Tips for job-searching writers
Blogger SF Gal and I were discussing writerly job prospects and best ways to land jobs in the writing/editing field. In my opinion, finding a job is part hard work, part determination, part timing and part providential. Nonetheless, I can tell you what job-searching strategies worked for me:
Preliminary
Created an online portfolio: If you can make a blog, you can make a portfolio. I used wordpress and my name as the url. I created pages for my professional bio, writing samples (you can upload them to the site), interests, skills and taken college courses and made them all linkable through the front page. You can adjust these titles to fit your needs, obviously. This url got added (and bolded/enlarged) on my resume, and I mentioned it in every cover letter.
**Side benefit: I put a sitemeter on the portfolio, which allowed me to tell who was viewing it. This was HUGE in follow-up. If I knew Company X looked at it this morning, I knew they were at least a little interested, and I’d contact them.
Updated my resume: I crafted it to the best of my ability and then made an appointment with my school’s career center for more advice. The person I met with gave me practical, tangible ways to improve my info, including a set of examples and an e-mail address to use for follow-up questions. If you’re still in school, take advantage of your school’s free service!
Put the word out: I was always looking to talk about the job hunt—people I met who were in the field, people who worked in HR, friends who’d found jobs, etc. You never know who’s going to be interested.
Day-to-Day
Searched online: I had a list of maybe a dozen or so sites that I bookmarked with writer/editor searches, and I went through them every morning. Anything that looked good, I applied for.
Kept track of applications: In an Excel spreadsheet, I listed the company name, the position, the date applied, the source and what response I got.
**FYI: I applied for 60 jobs. With the spreadsheet, I was able to tell what my success-rate (company call-back) was: 20%.
Cold-called via e-mail/letter/e-mail: This was the brainchild of one Friday night, staying up too late, desperate for more ideas. I’d been rejected for a job I really wanted at a local college, so I got this idea to contact all other schools in the area. I e-mailed HR/Communications departments, telling them to expect a packet. Then I mailed manilla folders with cover letters, resumes, writing samples and a promise to follow-up. I e-mailed them a second time, about a week later. All but one wrote back to me: no positions were available at the time. A few days later, though, one school wrote again, asking me to apply for a position.
For me, getting interviews has always been the hardest part of the job-search. If you can get them to bring you in, it’s much easier to explain your qualifications and get an offer.
I’m by no means an expert at this, and I’ve learned mostly by trial-and-error and some OCD record-keeping. If you do have any other questions though, feel free to ask. If I can help, I will!
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10 Responses to “Tips for job-searching writers”
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Good tips, gradgirl.
I admire the pro-active approach you took. One summer during college, I had a friend who literally just sat around, hoping that someone would call him and ask him to work. Needless to say, he was in financial trouble the next school year!
What a great idea!!! Something like that would be perfect for my Paralegal Portfolio.
Hi, would you mind sharing the link to your online portfolio? (If not, I understand)– I am an aspiring freelance writer myself and am always looking for inspiration. Am enjoying reading your blog - congrats on the soon to be new job!
Great tips! Thanks, I’ll keep them in mind as I continue the search for a new job!
Jen: I try to keep this blog pretty anonymous, so I unfortunately can’t share my portfolio with you. I am more than willing to talk with you about questions/ideas for your portfolio though.
Feel free to write me at gradgirlblog@gmail.com.
Those are some great tips especially the online portfolio! I wish my all-in-one printer with scanner function was working -it’d save me a lot of headaches.
I’ve got a list of places to cold call Monday so I’m crossing my fingers!
Thanks again for all your advice!
For articles that weren’t linkable online, I typed out the first page or so and put it into a MS Word doc; all these pieces were identical in format: same spacing, same title placement, etc. And I labeled them “clips” and said the entire piece would be available by request.
I agree that scanning them would have been way slicker, but I didn’t have access to one.
Best Wishes!
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