WANTED: Editor/Online Editor

Our editor-in-chief Emily and I will be finishing up with JET this summer and we’re looking for people to replace us.  See below for information about these positions:

WANTED: EDITOR

“There’s more to being king than getting your way all the time.”

“There’s more?” (Musfasa, Simba)

As you already know, your faithful editing staff is going to undergo some changes with the upcoming new JET year. As I, your humble benevolent throne-holder retire from my ALT position, I will also be stepping down from the position of Editor in Chief of the Hyogo Times. I’d like to begin working with a successor sooner rather than later, to make for a smoother transition.

Of course, there are all the perks of power and all the responsibility that goes with it. There’s the satisfaction of knowing that your work goes out each month to educate, edify, and entertain many many Hyogo JETs. There’s also the bonus that being in charge of things looks really good on post-JET resumes, especially for those interested in careers in writing, editing, or anything that deals with managing. But it does take a special kind of person to handle this helm, and I’m looking for a few good applicants amongst whom to make the choice.

Things the editor must have

• People skills – Editor is a managing position before all else. You might find yourself spending more time requesting articles than reading or reviewing them. It helps to be connected to a lot of JETs (and non-JETs) in Hyogo and beyond, though that is not required. What is required is the ability to keep in touch with people, follow up with them, set deadlines, and check in regularly without either giving up or going medieval on anyone. Some of your writers will be on time without fail; others are late without fail. You have to learn who is who and how to cope with all of them.
• Organizational skills – Keep track of stuff: know what you have, what you need, and what you have to do to get it. I’m a messy-organizer (the desk only looks like chaos to the casual observer) but I make lots of lists. How do you keep up with things?
• Efficient work ethic – or else a lot of downtime at work. You have to create a system that works for you for obtaining content, reviewing it, and making sure the online and design editors get stuff.
• Some idea of what the Hyogo Times is all about – You should probably read an issue or two all the way through, just to see what it’s like. But also notice that the content changes over time with different writers and time periods.
• Dedication – What can I say? You gotta want it. While this is an unpaid, volunteer position, the magazine cannot be any better than what you put into it. If you want this on your resume, you should also want this to look spectacular, be full of awesome content, and come out on time.
• Timeliness – This is basically the same as dedication. Publishing late doesn’t look classy, so do what you have to do to keep things more or less on the solid and professional.

Preferable but not necessary

• Mad grammar skillz – Catching typos, grammar mistakes, and spelling errors is part of this job, but it’s not the end of the world. At the end of the day, a writer owns his or her article. Your corrections or help can give the magazine a classier feel and make it look less like we’re a bunch of amateurs. We might be, but who needs to know? I will say that I’ve missed plenty of grammar stuff which the other editors have thankfully caught for me. And probably other stuff which hopefully no one caught at all.
• Editing or writing experience – (With Hyogo Times or any similar, or for that matter, not at all similar publication) Always a plus, of course, but not strictly needed.

Things the editor doesn’t have to have

• Lots of extra time – I manage to fit this in around all my workin’ and other extracurricular activities thanks to scheduling and planning. Don’t underestimate the amount of time it’ll take (I suppose I should say, especially at first as you find your editorial feet) you to gather and edit everything, but don’t overestimate it either. This is something you can handle from your desk during those off hours or days when you don’t have any class. Once you have your system, things just kind of flow.
• A lot to say – sometimes there are a lot of articles, sometimes there aren’t. Occasionally, you might want to generate content. The great thing is, you can do this on your own timetable, about whatever you want, because you’re the boss.
• Extensive experience in Hyogo Times writing or other association – You don’t need to have written for HT or even to have lived in Hyogo for years to be a good candidate. Some people have the stuff. Maybe you do.

Hyogo Times is a publication by and for the Hyogo ALTs (and beyond, actually – our readership is larger than our borders). We want this to keep up the professional standard worthy of the magazine, but we also want to have a good time. Give your fellow Hyogonians information that is relevant, entertaining, interesting, personally relatable, or useful, and they will reward you with their attention.

Anyone is welcome to apply. To do so, please send an e-mail to publications@hyogo.ajet.net in which you choose any issue of Hyogo Times from the past year, and name two things you would change about it (they can be as small as deleting a comma or as big as inventing a whole new column), or that you would change about the magazine in general.  Due May 7^th.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions!

-          your humble and glorious Editor in Chief

WANTED: ONLINE EDITOR

Hello everyone,

Interested in helping out with the Hyogo Times? This is my last year as a JET and so I’m looking for someone to eventually take over my position as Online Editor. All you need is an interest in becoming part of HT, some basic computer skills, and a little bit of time.

The work of the Online Editor revolves around maintaining the website. This includes uploading articles, adding/modifying site features, and working with the design. Duties also include managing the Flickr photo group and posting on the HT Facebook page. We use WordPress to manage the site, a simple system almost anyone can figure out. Other than some basic web proficiency, the only skills needed are simple photo editing – resizing, reformatting, etc.

The most important thing in being Online Editor though is consistency and reliability. It’s important that articles and the site are updated on a regular basis, and that you can quickly respond to emails from the editor or whoever else. Ever since we started the website there’s been a steady increase in readership, meaning that more and more people are relying on it. It would be your job to make sure that we keep our readers and get new ones – by maintaining an awesome site, and any other web features you might want to run. Remember that some content is web-only, so readers count on the Online Editor for a lot.

If you’re interested in this position please send me an email at ht.online.editor@gmail.com. Of course, I’d be happy to answer any questions.

Thanks,

Jonathan