DEAR PEP: Should I start with the Web or print?

I am graduating in May and planning to work abroad for five months starting in the fall, so I've been applying for internships for the summer until I go. Luckily, I ended up with two choices. I was offered a job at a Web magazine and a city magazine. The Web magazinet seems like a better internship career-wise—it's an editorial internship with lots of writing opportunities and a chance to  help with a redesign. The print magazine internship is primarily research and fact-checking.

So, my question is how important do you think the opportunity on the Web is for landing future jobs? I know Web experience is so valuable these days, so I'm having a tough time
deciding. — New Grad


PEP Says: Congratulations on two fabulous opportunities. I do not think you can go wrong in your choice.

The Web is the future. And the thing is, most people in management have no idea what it is or how to use it or why they have it--only that they have to because everybody else does. I think the Web mag would be excellent experience to prepare you for a field that is going to define the future.

The city magazine, however, would also be hard for me to turn down. If I were going to go to a print publication, it would be a city magazine. So that is a fabulous opportunity in a different direction and it will prepare you well in a traditional medium that is, I think, enduring no matter what some pundits say.

I think you need to ask yourself which fits you best. Which gives you entry into a world where you really want to spend your time? Your career is going to go in marvelous directions and you are going to have challenges and opportunities we cannot even imagine now. So go where you think you will have the best opportunity to grow the way you want.

Good luck with the decision.  And enjoy your time abroad.

Simple Site

Kaelin (Tripp) Zawilinski (‘06) recently set up a portfolio site  that’s an excellent example of simple yet effective. If you just want to get your clips out there and don't need a whole lot of hullabaloo, check it out. “Because most of my clips are online, I thought this would be a super simple way to show off my work,” Kaelin says. “I just used the iweb program on my mac, bought the URL and then a friend is hosting it for me on his server. It took me about 2 hours to set up.”

Kaelin was recently promoted to Decorating and Crafts Editor at bhg.com.

Esquire Covers At MOMA

Here's a reason to head to New York's  Museum of Modern Art within the next year:  "George Lois: The Esquire Covers" will run through March 31, 2009.

George Lois created some of Esquire's most memorable covers—Richard Nixon getting new makeup after his disastrous debate with JFK, who looked cool and calm while Nixon sweated; Svetlana Stalin with a drawn-on mustache; a composite cover of four different versions of heroes (JFK, Castro, Bob Dylan and Malcolm X).     

Lois designed 92 covers for the magazine from 1962 to 1972. The exhibit features 32 of them.

Mags launch social and professional networking sites

Forbes magazine online has launched a social network through which you can chat about "any topic from stocks to wine." This comes on the heels of other networking sites in Business Week (tied to LinkedIn) and Fast Company.

Companies use sites like LinkedIn for recruitment for full-time jobs, freelancing, and special consulting. The magazine sites add to the equation by allowing execs and interns alike a place at the virtual table.  They also automatically come with the added credibility of the magazine brand.

Writing newsletters online

Freelancing.com hosts several newsletters related to freelance writing and editing, including the Ed2010 weekly scribble and others from the Poynter Institute and the American Society of Journalists and Authors. It is one-stop shopping for industry news, although the site is annoying, with lots of ads. At least they're not pop ups, though.