… wear something other than cargo pants, flip-flops and a see-through T-shirt to the job interview, even if you are a designer. For one thing, dressing nicely shows respect. For another, we don’t need to see the full curve of your fonts to know you’ve got edge.

… never call us “mister.” Research the design director/editor/professor/whatever well enough to avoid calling a she a he. Otherwise you’ll never hear from “Mr. Wang” or “Mr. Williams” no matter how awesome you are. (Also, we’re not besties so why the super-casual “Hey” greeting? “Dear Ms. Wang” will do. Once we’re in “yo” territory we’ll let you know.)

… do your own legwork. If we refer you to someone else, you really do not want to follow up with, “Can you send me her email?” If you can’t track down a simple email address on your own, go work at Starbucks.

… read the freakin’ email. Don’t respond with “What’s your direct line?” when our phone number is clearly visible in the signature of our email.

… read the freakin’ magazine. If our magazine is about seahorses you’d better have a killer reason for pitching us on wildebeest.

… follow up with a thanks. Write an email. Send a note. Do it within 24 hours of the meeting. No need to get all novella or obsequious about it, just say thanks so much for meeting with me, to let us know you’ve got some manners, because chances are that’s how you’ll treat sources/photographers/artists/writers/etc. when representing the magazine.

… be truthful about your credentials. If you got a graduate degree from Harvard Extension School, don’t say you graduated from Harvard. If you fetched coffee and took dictation at Rolling Stone, don’t imply that you ran the joint.

… get our permission before listing us as references. It’s weird to get a call out of nowhere from some editor/art director saying, “So, Sally says you guys are tight!” when in reality we knew you for 10 minutes and truly cannot speak to your work ethic or your consistency of skill or your mind or your character.

… spell stuff right. We’ve seen emails written entirely in lowercase, emails that amount to the equivalent of grunts, emails confusing their/there, hear/here—if you’re aiming for the round file, congrats, you’re there.

… think twice before wrinkling your nose and saying “Are you sure?” during editing, if you get to that point. Editors can be wrong—and the good ones will admit it—but chances are the tempering forces of experience make us right, even if you are a genius.

… avoid saying, before having demonstrated anything close to the skills required, “So can you put me in touch with The New Yorker?” Because we will just roll our eyes and walk away.

—Chin Wang and Paige Williams

*Or newspapers, or online, etc.