Dear Coach,

Just how long should a resume be? Mine is running about three pages, and my professor told me to cut it way down. I want to be sure my experience, including several internships, awards, projects and skills, is fully reflected, and that potential employers can see the whole of who I am. Thoughts? – Running Long

Dear Running,

The short answer is one page. Not an inch more. One crisp page is easier for a potential employer to handle. It shows you know how to hone, choose, edit. A second or third page flying off someone’s desk would say “this person hasn’t mastered brevity.”

Please do two things. First, look at how the resume is designed. Is that what is eating up all that space? If so, go with simple bullets listing highlights. Second, make sure you have edited out every extraneous word and phrase. Delete small jobs and projects that don’t match the particular employer. Editors want someone who knows how to present information in a concise, compelling way. Gee – sort of like writing a news story, no?

Dear Coach,

I can’t stand reading the online comments about my stories. They are often hateful and hurtful. In response to any story that has to do with race or immigration, the comments are ugly and racist. My question is, Are we doing ourselves a disservice by not reading the comments? Is it something we need to do to “keep in touch” with what our readers are thinking? – Thin-skinned

Dear Thin,

You answer half of your own question in the way you sign your name. In order to navigate the online comments, a reporter needs to be thick-skinned. Yes, you would be doing yourself a disservice by ignoring the comments altogether. But you can develop a (thick-skinned) way of skimming them, ignoring the haters and learning to quickly spot the legitimate comment from a reader with a legitimate concern. You might even respond to those legit comments. You may learn something important about the story you’ve written, or find an avenue to a good follow story. You may gain a fan for life.

Chips alum Zuri Berry, a sports producer for Boston.com, recently wrote a column on this very topic. “Nowadays, I’m definitely in the camp of don’t read the comments on your stories,” he said. “I think being in a large market has everything to do with it. In my last job, a very small market with a paper circulation of 16K, I knew the commenters. My responses to their negative or positive postings were always met with positivity …But here, the sheer number of comments, both negative and positive, oftentimes makes it impossible to respond to all of the individual gripes and half truths thrown my way.”

But Berry does respond to each email, a good practice as well. It is a shame that in many places, the anonymous postings on stories have become a breeding ground for negative discourse. But that is the nature of anonymity. Again, skim. Learn to spot the good and the true. Respond. Keep thickening that skin.

Dear Coach,

As my internship was ending, I went to lunch with my editor, and after praising my writing (which made me happy), she told me something quite disturbing. She said, “I can’t tell you how many student reporters come through here without the most basic writing skills.” It got me thinking: Is there a list of things that students need to know before starting internships, so we won’t miss out on job opportunities? — List-less

Dear List,

This is a great question, and I wish there was a magic list to hand to you, but there isn’t. There is, however, the collective experience of veteran editors who work with student interns. I conducted an informal survey of these editors, framing your question this way: What stands out as the one skill interns should have, but do not have, when they step into your newsroom? The two biggest umbrella answers were: 1) basic writing skills, including grammar, punctuation, spelling, style and basics of storytelling, and 2) how to behave professionally. A sampling of what they said follows.

• Chips alum Rhina Guidos, editor at The News Journal, Wilmington, Del.:

“My pet peeve is a young reporter who acts as if he or she knows it all,” Guidos says.

A know-it-all reputation, once you get it, is hard to shake. This kind of behavior, she says, includes opinionated chatter on Twitter or Facebook about newsroom business, including who’s been laid off, what the memo from the higher ups said, etc. The solution is to demonstrate respect for colleagues, and that include managers.

• Kevin Fagan, reporter at the San Francisco Chronicle, and mentor to young reporters:

“Sitting around and tinkering for days (literally) with stories that should be banged out in three hours,” Fagan says.

A solution, he says, would be for students who know they are going to do internships to give themselves strict deadlines at their school newspapers. Don’t report a story Tuesday and write it Friday because that fits your schedule. Do it all in one day, so you learn how to cut to the chase. “That’s what we did at San Jose State, and it served me and my many fellow alumni here at the Chronicle well when we all started our first jobs,” he says.

• Jamesetta M. Walker, assistant city editor/style columnist, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.

“The biggest issue, recently, has been tact (and) not knowing the rules of the room,” Walker says.

She describes an intern who arrived on the first day of work “being blunt and critical in an unconstructive manner.” Another asked repeatedly before even starting the job which specific weekends she would have to work so she could organize her friend and family visits. The solution, Walker says, is to “be able to ask questions properly. Observe and learn newsroom culture.” A little humility never hurts, either.

• Laurie Hertzel, special projects and books editor, Star Tribune, Minneapolis, Minn.

“Many interns are not used to talking to people face-to-face. They need to be prodded to leave the office and get off of email or Facebook,” Hertzel says.

School may be about books and the Web, but news is about real people. You need to be comfortable talking to people in the flesh. The solution, Hertzel says, is to get out of the office and go meet some of the sources you’re building up on Twitter and Facebook. Learn how to look them in the eye.

• Chips alum LaSharah Bunting, national news editor, The New York Times.

“Don’t feel that you have to be a jack of all trades, Bunting says. “A lot of young journalists are being told that in college, and the problem is that they become a master of none.”

The solution, Bunting says, is to find the one thing you love, whether it’s writing, copy editing or videography. Master that. Then pick another skill that would be useful to your storytelling and refine that as well. Once you’ve established that area of mastery, “it’s easier to experiment with other mediums.”

Dear Coach,

During my internship, I saw that much of what I learned in journalism school was not applicable to my job in the newsroom. We got the basics in school, such as how to write an inverted pyramid, and our campus newspaper (which I will be editor of) appears online. But no class I took prepared me for the real newsroom world. When I return to my campus, I feel like giving the professors and administration a serious talking to about their needing to change. Is this appropriate? Any ideas for how to approach such a conversation? — Feels Cheated

I’m not sure you should storm the administration or the faculty lounge and tell folks they need to change. Trust me, they already know. As editor, you have a leadership opportunity, and that includes discussing how the school might more quickly enter the digital era. You might show them the $20 million program by the Carnegie Corporation and the Knight Foundation to “redefine journalism education and train a new generation of journalists capable of reshaping the news industry.” The point of that effort was to demonstrate that schools can teach both journalism values and digital innovation. The results (www.News21.com) show just what schools can accomplish.

So when you go back to school, don’t storm the battlements. You might simply host a brown bag lunch for fellow journalism students (invite the faculty) to share what you have learned in the “real world” and what you wish you had learned in school. Show clips and videos of hyper-local reporting. Talk about the skills of multitasking and reporting on various platforms, especially mobile. Over coffee, you can talk with your adviser about trying to put the things you learned into practice on the school paper’s websites. This is a great moment for you. Seize it.

Disclosure: CQS Career Coach Mary Ann Hogan is married to Eric Newton, senior adviser to the president of the Knight Foundation.

Dear Coach,

I worked really hard on a story that was slated to run on A1. My editors liked it, and I thought everything was fine, but the next morning I saw that it ran in the B section. I was really upset. On the paper’s website, though, my story was the most read and most emailed story of the day. Should I complain to my editor about the story being bumped? – Feeling Dumped

Dear Dumped,

I wouldn’t “complain” about anything. You don’t want to position yourself as a “complainer.” It’s something that will only follow you. That said, if your editor has a few free minutes, you might want to ask her why the piece got bumped. That’s a valid question, and it probably has a valid answer, which could be anything from a strong national or international story coming in late, or your editor’s superiors deciding, for whatever reason, that your piece wasn’t A1 material after all.

Most important though, and the thing you want to hold onto and build on, is the popularity of your story on the Web. If you use the piece in your portfolio, you might want note in the margin that it was the most read and emailed story of the day. Remember, yesterday’s newspaper is yesterday’s news. But your story’s status as the most read and emailed of that day means it has legs that extend far beyond the front page.

Dear Coach,

I am a photojournalist at a small paper in the Northeast and have been on the job for six months. For a while, I could feel and see my work improving weekly, if not daily. But lately, I’ve felt stagnant, as if nothing I do pushes the limits. A recent rash of layoffs has left everyone with more daily stories to cover and virtually no time to work on enterprise. I always get a usable shot for the paper, but rarely do I have a day where I look at my published work and think, “This is one for the portfolio.” Do you have any advice for how to push through such periods? Is it too soon to start trying to get another job? I’m a little conflicted. – Needs a Boost

Dear Boost,

Unfortunately, your situation is classic. So many people wonder How can I improve if there isn’t any time to improve? In my view, the best way out is to identify a few stories you want to work on. They can be anything, from the anatomy of a heart transplant to harvesting blueberries to a Wiccan celebration in the woods. Just make sure that whatever you choose is something you love. Then, do the story, but on your own time: weekends, nights, down time. Do the shots for your portfolio. Create the excellence you want to see. If the stories are relevant to the paper’s mission, then maybe you can pitch them as galleries. (You don’t need to tell people you’ve been working on them on your own. That’s your business.) Even if the paper doesn’t run them, or you choose not to pitch them, you will have them in your portfolio.

It is never too early to start keeping your eyes out for places you might want to work. I’d be careful, though, of bolting for the sake of bolting. That would leave you in a similar situation in a new place, and get you a line on your resume that said you had stayed in a job for only six months. That’s something you want to avoid because it might come back to haunt you when you’re applying for your “real” job. So be judicious in the looking.

Most important, don’t let your circumstances get you so down that you grow discouraged. That will affect your attitude and your work. Find your own time to be excellent. You have nothing to lose but sleep.

Dear Coach,

How much personality is acceptable for an intern to show in the workplace? Is it best to be polite but bland? Can showing your individualism hurt you in the long run? –Wants to be Me

Dear Me,

The question is an interesting twist on the “rules of the room” discussion we know so well from orientation in Nashville. While it’s not clear exactly what the “me” you want to be is, probably a good rule of thumb is, yes, be yourself. Don’t create an alien intern face, but be yourself in the context of the culture of the place where you are working. If you are a huggy, “back-rubby” kind of person, it’s probably best to keep that side of you out of the newsroom. That’s not being bland, it’s just being professional. If your “me” is wonderfully wild clothes and jewelry, again, probably best to pick up a couple of business blazers and skirts and wear them until it’s crystal clear that wonderfully wild clothes are the office norm. (If they’re not, wear them on the weekends.) In fact, one recent Chipster arrived at work the first day in “business casual,” khakis, dress shirt and a sports jacket, and was (quietly and kindly) asked to go home to get a tie. Why? That was the culture of that newsroom.

Not all newsrooms are that conservative or formal. The point is, know the culture. Adhere to the culture. Be who you are, but in a way that doesn’t clash with that culture.

As for whether “individualism” can hurt you in the long run: You want to be remembered for the work you did, not the backs you rubbed or the clothes you wore. And yes, be polite. That’s not bland either. That’s just good manners.

Dear Coach,

Do you have any tips for reporters starting out in a small bureau? I’m feeling a bit disconnected and wondering if I’m just going to wither out here. – In the Sticks

Dear Sticks,

Working in a bureau, even a small one, can be one of the most exciting and productive places to be. But, as you suggest, it can also leave you feeling lonely and disconnected. Tip 1: Stay connected – to your editor (whether in the bureau or not); to the colleagues you admire (not the ones who gossip); and most important, to the community you are covering. Spend your first week getting to know the area, inside out. Use maps, make coffee dates with potential sources and visit community organizations and other places that can give you deeper context for what’s going on. Then start writing. Cover as many kinds of stories as you can. Keep busy. You’ll be surprised at how connected you will start to feel.

Here are more tips from some resident experts who have spent years in bureaus.

From CQ alum Mariecar Mendoza, who covered two small cities from the East Valley bureau of The Desert Sun in Palm Springs, Calif.:

• Work your tail off and find good enterprise stories to get you noticed at the main newsroom. (That’s how I ended up being promoted to Palm Springs reporter.)

• Take your breaks outside of the bureau so you don’t get cabin fever or feel stranded. (On nice days, my co-workers and I ate lunch at a nearby park.)

• Pack a lunch, otherwise you spend too much money eating at fast food restaurants (which isn’t healthy anyway).

From Kevin Fagan, veteran San Francisco Chronicle reporter, who worked in the East Bay bureau for many years before moving to the main office:

• Be curious about everything and immerse yourself in the area as if you had just moved there.

• Get AAA maps of the entire area you cover and take an afternoon drive to get a sense of the geography. Paper maps give you a better sense of place than GPS images for this purpose.

• Become familiar with the area by reading the websites of the county, the cities, the cops, the schools, etc. Even go to the Wikipedia pages for these places, taking care to make sure they are based on good sources.

• Ask your editor (or the sources you are meeting) what the top six or 10 issues are in your coverage area, then read the clips about those issues in your paper’s library.

From Carolyn Jones, who has worked in the San Francisco Chronicle’s Oakland bureau for five years:

• Have fun! Working in a bureau might be the most fun place to work in journalism. In most bureaus, there’s no editor present and not much direct supervision so you’ll have a lot of latitude as to what you cover and how you structure your time. It’s a great place to do enterprise work and mold your beat the way you want to.

• On the flip side, you’re often forgotten about in the main newsroom. So it’s good to visit periodically. Go to events there as much as possible, just so people get to know you and see you as a regular part of the staff. Also, call your editor often (several times a day) and pitch stories, talk about coverage and brainstorm, just so you don’t get lost in the shuffle. Your stories will get better play that way, too.

• Because you won’t have a lot of supervision, get to know your co-workers in the bureau. You’ll need their help in a million ways, every day. Most of them have probably been covering their beats for a long time and have extensive knowledge of the local landscape, which, if you’re new, you won’t. Ask questions. Ask for advice. Bounce ideas off them.

• Explore as much as you can.

I’m sure you see a trend in here. “In the sticks” is a state of mind, not a place. The place is there for the taking. Go out and take it. And don’t forget to pack that lunch.

Dear Coach,

What’s next? We young journalists find ourselves riding a new wave of storytelling. This has created an entire generation of reporters who can no longer easily describe what they do for a newspaper because specifics have been thrown out the window. So again, I ask, “What’s next?” What shape is the future taking for the industry, and what will we have to do to adjust and find success?
–Future-bound

Dear Future,

Great question. Short answer: No one knows. I answered a similar query just two years ago. At that time, nobody could have known that Twitter would upend the way news is disseminated and that radio talk shows interact with listeners. No one would have guessed that journalists would be filing audio, video and text directly to their news organizations from their iPhones, or that newspapers would provide extra content by planting QR codes on their front pages. That’s how quickly things have changed in just two years. The advice now is the same as it was then: Learn the skill of flexibility. Learn how to embrace the new as soon as it comes along. At the same time, hold on to — cherish, in fact — the core journalism values of fairness, accuracy, context and truthfulness. Those will not change, no matter what technology brings. Yours is a question that won’t go away. A year in real time is like a day in tech time. Knowing how to roll with that is more important than being able to guess what might come next.

Dear Coach,

My editor asks for story ideas every week, especially A1 enterprise stories. Today I overheard her and another reporter talking about a story I pitched weeks ago. I have a lot on my plate, so they know I can’t get to everything I pitch. And I’ve certainly pitched story ideas where I’ve said it’s OK to give them to another reporter. But this wasn’t one of them. I am really wedded to this idea. I feel like a victim of story theft. What can I do to make sure my ideas are heard, but not stolen or given away to other reporters? – Filched

Dear Filched,

From your question, it sounds as though the story bank your editor has you contributing to is something that is up for grabs. In other words, if the pitching reporter can’t get to it, and the editor wants it done, she has been free to share the goods with other reporters. That’s just good collaboration. So, if you are indeed wedded to an idea you pitch, just say so. Tell your editor in no uncertain terms: “You know I have a lot on my plate, so I probably won’t be able to get to this for a while – but please, whatever you do, don’t give it away to someone else. I love this story and want to do it.” Be direct. Communicate. Of course, if there’s a story idea you dearly love, you could always hang onto it until you knew you had the time and then pitch it.