Alain Saffel: resume

If you're interested in seeing a copy of my resume, I can email it to you along with references and reference letters.

Introduction

I am an experienced reporter and my main interests are hard news, business, political and general reporting but I'm always eager to take on new assignments of any sort. I also enjoy photography. I own, and know how to use, a Canon 30D digital SLR to get solid results in any photography assignment.

I graduated with a Bachelor of Journalism from Thompson Rivers University (formerly UCC) in Kamloops in April 2005. I majored in public relations. The major allowed me to take a number of specific courses in public relations, as well as business and more journalism courses.

Story ideas are something that I always have a lot of and I come up with interesing angles. I ask lots of questions and produce strong, balanced stories. This is reflected in the feedback I have received from readers and those being interviewed.

Experience

  • Williams Lake Tribune: Freelancing with the Tribune on an on-call basis. Recently covered a Cariboo Regional District meeting in May and wrote several stories. I also freelanced with the Tribune while working with the Advisor, generating stories for an outdoor supplement.
  • Quesnel Cariboo Observer: Worked as the city reporter for the Observer. I covered beats such as health, education, crime, local politics (city, Cariboo Regional District, federal and provincial) and general assignment. I was responsible for my own photography. On production days I used InDesign to correct pages and layout and used Photoshop to process photos for publication. I also copy edited stories running in the paper.
  • Quesnel Advisor: Worked out of the head office in Williams Lake. I was responsible for the editorial layout as well as the ad design for the newspaper. I used Quark Xpress for layout, Adobe Photoshop to process photos and CorelDraw for ad design. In late August 2005, I took over as the editor for the Quesnel Advisor for a period of two weeks, laying out each issue as well as writing stories and taking pictures.
  • Four month internship:Williams Lake Tribune. Reporter/photographer. Main beats were city, education, business and general assignment. I wrote editorials and columns as well as doing copy editing. I also assisted with layout.
  • Publisher of coffee paper for 18 months. I was responsible for everything, including writing news summaries, editorials and stories. I did all production including ad design and issue layout, ad sales, production and distribution.
  • Business profiles: I wrote business profiles for the newsletter committee of the Williams Lake Chamber of Commerce.

Education:

  • Bachelor of Journalism Thompson Rivers University (formerly University College of the Cariboo) Kamloops. Graduated April 2005. Dean's List 2003/4.
    • Major in public relations
  • Associate Accounting Technologist Program (A.A.T.) Certified Management Accountants of BC (CMA), 1998.
  • Accounting & Finance Co-op diploma College of New Caledonia, Prince George, Graduated with Honours 1996, President's List.
  • Business Finance & Investment Mgt. diploma program Langara College,Vancouver, 1991.

Skills:

  • I have excellent writing and copy editing skills.
  • I am very familiar with CP style.
  • Media law and avoiding libel.
  • Photography: experienced with digital and film, including developing and printing black and white.
  • Digital SLR: I own a Canon 30D digital SLR for any photography assignments
  • Web design: using Macromedia Dreamweaver MX. Designed a number of websites, including this one.
  • Windows & Macintosh: Comprehensive knowledge of both platforms.
  • Design software : Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. Quark Xpress, Macromedia Dreamweaver, CorelDraw.
  • Office software: MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Access
  • Accounting software: Accpac for Windows, Accpac Plus for DOS, Simply Accounting, Quickbooks, MYOB.
  • Strong computer skills and have worked as a computer trainer.

Other experience:

  • Accountant: Several years of experience in many industries including: public practice: tax and auditing, forestry, mining, education, health, hospitality.
  • Manager of a computer store: responsible for sales, acccounting, computer repairs.
  • Self-employment.
  • Writing business plans.

Volunteer experience:

Interests:

  • Photography: particularly nature photography, macro photography. I also enjoy taking pictures almost anything related to trains, especially graffiti on trains. Check out my photo weblog: Train Graffiti for photos of graffiti and other photos I have taken. I am interested in exploring studio photography and professional lighting. I would love to take more courses and work with professional photographers to learn more about this field.
  • Reading: I do a lot of reading, from the newspaper and magazines to online news sources to fiction and non-fiction books. I have a large collections of books by Farley Mowat and computer-related books. I also have a weblog devoted to the discussion of books I have read, am reading or would like to read. The topics I read about include news, science, business, environmental issues, technology, travel and more.
  • Travel: I have my passport and would like to get it stamped in Europe and Asia.
  • Hiking & biking