Senior copy editor, Jakarta (Indonesia) Globe

The Jakarta Globe, Indonesia's best English-language newspaper, is looking for an experienced journalist to help head up our copy desk. We need someone who is as comfortable rewriting stories as they are editing copy and creating compelling headlines.

We have a universal desk, so you will be dealing with features, business and news stories as well as sports. If you have experience in any of those areas, wonderful. If not, it's not a deal-breaker, but the more flexible and quicker a study you are, the better. The position does not involve any design work, and we do have copy editors who also write articles on occasion. Editing is the main focus, though, as most of our copy desk is fresh out of college and we need an experienced pair of eyes to help provide quality control.

If you're interested, please send your application to Paul Goddard at paul.goddard@thejakartaglobe.com. Feel free to ask him any questions you have, and I'll answer what I can on this thread.

 

Is there relocation offered for this slot?

 

Yes. A U-Haul rental.

 

What's the staff makeup like there? Brits? Americans? Native Indonesians fluent in written English?

 

The company will reimburse you for your flight. They also reimbursed me when I sent over a box of books when I moved, so as long as you're not sending a whole house's worth of stuff, I imagine management would be willing to work with you on that. It's generally not a good idea to send a bunch of extra stuff across the Pacific anyway. It can get expensive (especially if it's heavy), and it takes a while to both get here and eventually get delivered to you. Said box of books took the best part of a year to get here.

The company will also put you up in a hotel for a couple of weeks when you first arrive, so you won't be out on the street while learning the ropes and trying to find a place to live.

 

The Globe is fairly evenly split between English-capable Indonesians and expats. As far as foreigners, we have Americans, Britons, Australians, Kiwis, Filipinos, a Dutchman and a Canadian. There are also sizable expat communities outside of work that shouldn't hard to find -- and not just in sports bars.

 

This is a fascinating opportunity, though it should be said that the Jakarta Post is the highest circulation English-language newspaper in Indonesia. I would compare it to the Abu Dhabi opportunity that was posted here a while back, but Jakarta is a much friendlier place to live, from all I've heard. Also, the salary probably isn't as high since UAE is ridiculously wealthy.

 

Just remember. You're only 15 minutes from Tahoe.

 

Circulation figures can be murky here, especially if you know the right people. Besides, I said best, not largest-circulation. From a quality aspect (journalism, design, etc.), we were better than the Post the day we launched. We've narrowed the circulation gap significantly on the Post since then, and from what I've been told our Web site gets more page views. Take that for what it's worth.

 

What is the interview process like? I can't imagine that you would fly candidates out there simply for an interview. Is done over the phone, an Internet chat, etc.?

 

Phone or Skype. Flying people out for interviews would be expensive, not to mention inconvenient for the interviewee.