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Connection
Newspapers
January, 1999 - November, 2002
Job
Title: Production / Graphics Designer / Typesetter / Layout
/ Pagination
Status: Full-time
Compensation: $21,000/annually
Location: McLean, Virginia
Job
Description: The Connection was my first real full-time
job that I worked my way into after starting as a part-time
production assistant in January of 1999. The Connection Newspapers
are 13 different weekly community newspapers, serving the
Northern Virginia, Washington D.C. and Maryland areas, with
a readership of just under 200,000 people each week. I started
out part-time, but at the end of 2001, earned a full-time
position. My duties were primarily the creation and production
of advertisements for local and big businesses in the area,
but I did a little bit of everything else in the department.
Ads
were my primary responsibility, and I worked on the ads for
13 different newspapers each week, working closely with the
sales staff for each paper. Photo color correction was another
one of my tasks that I found myself doing quite frequently,
and I learned the importance of color levels in order to make
photographs suitable for newsprint. I did a little bit of
everything else, such as the page layout of each newspapers;
at first, the hard way of manually cutting out and pasting
down physical copies of the ads onto dummy layouts, but then
when the paper went completely electronic, I did the layout
electronically.
I
also got opportunities to get my feet wet with digital photography.
The most memorable of events, being able to access Ground
Zero during September 11th, 2001 for photos for the paper.
In the summertime, along with my daily duties, I trained interns
to do the job. Deadlines were every Tuesday, so this was experience
working on a routine.
Primary
Software: Macintosh OS 8.6, Multi-Ad Creator, Photoshop,
PageMaker, Illustrator, QuarkXPress.
Additional
Required Skills & Knowledge: Typestyles, fonts,
scanning and faxing, attention to detail, working with templates,
network file management, digital photography, quick typing.
Reason
I'm not there anymore: Financial. No room for financial
growth, and Virginia's ever-rising housing costs forced me
to seek more money elsewhere.
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