curiousity. But it never fails to kind of make me freak out when I realize other people are searching for information about me. Luckily, I suppose, this domain is the top hit.

• the person who searched for “video of someone hanging themselves” this afternoon and landed here because of my comments on the Saddam video. This is not the first time people searching for the Saddam clip have landed here, but this is the first time someone just wanted to see someone die. Seriously, this thought made my stomach flip.
• the many people who’ve been searching for “funny stereotypes” or its even worse cousin “funny racial stereotypes” and land at my post titled, ironically enough, Racial stereotypes ≠ funny.
• whoever it was looking for “whole world should blow up audible voice quote” and landed here. I hope that was what they were looking for, and not something sinister sounding.

Searches that make me laugh include…

• the poor guy looking for the answers to his relationship woes in Google by searching for “why cant meranda and i be together”

• the hundred or so people who’ve searched for “stupid infomercials” and landed here.
• ditto on the MXZ saw searches, which hit the same post.
• the legions of teens who’ve been searching for guidance passing the manuverability portion of their driver’s test, which I blogged about in my discussion of parallel parking.
• the person who searched for “dont go into journalism.” The post they hit was actually not about that at all. This is an example of a time where I wish I could directly respond to the person who was looking for serious career advice at the temple of Google. I’ll balance it out with the person who searched for “good things about journalist” and found me.
• all the searches by people in pain looking for solace in my musings about the worst toothache ever. Usually these take the form of “toothache hurts brain” or “toothache worst pain.”
• the person who could be my editor, for all he makes fun of my vocabulary, searching for “Like, you know, whatever” and landing on the post aptly named that. (And as an update, I am getting better at the like usage. But “whatever” is a hard word to quit. ;)

Random searches that keep popping up include…

• people trying to translate bad language in Spanish, who hit the post where my sister replied with an explanation of a whole litany of Spanish insults for my knowledge.

• people interested in “neat handwriting” or “beautiful handwriting” or some combination of those, which go back to my post about the world handwriting championship.
• people looking for specific quotes by typing in the part they remember. I’d say this, by far, accounts for the most Google refers to my site. There isn’t one quote that outpaces any other, but there isn’t a day that goes by that at least one quote isn’t hit.

And now that I’ve brought all these topics back to the forefront, they’ll probably bring even more creepy, weird or funny searches my way. Whatever, it keeps me laughing. But seriously, who’s searching for information about me? That’s always going to freak me out.

So, I saw this post on E-Media Tidbits. Being curious, I decided to test the Great Firewall of China to see if my blog was blocked. To my surprise, apparently it is.

I’m not quite sure I did to offend the government, but I suspect maybe they just blanket block everything until it’s been approved? Or (look at the disclaimer on bottom) it could be a fluke. Either way, it’s kind of odd. I don’t know.

Want to know if you should feel censored as well? Type in your URL to see if you’re blocked as well.

“We are now at a point where we must educate our children in what no one knew yesterday, and prepare our schools for what no one knows yet.”
— Margaret Mead

Perhaps the most annoying feature of Microsoft Office was that stupid paper clip. Although I realize the little Einstein guy and the dog were essentially the same program, somehow it was less annoyingly helpful when it wasn’t “clippy.”

A few weeks ago, I was in a computer lab where the teacher was attempting to teach the kids to compose a letter. The little paper clip kept popping up on them, and you could hear her frustration when she tried to explain to the fourth graders: “If a little paper clip comes up, just ignore him.” Haha.

The comic is from userfriendly.org, but I saw it linked from Journalistopia.

It’s that time of year again. As spring semester starts rolling, the internship offers start trickling in.

No, not offers for me. (The one spring internship offer I did have came a day after I accepted my job. Though, it was an amazing offer, and I’m almost glad I didn’t have to choose between the job or that internship. I don’t know if I could have made the right decision.)

The offers are for my friends at Kent State. And I’m genuinely excited for each of them. (Genuinely jealous of a few, too.) A quick tally of those I know so far:

• Ryan is coming to Indy this summer. (Yay for more Stater alums in Central Indiana!)
• Abbey is interning at the J&C with me! (Even better than being in Indianapolis is being in Lafayette!)
• Seth is headed to Lansing. (I’m sure I’ll be up for a few visits.)
• Bryan is following Ryan’s footsteps and heading to Columbus. (Columbus isn’t that far from here.)
• Brian got the Dow Jones copyediting internship. (As long as he stays away from “WTF” in headlines he’ll do well.)

There are others who know already, I’m sure. But those are just the ones I know of so far. I could probably Facebook sleuth and find out a few more, but even so not too bad a list. (Particularly since it brings almost all of them closer to me.)

As some of you know, I keep a blog Overheard at KSU to track the crazy things people say at Kent State. I’ll continue taking submissions, but obviously as I will no longer be in Kent to hear random conversations, I’ll probably pass it on. Kali is already one of the posters, but I’ll probably solicit a few more Stater kin to keep it up.

The idea was based on Overheard in the Office, which is what this post is about. I just wanted to share some hilarious comments I saw on there for your amusement:

Receptionist #1: How could we have known what happened 10 thousand years ago if Jesus lived only two thousand years ago?
Receptionist #2: Because people before Jesus wrote things down in the Bible.
Receptionist #1: There were people before Jesus?

Young ad executive #1: Anybody want a Jamba Juice? Sam the intern is going to make a run.
Young ad executive #2: Yeah, but why are you getting a Jamba Juice? You just ate lunch.
Young ad executive #1: I don’t really want one, I just feel bad the intern has nothing to do.

Head trainer: Let’s face it, if you could be all that you could be, you wouldn’t be working here…
Class: [Silence.]
Trainee #1: [Applause.]
Trainees #2 and #3: [Applause.]

Managing editor on speakerphone: Do you know how to adjust columns in Excel?
Assistant: No…
Managing editor: What do you know?
Assistant: Um… I know that when a man and a woman get together, they —
Managing editor: —Come to my office.

Yeah. That’s my amusement for the day.

It would be kind of fun to start one of these collections of “Overheard in the Newsroom” because some funny stuff gets said. :) Maybe when I have some free time, I’ll do that.

As I have nothing substantial to offer because my head is swirling… this will be a very random post with bullets of thoughts swarming my head:

• HOW DID I MISS the annoucement of the long-awaited Apple iPhone?! I’m cell phone hunting and I practically have an Apple news feed to my brain. Somehow in my pain-induced seclusion this week, I missed hearing all about this. I definitely need to investigate.
• Is it really that uncommon for a 21-year-old to have her wisdom teeth intact? I don’t know why everyone seems shocked to learn that I have my wisdom teeth. I have a big mouth. Plenty of room for more teeth to join the party. The first words of the dentist I saw today — not my normal dentist, who couldn’t see me until Friday, which um wasn’t going to work for me — were, “Oh, you still have your wisdom teeth?” Yes. But let’s stay on task. I know to join the Peace Corps you have to have them removed. But short of that or some major problem, I don’t plan to remove any more teeth for a good long time.
• My face is swollen. And I can’t talk without pain. That’s probably the worst part. Not being able to talk to me is like not being able to breathe. It’s a vital part of who I am. Plus, it meant postponing dinner with my friends an extra day.
• I just realized that my diploma will come a few days after I leave. So, it will probably be at least a few months before I see the $60,000+ piece of paper that doesn’t begin to sum up the fruits of my three and a half years at Kent State.
• I should probably tell my biological father I am moving out of the state.
• I’ve had an ongoing email exchange with a kid who has been thinking of transferring to Kent State for journalism. Today he said he’s made up his mind and will transfer next fall. I’m excited. Although I won’t be around when he arrives or probably ever meet him, judging by his drive already, I think he’ll enjoy the j-school and get a lot out of it.
• Garrison Keillor is pretty funny. I bought his book Homegrown Democrat a few months ago, but I haven’t had time to read it. Here’s his Seven Rules for reading the paper. As he says of my generation hunched over laptops, “It is so lumpen, so sad that nobody has shown them that opening up a newspaper is the key to looking classy and smart.” Well, there you have it.
• For those who recall my lamenting that it hasn’t snowed much this year, IT SNOWED last night/this morning. Although it was really just a dusting here, it was still snow. And yes, that excites me far more than it should. Unforunately, with the snow comes the cold…
• My attempts to keep my inbox clean have failed. Already I have more than 50 unread e-mails. I try to keep them up. I just can’t read them as fast as they come in. I shall try a new tactic. I have put all the daily headlines e-mails into one filter. At the end of the day, if I haven’t read them I can just select that filter and delete, right? It’s not like I’m going to go back and read old headlines. If I missed it, I missed it. This will hopefully help keep my inbox slightly more tidy.

All right, that’s enough random babble. I’ll think of something more substantial to write about.

Yesterday, I took my dog for a walk in the park. I wore nothing more than a hoodie and jeans. I was still plenty warm. I had no coat, no hat, no gloves. But it was no problem. Yesterday’s high was near 50.

Wait, this is January right? And, I’m still in Ohio… What’s going on here. Where’s the cold?

CNN has an interesting story (So… you call this winter?) about how the warm weather is affecting some businesses, competitions and people. And this story is about how the weather is helping a landscaper because he can do work he normally couldn’t at this time of year.