Web producer skills for your resume and career

If a graduate needs to take a gap year from work, the best thing I think they could do is stay involved with the industry. Subscribe to email and text updates from trade magazines, follow regulatory agencies like the FCC and FTC online, and stay in touch. Maintain contact with anyone that you've networked with and attend any virtual job fairs or conferences that you can. Use the time to practice and hone any technical or professional skills that you're interested in. The most important thing is to stay up-to-date and involved as much as you can, so that when the gap year is over it will be easier to get back into the swing.

In addition to the fundamentals - shooting/recording video/audio, editing, sharp newswriting skills, excellent live reporting technique, strong anchoring ability, (not necessarily in that order) - they'll need to know more than a little about the communities and newsrooms in which they want to work BEFORE they apply. Once they get a job, they'll need to be prepared for long hours, modest pay (at first), and they'll have to place a heightened degree of awareness on their personal safety when working in the field.

Having strong organizational skills is essential, from organizing files and folders to properly identifying and locating exported assets and keywords. With the high volume and variety of photos, from subject matter to stylistic approaches and genre, it's imperative that a photo editor can easily locate, share, and publish photos in a timely manner.

Knowing how to receive and give feedback in a respectful tone and with sincerity. The attitude in our group and individual critique sessions at SIU is unique. I ask our students to imagine themselves as medical surgeons who are about to operate on a "patient, "and in our situation, the "patient" is the photo that they evaluate. Judgment is sidelined during this imagined role-playing game, while the desire to offer helpful guidance and assessment to improve a photo is increased. It helps students sharpen their interpersonal skills and to communicate more sharply and effectively, versus just being nice with feedback.