GUM is currently recruiting a new team for the upcoming academic year of 2021/2022. Applying is easy and no previous experience is required – we simply ask that you have a love for media and creative industries as well as a desire to learn more! GUM is an inclusive platform for all voices and will provide fantastic experience for anyone looking to go into work in the media, journalism, arts, events management, or PR. You will gain an in-depth understanding of the publication process of a magazine, develop networking skills, and work within a creative, passionate team. Shortlisted for five Student Publication Association Awards this year alone, GUM is the perfect place to start your career.
You can apply for multiple roles. If selected for an interview we will consult you for the role we believe you are best suited for.
The full team role descriptions can be found below. The application can be accessed through the following link:
https://forms.gle/FyqegpQtqGUYmocS9
Applications will close at midnight on Wednesday 18th August. Good luck!
EDITORIAL
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
It is the responsibility of the Editorial Director to organise and manage all content from section editors; being their first port of call when they need assistance. You must ensure content deadlines for both print and online stay on track by maintaining efficient communication between section editors. This will involve you being in charge of instigating conversation on the content channel of GUM’s Slack. You must ensure all articles pitched by editors are logged. You will also liaise with the Website Manager to consolidate the equal distribution of content from each section online. You will likewise co-Chair, with the Editors, a weekly meeting to run through editors’ pitches before they are offered to contributors. Furthermore you will attend bi-weekly meetings with the Editors and other Directors to ensure communication is maintained across all departments of the magazine. Your priority as Editorial Director is to ensure the work platformed by GUM is of high quality. GUM is an inclusive platform for all voices, and you must make sure that this shines through in our content. You will write a style guide to direct contributors on this quest. On that note, you will also be in charge of making sure that articles and creative pieces are entered into competitions, such as the SPA Awards. An ideal candidate will have outstanding organisational and communication skills.
FEATURES EDITOR
The Features Editor is responsible for the opening section of the magazine, and long-form articles online. You will pitch your articles at the contributors’ meetings and the resulting articles will go either online, in the GUM Journal, or in the print issue of the magazine. Content wise, the Features section has a very broad range. Articles may be of the personal essay variety, or they may take the form of a more research-based, informative piece. What every Features article exhibits is an in-depth exploration of important issues. As Features Editor, you will also need to reach out to contributors, support them in the writing process, give them feedback, and edit their material for publication. You should also be confident in your ability to fact-check. The perfect candidate is cooperative, has both a creative vision and a critical eye, and possesses great editing skills.
CULTURE EDITORS
GUM is again recruiting two Culture Editors this year. One will be concerned with pitching and editing articles which engage with more widespread cultural conversations in accordance with the magazine’s theme. They will examine music, art, literature, and film, and investigate their wider implications. This editor will be adept at using culture as a framework to illuminate the issues and causes important to young people and drawing meaningful connections at the intersection of culture, society, and identity. The other Culture Editor will focus on Glasgow-based events and reviews. They will be expected to reach out to local artists, musicians and creatives for interviews, therefore they must have a vested interest in Glasgow’s cultural scene. This editor will also be responsible for communicating with various cultural bodies in the city to secure press passes to events, so a level of outgoingness and initiative is vital. Both editors will aid contributors in their writing process and attend weekly meetings. Organisational and editorial skills are essential for these roles.
STYLE & BEAUTY EDITOR
The Style & Beauty Editor is responsible for the fashion editorial of each issue, and for Style & Beauty articles published both online and in-print. You will work closely with the Editors-in-Chief and Visual Team to conceptualise and execute three photoshoots for the magazine’s print issues. These photoshoots will correspond with the theme of each issue. You will seek out local creatives (designers, models, photographers, makeup artists, and stylists) and organise locations. Working alongside the Editors-in-Chief, you will direct the photoshoots and ensure that you have enough material for publication. You will attend the Visuals Meeting at the beginning of each issue cycle to ensure the photoshoot is in keeping with the general aesthetic and narrative of the current issue. You will also be responsible for pitching Style & Beauty articles at contributors’ meetings, reaching out to contributors, and editing. These articles will challenge mainstream perceptions of beauty and champion individuality, whilst investigating society’s impact on fashion, and vice versa. During shoot periods, you will be given assistance from the Editorial Director and Copy Editors to help with this editorial work so that you don’t become overwhelmed. The ideal candidate for this role is outgoing and willing to reach out to make new contacts on the Glasgow fashion scene. You will need to have excellent time management skills, as well as a creative vision and editing skills.
POLITICS EDITOR
In an era of misinformation and mounting political tension, the Politics Editor will seek to provide scope, clarity, and fairness to our journalism. You will be required to provide coverage of global political affairs (the more global the better) in both digital and print. Candidates should expect to provide editorial leadership to those wishing to contribute to the magazine through communicating via email and social media. As Politics Editor, you will have to edit articles prior to publication, providing detailed content and analysis, as well as meticulous fact-checking. Furthermore, you should be aware that pieces need to meet editorial standards, and approach matters with nuance and careful consideration, in a way that aligns with the magazine’s values. GUM is a publication that champions inclusivity and individuality. We are a platform that amplifies underrepresented voices, and thus it is perfectly reasonable to turn down pieces that either misalign with our values or intend to cause offence for the sake of offence. Our intention is not to shock, but to provide a space for those who rarely have one in political discourse. You do not have to agree with the pieces being produced — but it is important that you can defend the work published in your section. This section should not only reiterate what is happening in the press, but look to complement or challenge discourse found in the mainstream, providing contextual narratives and individual perspectives that may otherwise go unnoticed.
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR
There is vast scope and room for experimentation for this year’s Science & Technology Editor. From the plastic in our oceans, to the devices in our hands, science and technology impacts society and our readers in a myriad of ways. It is your responsibility to bring light to these relatively new issues, and explore them in a way that is thought-provoking and digestible. Bearing in mind GUM’s ethos of inclusivity and our focus on intersectionality, you must investigate the ways in which different groups in our society are impacted differently by scientific and technological issues. Your pitches should aim to demystify these, at times, complicated discussions. You will likewise examine the ways in which science and technology influence our world culturally, financially, and socially, in both positive and troubling ways. You will also be expected to provide guidance and resources to contributors throughout the writing and editing process. The ideal candidate for this role possesses a keen interest in this subject area, creativity, and excellent editing skills.
CREATIVE WRITING EDITOR
A creative thinker is needed to reach out to contributors to submit creative pieces under the theme of each issue and choose carefully what will be published online and in-print. Beyond pitching issue theme-related pieces, you will pitch other creative writing prompts for our contributors, whilst also maintaining open submissions via email for unsolicited work. You will be communicating with writers as you edit their writing. Discretion with editorial procedures is critical, as creative writing is a section that often becomes inundated with poems and short stories. It is important that you are able to determine which pieces are fresh and innovative, and not too lyrical or predictable. The ability to give feedback in a manner that is helpful for the contributor, both critical and supportive, is essential. It takes a lot of courage for contributors to submit such personal writing, so this role requires attention and sensitivity in the feedback process. You will also be responsible for preparing and hosting creative writing workshops with the assistance of the Editors-in-Chief.
COPY EDITORS
This year, GUM will have three Copy Editors: one for online; one for the GUM journal; and one for GUM’s in print magazines. You will be the final sets of eyes before an article is sent on for publication. Therefore, you will need to be highly organised with an eye for detail. You must have scrupulous editing skills and knowledge of style guides. You will also need to attend meetings to ensure constant communication with the Editorial Director. You will likewise be required to communicate effectively with everyone else on the Editorial Team to ensure that there are no errors and that articles are ready for publication in a timely manner. The ideal candidates are patient, motivated, meticulous, and possess amazing grammatical and fact-checking skills. A wide variety of interests is also desirable.
PODCAST MANAGER
Following on from GUM’s podcast Safe Space last year, we’re looking for a podcast manager to help develop our new series. The podcast manager will aid the chiefs in developing the podcast concept, planning episodes , and organising recordings. (An understanding of the technology side of things is, of course, helpful, but is absolutely not a requirement for this role!) We’re looking for someone who is highly creative, confident, and organised. The podcast manager will work within the editorial team to ensure that GUM is bringing thought-provoking discussions and stories to our audience.
GENERAL COLUMNISTS
Working as in-house writers for GUM, columnists have the opportunity to create content across all editorial sections for our print magazine, Journal, and website. Our team of columnists attend bi-weekly contributor meetings to select articles of their choice, through contact with relevant section editors. Columnists are also highly encouraged to pitch their own article ideas! We need our columnists to be reliable, and enthusiastic individuals with an eagerness to learn. An ideal candidate will have solid writing skills, a unique perspective, and an ability to meet deadlines well.
RUNNING COLUMNISTS
Primarily for the GUM Journal, we’re looking for running columnists to develop their own column idea and write installments of the column throughout the year. We’d love our running columnists to have a strong voice and interesting perspective that our readers want to come back to. The demands of the role are dependent on the column itself: it may involve research, interviewing, or reviewing; but it may also be more opinion or reflective based. We want running columnists who will write about what they care about – whatever that is. This is a role with a lot of free reign and so we’re eager for creative individuals to make it their own.
VISUALS TEAM
VISUALS DIRECTOR
In this role you will act as the communicator between the Visual Team, Editorial Director, and the Editors-in-Chief. You will liaise with the Editorial Director, relaying to your team what images need to be retrieved or created for articles. After these discussions you will set deadlines for the rest of the Visuals Team and approve all visuals before they are posted or given to the Graphic Designer for the print. You will also work closely with the Editors-in-Chief and Graphic Designer in order to maintain a coherent visual aesthetic for the magazine. Along with the Editors, you will co-Chair the Visuals Meeting at the beginning of each issue cycle to discuss the colour palette and visual aesthetic of the current print issue, ensuring that each member of the Visuals Team adheres to this style throughout production. Furthermore, you will create a GUM Flickr for uploading photos that our contributors would like us to use for our articles. It will act as a database which the Art & Photography Editor can refer to when needed. The ideal candidate is a highly creative and visual individual, who also possesses excellent organisational and communication skills.
ART & PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR
It is the responsibility of the Art & Photography Editor to reach out to illustrators and photographers for the magazine, therefore the ideal candidate for this role is approachable and good at networking, with a personal interest in art. It is also vital that you work well with others. Visual submissions from contributors will be sent to you, for which you will allocate to online articles, our social media accounts, or to print. You will edit photographs and illustrations from contributors to ensure they are of a high standard and aesthetically align with the current issue theme. These images will be approved by the Visuals Director. In addition, you will attend contributor meetings and pitch your ideas for the Art & Photography section of the magazine, in line with the current theme. You also must be available to attend the Visuals Meeting at the beginning of each issue cycle. The perfect candidates for this role have experience in working with Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
GUM is hiring two graphic designers this year: one for the print magazine, and one for the GUM Journal. As Graphic Designer, you are responsible for the layout and design of these issues. You will be working closely with the Editors-in-Chief, Editorial Director, and Illustrations & Graphics Director to discuss, plan, and create the visual brand of the magazine. This role is very intense for shorter periods of time leading up to the publication of new issues. You will need to work efficiently, reliably and independently during this time. The perfect candidates are creative and have some previous experience in editorial designing. Proficiency in InDesign is a must, and knowledge of Photoshop and Illustrator are preferred, but not essential. You also must be available to attend the Visuals Meeting at the beginning of each issue cycle.
COMMUNICATIONS DESIGNER
It is the responsibility of the Communications Designer to create posters for issue launches, events, Facebook cover photos, and other graphic-design related advertisements for the magazine, primarily on social media. The variety of designs needed means the ideal candidate for this role is creative and possesses excellent time management skills. It is also essential that you are comfortable working with graphic design tools, such as InDesign. You will work closely with the rest of the Visuals Team and attend a Visuals Meeting at the beginning of each issue cycle to ensure the magazine maintains a coherent, interesting aesthetic.
EDITORIAL ARTIST
This year GUM is recruiting multiple Editorial Artists to illustrate and design art for our articles on-demand. Creativity and reliability are essential attributes for this role. The Editorial Artists will be given first options over accompanying artwork following contributor meetings. You will then liaise with the article’s editor to maintain coherence between the content of the article and the accompanying visual. The Illustration & Graphics Director will set deadlines for when your art must be submitted by. You will also attend the Visuals Meeting at the start of each issue cycle to discuss the current colour palette and aesthetic of the magazine. The Editorial Artists maintain complete artistic freedom over the direction of their images, so long as they are aesthetically pleasing, aware of sensitive content, and in-keeping with the colour palette of the current issue cycle for in-print pieces. The ideal candidate should have excellent illustration and/or photography skills, and is able to produce excellent work to a tight deadline.
DIGITAL MEDIA TEAM
DIGITAL MEDIA DIRECTOR
As Digital Media Director, you will manage the sub-team and be their first point of contact. You will communicate with the Events Team to post events. Additionally, you will work with the Events Photographer to post their photos to Facebook. Furthermore, you will attend meetings with the Editors-in-Chief and maintain consistent communication with the Visuals Director to ensure graphics and illustrations are included with our posts across all social media platforms. You will likewise be responsible for ensuring that the Social Media Managers’ content uploads are consistent. Encouraging the Editorial Team to share articles they like on their personal social media will also be one of your responsibilities.
SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGERS
This year GUM is recruiting two Social Media Managers. One will be in charge of primarily running GUM’s Instagram, a platform which demands a strong, consistent aesthetic. You will be further streamlining the aesthetic of our account in order to boost our following. You will post Instagram stories and images most days to highlight new articles and events, as well as engaging with contributors, resharing their tagged posts of GUM, and using Instagram as a way to interact with fellow Glasgow-based magazines and creatives. Additionally, you will also manage GUM’s Facebook. The other Social Media Manager will be responsible for GUM’s Twitter and LinkedIn. You will maintain an active presence on these platforms in order to increase user interactivity. For Twitter, you will be expected to respond to relevant replies and direct messages, and to encourage the Editorial Team to share articles on their Twitter accounts. You will also be tasked with writing accompanying captions for the articles to encourage our followers to read them. For LinkedIn, you must develop an inviting, professional profile for the magazine, whilst responding to business opportunities. The Social Media Managers must work closely together and with the Digital Media Director to ensure that the necessary images are available for our posts, and that a consistent upload schedule is maintained. The Social Media Managers should have a solid understanding of what makes a strong social media presence, and how to apply that to GUM’s brand.
WEBSITE MANAGER
In the role of Website Manager for GUM, you will be responsible for updating the website with new articles. Effective communication with the rest of the Digital Media team is essential to ensure that the Social Media Managers are notified of new uploads so that new articles are advertised across our social media accounts. The website runs on WordPress — a very intuitive and simple website management system — so don’t be discouraged if you’re not familiar with it. It is essential that you adhere to a weekly upload schedule to ensure a continuous flow of content on our website. You will also be in contact with the Editorial Director and Digital Media Director to find out when articles are ready for publication. You will also be in charge of managing the online archive of published issues. Furthermore, as GUM’s latest issues will now be made available online the same day as print, you must ensure new issues are uploaded promptly. You will also need to source free-use images and illustrations for articles using CreativeCommons and ensure that all online sources and article authors are appropriately credited and linked to. You may also need to go back to articles to make small edits upon author request. Organisational skills and good timekeeping are essential but note that this role only requires a couple of hours per week. We’re also looking for a creative candidate, as ensuring the website is visually appealing and clear is of paramount importance.
EVENTS PHOTOGRAPHER
You will be GUM’s personal photographer, capturing the magic of the academic year to share with contributors and readers across our social media platforms. You must be available to attend all GUM-related events. This includes launch parties, talks, and fundraisers. Therefore, your role will be busy, but only for short periods of time. You will be working closely with the Digital Media Director and Social Media Managers as you will send your images of events to them to be shared on our social media accounts. Some of these images will even be featured in the magazine, so you will get an opportunity to interact with the Graphics Team when we create the print issue. Unfortunately, GUM does not have access to its own camera at the moment, so having access to a DSLR camera yourself is essential for this role. Experience of working with different types of cameras, including film, is desirable but not essential. You will also have the opportunity to lead a workshop or photography walk.
BUSINESS OPERATIONS TEAM
BUSINESS DIRECTOR
The Business Director will be responsible for the financial side of the magazine, as well as other organisational tasks. You will have access to GUM’s budget, meaning you will work closely with the Events Manager and Graphics Team as you organise events and GUM merchandise. This role involves a range of tasks: communicating with the SRC, raising purchase orders, booking rooms for GUM meetings, ensuring distribution of the print issues, setting fundraising targets, creating and implementing merchandise plans with the Editors-in-Chief, and sourcing advertisers. Crucially, the Business Director also manages the Business Operations team overall, and so must be communicative when supporting the Advertisement Manager and the Events Managers. To be successful in this role you should have excellent organisational skills and creative flair when working within a budget.
ADVERTISEMENT MANAGER
You will assist the Business Director in contacting local businesses to make merchandise, but your main task will be to ensure adverts are secured for the pages of GUM and for our website. You will be approaching local businesses to instigate sponsorship and advertising opportunities. Thus, being a friendly communicator and creative in your thinking of how to attain advertising opportunities is essential. You will also work with the Business Director in regard to budgetary matters.
EVENTS MANAGERS
GUM is recruiting two Events Managers this year. As a result, candidates for this role must be able to work well in a team. Together, you will be responsible for organising launch parties for each magazine issue. You will work closely with the Editors to fulfil this role, as well as with the Business Director to ensure budget restrictions are adhered to and that profits are accounted for correctly. You will also be responsible for the organising of GUM talks, events, fundraisers, as well as our team and contributor socials. You will be required to approach venues, establish relationships, and work with organisers to host fundraisers as cost-effectively as possible. In addition to this, it will be your job to secure entertainment (DJs, musicians, performers, etc). The Editors-in-Chief will assist you in this task. Together with the Business Director, you will develop ideas for generating interest in the magazine and engaging readers, such as through competitions and ticket giveaways.
ACCESSIBILITY & INCLUSION OFFICER
GUM wants to create the best possible space – one that is accessible, inclusive, and safe for all. The Accessibility & Inclusion officer will provide assistance to all four of the GUM sub-teams. This may include overseeing a range of tasks: in the Business Operations team, online events may need captioned and in-person events should be fully accessible; for Visuals, the final graphic design may need overlooking for readability; for Digital Media, a plain text version of the GUM journal is needed, and image descriptions are necessary; for Editorial, care must be given to language use itself. The role of the Accessibility & Inclusion officer is not to undertake all these tasks but to provide the team with support in completing them to the highest possible standard. Ideally, we’d love the officer to have some prior experience and understanding of accessibility and inclusion.
