How should students present their work?
TAKEAWAY: Is it all digital when it comes to students presenting their portfolios at a job interview? It seems that way.
The print versus digital debate is not limited to the newsrooms.
In fact, one of the intriguing questions as spring leads to graduation for college students, and, thus, job hunting, is whether a student should prepare a paper portfolio/resume when facing a job interview.
Several of my Columbia University students have told me that a majority of those at job fairs are interested in digital portfolios, not paper ones. Perhaps we have seen the end of paper portfolios, and I can understand why.
First, a student is likely to have done a lot of class work digitally, so this facilitates the process of showing their experiences. In my own class at Columbia, weekly assignments are done digitally, posted on a designated Dropbox for the course, and reviewed by me on the screen, with my comments sent via email to students. There is no paper transaction.
Second, and this is a practical point: it is more manageable and easy to display and for the prospective employer to take. Files can be transferred digitally with the touch of a button.
In the old days, it was possible for a portfolio to get lost in the proverbial pile. Or it might fall behind a desk. I know. I applied for a New York Times internship as a senior in college, and never even had an acknowledgement of it from the Times. Four years later, a letter from the Times revealed that my application had been found in a Maryland post office. “You would have been considered for the internship,” the Times letter (which I still save) read. It was not meant to be. The road not taken.
A digital portfolio was not an option in 1969, of course. Perhaps the chances of it disappearing would have been less, or maybe not.
Fate still plays a role, regardless of whether one presents oneself on paper or digitally.
Some things never change.
Of related interest:
Getting a Job in Journalism Code
For more about how my application for internship at The New York Times got lost:
40 Years/40 Lessons: Luck.
http://garciamedia.com/blog/articles/40years_40_lessons_9_luck