TheSmartLocal is a Singapore hyper local travel and lifestyle portal that receives close to 1,000,000 unique visitors a month. We get more online readership than most newspapers and magazines in Singapore and have yet to reach our second birthday. In March 2014, one in every 5 Singaporeans visited TheSmartLocal.
We are a young start-up with a fun culture. No, you will not be chucked in a corner and left to do boring menial work like other companies who hire interns. You will be given hands-on experience, be mentored and given invaluable experience in writing for today's generation.
Because we cover travel and lifestyle, complimentary cool perks that come with the job include restaurant tastings, overseas trips, attending VIP events and meeting celebrities. Here are some pictures from our work trips to Surabaya! Trip 1 | Trip 2
If you have an interest in media / journalism we are offering you a once in a life time opportunity to pick up invaluable experience with us. We are looking for interns who can commit for 4 months either on:
- An Official Internship with their local university
- An Official Internship program with local polytechnics
- Uni students who wish to take a semester break - we will write a leave of absence / internship letter for you)
- Self-Sourced Internships or students on a gap year
- Fresh graduates looking to pick up more working experience
We have been working with local institutions like NUS, Singapore Poly and even overseas Universities to help facilitate their official internships and work placements with us. But of course, we prefer self-sourced internships or students on a gap year as there is less paperwork and these students usually do the internship because they WANT to.
We're looking for a fun and sociable person in love with the written word. A creative streak is essential and your writing should command more attention than the latest pictures of cats having cheeseburgers.
You should be equally adept delivering a witty tweet or a 3000 word dissertation on the rise and fall of Flappy Bird. You love telling stories and take pride in crafting pretty sentences without taking forever to do so. Writing comes naturally to you. Fresh graduates are also welcome to apply.
Job Scope:
Most your time will be spent writing so you MUST love writing. You will be taught how to create content that is original, positive and relevant for the digital media age. You will also curate quality content from social media. We will teach you how to write articles that hundreds of thousands of people will read. This is not an exaggeration. You will see your friends sharing your article and you will start feeling dizzy. Examples - Here, Here and Here - each of these articles is by a different intern.
Apart from this, you will may also be giving other opportunities to give you first hand 'traditional journalism' experience to make your internship experience a well-rounded one. This includes:
- One-on-One Interviews: - Interview with The Sam Willows | Adrian Pang | Olivia Ong, etc. (Each was done by a different intern)
- Attending Sponsored Events, Media Invitations and writing recaps / reviews of them - e.g
Overseas Trips to Bali and BKK | Restaurant Tastings | Theatre Shows | VIP Night life Events, etc - Creating Scripts for Short Movies and Video Skits
Job Requirements:
- Relevant field of study. Mass Comm / Journalism / etc. Others may be considered.
- Able to write well. By that we mean concise writing with perfect grammar. We value an articulate and engaging writing style over having a fancy pants vocabulary.
- Be well versed with popular culture and new trends.
- A true passion for writing. This is essential otherwise you will be bored once the novelty wears off. If you've not had a writing job before and want to "try this out" my advice to you is don't.
- Bonus: Good in Photography / Sociable / Good sense of humour / CREATIVE
All applicants are expected to be able to embrace feedback with a positive attitude because nobody is about to entertain your ego.
We pay the standard intern pay of $550 which is nothing compared to the amount of experience and learning you will be getting out of this internship. Your pay will increase by $50 each month.
This is a competitive position and your writing has to stand out. A big tip is to try not to sound like a robot otherwise your email will instantly face the wrath of the trash can. This is not the standard job posting. Do not submit the standard application. Inject personality and write informally like how you were to write in a blog.
Related Job Searches:
- Company:
TheSmartLocal.com - Designation:
Journalist - Profession:
Design / Creative, Editorial / Linguist / Writing, Marketing / Public Relations - Industry:
Creative / Media