Slow Boring seeks researcher
A paying job, full-time or part-time
Like Slow Boring?
Interested in a career in journalism? Perhaps you would be interested in a fall researcher/internship position! The position is potentially available on either a part-time or a full-time basis according to your availability (i.e., a full-time student could apply if interested) and will pay $15/hour on a contract basis.
To apply please email a resume and a brief introductory email about yourself to matt@slowboring.com with RESEARCHER APPLICATION in the subject line.
Want to know more about the job? Read on.
The work
Like any great internship, the Slow Boring researcher position involves some annoying administrative responsibilities. That’s largely related to getting the audio posts up in the morning and the discussion threads up in the afternoon.
The more interesting part of the job is helping research Slow Boring articles, potentially assisting with data analysis / chart making / other graphics stuff according to your abilities, and at times serving as an additional reader on copy. You also might be asked to help transcribe interviews to run on the site. You will also have the opportunity to pitch story ideas of your own that will run on the site.
Last but by no means least I would like an energetic participant in the comments sections and creative thinking about other ways we can deepen our service to our members.
Qualifications
A successful candidate might be a recent graduate or someone on a post-pandemic gap year, or a well-organized full-time student with a good grasp of her schedule and real capacity to do things. If there are multiple amazing part-time candidates, we might hire more than one.
There are no particular skills or experience necessary beyond familiarity with the Slow Boring product and enthusiasm for the kind of work that is happening here. Obviously prior journalism experience and relevant specialized skills are good to have, but I am very flexible.
The application
Please email matt@slowboring.com with a note that says RESEARCHER APPLICATION in the subject line. You do not need to write a very formal cover letter, but please let me know who you are and what kind of hours you’d be interested in working in the fall.
Please attach a resume to the email, and please attach 2-3 writing samples (or include links to writing samples) that you think reflect well on you.
Why you should apply
The best career advice I ever got came during a brown bag lunch when I was an intern at Rolling Stone in the summer of 2000. The speaker, who I believe was the art director for the magazine, said that people try to go right out of college and work at their favorite magazine in the whole world and then they end up just getting coffee for the important people who work there.
But what he did was go work for a fairly obscure regional magazine where they really needed every contribution they could get. Based on that he quickly developed a portfolio of work that got him a job at a less obscure regional magazine serving a larger region. After that he got a big job in New York.
I can get my own coffee just fine and could use help on generating the primary content that drives the whole site. If you do well, you’ll be making meaningful contributions and tackling the big issues of the day (plus minutia about land use and transportation) so it’s a chance to do real work.
i can add humour to your writing for a mere $69 per hour
This is a killer opportunity! At another time in my life, I'd jump at it.
Matt, I'd encourage you to pay a higher wage -- while $15/hour is obviously better than minimum wage in most states, it still restricts this opportunity to people who can supplement with another job or other means. Given your areas of expertise, I know this is not new information, but consider it a vote for more in any case.