Sunday, May 02, 2010

resumé tip: include details about the magazines you've worked at

When listing your work history on your resumé, make sure you include enough information about the magazines and other companies that you've worked at. This will help give prospective employers a better sense of the type of experience you have, particularly when they may not be familiar with the publication.

For starters, always list the publisher (where applicable) and city beside the magazine's name. Something like this:
Assistant Editor, Chatelaine (Rogers Media, Toronto), May 2007 – January 2010
You may want to include the publication's website:
Editorial assistant, Alberta Views (Calgary, albertaviews.ab.ca), October 2008 – Present
You can even go a step further and include a brief description of each magazine/company before listing your accomplishments:
Broken Pencil, which publishes four times a year, is a magazine dedicated to covering zines, independent publishing and underground culture in Canada. 
Or, you could include information about the publication when describing your accomplishments:
• Assigned and edited the front-of-book section of the monthly woodworking publication, ensuring timely, relevant content and a balance of subject matter.
However you decide to do it, you want to make it easy for whoever is looking at your resumé to get a thorough understanding of your experience. Details you might want to include are subject matter, consumer/trade, circulation, region, audience the magazine serves, staff size (especially if you're listing a management position) and/or frequency. Information like this can indicate how similar/dissimilar your experience is to the position you're applying to, and can help explain the type of experience you have and the type of magazine environment you've been exposed to.

Don't make the mistake of thinking that everyone is going to be familiar with the magazines you've worked at, and don't assume everyone is going to Google them to find out. Make it easy for prospective employers to get a sense of where you come from.

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