Meeting Recap for Feb. 20: Skype with Jason Tanz, Executive Editor of Wired

Last week we skyped with Jason Tanz, the executive editor of Wired Magazine. Jason has a lot of experience and had lots of great advice to share with us!

Background: Jason was a political science major at Brown University. He says the political science major is his "unending regret" and really doesn't think it's the best choice. He did take one journalism class his sophomore year and he worked on one of the school newspapers where he says he "sort of fell in love with the late nights once a week, putting together this newspaper, staying up all night, hopping in the car at 2:30 to get to Taco Bell before it closed, then two days later receiving bundle, dropping it off at the cafeteria, and watching people read it."

A couple of years after graduating, Jason moved to New York City and considered going to journalism school. A friend of his cousins (who worked at Smart Money Magazine) told him that "journalism school is great if you don't know anyone," and then connected him to some people at this start up trade publication called university business. Jason began working there, covering the tech beat and was later hired at Smart Money Magazine as a staff reporter. Jason had a few of his pieces published in the magazine, but after a while he decided to leave to become a freelance writer.

Jason soon got sick of pouring his heart into a story and having an editor not like it so he got a job at Fortune as an editor, and then moved to Fortune Small Business before getting a fellowship at the University of Michigan. While at the University of Michigan, Jason wrote a book proposal about "rap music and white people."

And that's when Jason got an email from Wired. Someone at Smart Money had mentioned Jason to an editor at Wired and the next thing he knew he was working as senior editor. Jason was very recently promoted to executive editor and moved from New York to San Francisco.

A typical day for Jason:

• When he was a senior editor it was mostly finding writers, nurturing the writers he already had, shaping pitches for pitch meeting, heavily editing articles
• When Jason was in New York, he was also the "guy on TV" when a show like Good Morning America called Wired for an expert
• Now Jason is increasingly working with new media and trying to integrate the website and the magazine

On the future of magazines:

• Personalities (on the web) can help set you apart
• Wired hasn't lost readers at all, readership has only gone up on web and in print
• They have lost advertisers, but some of these have come back
• Jason says he's not sure the print magazine will still exist 15 years from now, but he thinks there will still be an appetite for a product that’s presented like an object whether that's once a month, week, day or minute
• "As long as people want well written stories, I don’t care how they want it—paper, screen, beamed onto retinas."
• A high priority at Wired right now is to reboot their iPad app

Internship program at Wired:

• It's based in San Francisco and it's called a "fellowship"
• It's paid
• They look for someone with a sense of humor and hungry intellect--someone who likes arguing ideas
• Someone with great clips and a proof read cover letter
• Be sure to show personality, but not so much that it's weird
• Someone who's really interested and curious about technology—showing that you can think about technology in an interesting way is more important than knowing about technology
• Writing skills aren't negotiable

Last words:

• "I've had a long history of working at places that didn’t particularly interest me. The greatest luxury is working at a magazine that you would choose to read yourself, and I do love Wired. I would read it, and I love the people I work with."

Meeting Recap for Feb. 6: Skype with Kara McGrath, web editorial assistant at Seventeen Magazine

Two weeks ago we skyped with Kara McGrath, the web editorial assistant at Seventeen Magazine, who had lots of great advice for us!

A day in the life of a web editorial assistant:

• Kara covers fashion and beauty for the web
• She writes, makes slideshows, pitches ideas to the site director and works really closely with the interns
• Kara also helps out with social media and the beauty blog
• She says she's basically on the computer and writing all day long, which she loves

What really impresses her:

• Someone who's always pitching ideas
• Do something before your editor asks for it
• Never turn in subpar work: "If you don’t think it’s amazing, don’t turn it in. You’ll probably have to do it again anyways or not get assigned a new project."
• Don't be creepy or awkward with your editor--ask them about their weekend
• Being friendly: "I like interns who seem like someone I could hang out with after work."

Web/Print differences:

• Writing for web has a shorter lead time than print
• The magazine shoots everything, but for the web they often ask companies for product images
• As news changes you can go back and change the article online
• The most important part of web writing is search engine optimization--how your pieces rank on google

Resumes and Cover letters:

• Kara says she's really impressed by resumes that were cleary made in inDesign
• You stand out if you have your own logo
• In cover letters--make it obvious that you've read the site and try to write in the voice of the magazine
• Six sentences total is fine for a cover letter

On what she loves about working at Seventeen:

• It's so fun, I love our readers! But if they don’t like what you said about Harry Styles, they will tell you!"
• "I love that they’re so passionate about everything."
• "Teen girls are online all the time, and they're always interacting with us."
• "They're way more willing to try new (fashion and beauty) stuff."
• "We literally find girls on the street (to model)."

Informational interviews:

• The editor in chief is probably not going to sit and talk with you, try for the editors, assistant editors and editorial assistants
• Most people are happy to meet with you if you give them enough advanced notice and are very courteous
• Be as flexible as you can and give as much advanced notice as you can
• You might have to follow up
• Don't say "So can I have a job?"--seems like you're using them
• Ask for advice, what they like about their job, etc.--people love talking about themselves
• Consider doing an informational interview with HR so they keep you in mind

Meeting Recap for Jan. 30: Resume workshop with Jay Eubank

In preparation for internship application season, CAFME hosted our annual resume workshop with JOMC Career Services' Jay Eubank.

About Career Services
Jay gave lots of useful information about JOMC Career Services. Follow them on twitter for industry news, and be sure you're on the listserv to hear about internship opportunities and happenings in the school. And when you want to meet with Jay you can schedule an appointment through University Career Services.

Resume Tips

Jay says the resume is still key. First and foremost, he said, it's a way to show that you know how to spell, be grammatically and factually correct, and that you know how to present information. Make your resume standout by following these tips:

• Almost always keep your resume to one page
• Do NOT have a vanity email like magazinestud@gmail.com
• Also don't use your school e-mail address, because that will eventually be phased out a year after graduation
• Have your online portfolio and twitter handle on your resume
• Pick either your permanent address or your school address--don't  need both
• Have your cell phone number on there, but make sure your voicemail is professional
• Format for education:
• UNC
• School of Journalism and Mass Communication
• BA expected May 2014
• Specialization
• Minor/second major
• GPA if good
• Studied abroad if applicable
• Transition out your high school related items as soon as you can
• Format for job experience:
• Employer's name, date you worked there, job title
• Bullet points underneath--be as specific as you can
• With campus publications, give some context in the first bullet
• Put non-journalism work experience, under other and don't include details
• DON'T put Microsoft Office under special skills
• Leave "references upon request" off the resume, have references on a separate page instead
• Include relevant classes (with bullet points)
• Keep it clean and straightforward, don't use multiple colors
• Put all related experience together, no need to make distinction between campus publication and internships
• Go the extra mile and find out who to address your cover letter to