How to perfect your online
journalism portfolio
6/10/13
by Margaret Looney
You come across the journalism
job of your dreams, but the deadline to apply is quickly approaching. If your
online portfolio is already prepared, you can immediately show a potential
employer your accomplishments as a journalist, plus contact details, with a
single link.
Since this will be your first,
and perhaps only, chance at creating a good impression, nailing down the
details is key. IJNet talked with portfolio site Clippings.me founder Nicholas
Holmes, who shared a few tips on how to create an effective portfolio:
Don't be tempted to add all of
your clips. "A common problem I see is portfolios that are too large - a
page with hundreds of clippings can't do every one justice," Holmes told
IJNet. He suggests using between 10 and 20 clips, "just enough to show off
the breadth of your work while allowing a potential editor or employer to take
it all in fairly quickly." Include subheadings with article titles to
increase the likelihood that someone will actually read your clips.
Don't skip the bio. "If you
haven't included at least a few [paragraphs] about yourself as an introduction,
you've missed an opportunity to make a good impression straight away, before
the reader has even reached the samples of work," Holmes said. Aim for
about 200 words, and make them count. "No fluff, no buzzwords. Just
plain-spoken facts about you."
Keep the design clean and simple.
Keep fonts crisp. Avoid Comic Sans and use a 14- or 16-point size to keep it
readable, Holmes suggests in a guide he wrote on creating online portfolios. He
strongly advises against a Flash-based site (as does the general public) to
keep the site mobile- and tablet-friendly.
Multimedia is a must. Of all the
portfolios he sees, the best are those that show journalists using multimedia
creatively, taking advantage of social media curators like Storify or scoop.it,
or even just producing a YouTube video. "Journalism isn't defined by the
medium any more, and I think the most employable candidates are the ones that
know that and can prove it with the diversity of storytelling methods"
they use, he said.
Keep the clicks to a minimum.
Holmes cites a rule of thumb from the Washington Post's Emily Ingram: "If
you can put a good amount of your clips all on one page and still make it look
simple, do it," she wrote in her own series on creating a WordPress
portfolio. "Know how annoying it is to go to a newspaper’s website and
have to load an entirely new page for each photo in a 50-photo slideshow? It’s
the same concept."
Once you create your online
brand, take care of it. Perfecting your online portfolio is only the first
step. You then have to evaluate its success, tracking its leverage on social
media platforms and on Google search, which is often the first reference
employers use to find out if you're a legitimate professional.
Holmes mentions BrandYourself, a
tool that helps to ensure positive results show up first in Google search. A
pro version of Clippings.me also lets you see how popular your clips are on
social media, giving you a chance to boost your portfolio with clips that work.
Holmes' guide also includes tips
for sharing your portfolio, a number of platforms you can use to build your
portfolio and also what not to add to your online showcase.
IJNet Editorial Assistant
Margaret Looney writes about the latest media trends, reporting tools and
journalism resources.
Image CC-licensed on Flickr via
scottkellum.
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