Q. I am a fourth-year journalism student whose mother is also a journalist.
We've had a disagreement I was hoping you could weigh in on.
Every time there's an e-mail from an editor or reader about my work or one of my stories gets a lot of hits on the Web site, my mother always tells me to put a Post-It note with my clips or print out the e-mail and include it. She'll give the same advice when I break a story and a competing local paper runs a similar story a few days afterward, or when different media, like broadcast, pick up my story.
I think doing this will annoy recruiters, detract from my clips and make me look like a shameless self-promoter. My mother says it will help me get jobs.
Who's right?
HilaryA. Did you just ask me to take sides in a debate between a journalist and her mother?
You leave me no choice: You're both right, of course.
You should certainly note when a story generates a firestorm of reader reaction or when you kick media butt. Some recruiters will be annoyed and some won't. It's impossible to predict reactions.
I'm sure some of your clips speak for themselves and do not need additional notes. I am sure it is exactly what your mother would say.
Job application time is one of those times when it is OK to be a self-promoter -- and you should do it without shame.
Coming Thursday: This journalist's internship is winding down and she had planned on looking for another internship, but her editor told her that it would be better to freelance. Is that so?
