Express Media runs an annual internship program, which allows young people valuable work experience in varied aspects of the organisation.

Express Media's internship program is structured, with specific outcomes intended for each position. Each position is advertised for applications either once or twice a year. The positions are voluntary, and may be suitable to fit the internship project requirements of university or TAFE arts management, communications, publishing, editing or writing students.

Below is a list of the current Express Media internships, and when each is likely to be advertised for applications:

Arts Management Internship - Late 2008 for 2009
Communications Internship - Late 2008 for 2009
Event Management Internship - Late 2008 for 2009
Special Project Management Internship - position filled
Voiceworks Administration Internship - Late 2008 for 2009
Electronic Publications Internship - Late 2008 for 2009
Buzzcuts Coordinator Internship - June 2009
NEWS Coordinator Internship - September 2008

Become an Express Media member!
As a member you will help keep the organisation afloat, and receive a monthly newsletter keeping you up to date with our many projects and special events. You will also receive discounted entry to all our workshops, and discounts at many Writers' Centres around the country.

Become a member-subscriber!
Not only will you receive the benefits of being an Express Media member, but we will deliver four copies of Voiceworks (a quarterly publication) directly to your door.

Subscribe your organisation to Voiceworks!
Libraries, schools and other organisations are strongly encouraged to subscribe to the only national magazine in the country produced by young people for young people. (Please note that organisational subscribers do not receive copies of the organisation's monthly newsletter.)

link:
e(x)_m Membership and subscription form

Express Media relies on volunteers to assist us in presenting projects and special events, and to help keep the organisation running. Without your involvement we would cease to exist. (You can also help Express Media survive by becoming a member.)

Being an Express Media volunteer puts you in touch with people who are active in a range of creative industries. As a volunteer you can gain valuable experience, free advice and training - from learning how to produce and present a radio program, to laying out a magazine. Volunteers also receive discounts on Express Media workshops and access to equipment.

Want to volunteer? Fill out the form below and we'll add you to our volunteers register. Also look out for our volunteering opportunities which we'll advertise on the website. Express Media also runs an Internship Program as well as a high school Work Experience Program. Internships will be advertised on our website and on Arts Hub. For work experience placements, contact the General Manager.

link:
e(x)_m volunteer form

Express Media runs an annual high school work experience program.

Students spend three days with us working on the Voiceworks production cycle and on e(x)_m projects. It's a comfortable, casual environment with plenty of opportunity to be exposed to a really broad range of things. You get a unique behind-the-scenes look at the running of e(x)_m, the first look at the upcoming issue of Voiceworks, and noone leaves empty-handed.

Because the e(x)_m office is only staffed part-time, your week would be only three days long (Monday to Wednesday), which gives you the opportunity to fit another placement into the other two days.

There is a lot of demand for these places, so to be sure of being successful, do your research first - have a good look around the website, read Voiceworks and then write us a covering letter telling us all about yourself, and why you'd like to do your work experience with us, and fill out the form below.

link:
e(x)_m work experience form

Chloe Wilson (23) completed a BA at the University of Melbourne in 2006 and Honours in Creative Writing in 2007. She is commencing a PhD in Creative Writing in 2008. Her work has appeared in Voiceworks, Eureka Street, Blue Dog, Poetrix, Inkshed, and Strange, as well as various university publications. She won the 2007 Ada Cambridge Short Story Competition and had a play produced as part of St Martin’s season of New Australian Work in 2001. In a brief and unglamorous publishing career she has been a journalist specialising in oil and gas pipelines and an editorial assistant working on finance and business stuff.

Felice Howden (19) likes to write, but doesn't like to write in self-referential third person. She is completing a Bachelor of Arts at The University of Melbourne in 2008, where she majors in Philosophy and English Literature because she likes old people and dead ideas. She had stories published in some issues of Voiceworks, which led her to meet and then join the Editorial Committee in the dying days of 2007 and she thinks this is one of the greatest things she has done in her life thus far (excepting a brief period in her childhood when she was a goose-herder).

link:
The Pet Duck and Goose Association

Rohan Bassett (23) joined the Editorial Committee in late 2006. He has completed an Honours degree in Creative Writing at Melbourne University. His writing has appeared in Voiceworks and the Melbourne University student writing anthology, above water.

Small press narrowly rescued Zoë Barron (20) from the oil industry where she was spending too much time in oilrig locker rooms, sharing dirty jokes with burley men. Now she spends too much time in cramped offices, hunched over other people’s writing with cynical publishing types, but in a good way. She was inducted into the EdComm fold after Voiceworks published a couple of her poems, and when she’s not doing that, spends the rest of her time writing stuff down, playing poker with old hospitality hands, studying history, and editing Farrago, the University of Melbourne student paper. She gets on very well with bicycles.

It is hard to describe what Bryce Ives actually does: over the past decade Bryce has worked in radio, television, print, online communities and social networking, Web 2.0 project development, performing arts, training, governance, community development and youth-work.

Recognised nationally as one of Australia's leading youth media makers, The Australian Newspaper in 2004 commented that "Ives represents a generational shift in how media is being produced and managed" and that he is a "mover and shaker in the youth media world." Bryce recently stepped down from his position as General Manager of SYN Youth Media, to take up a newly created position at the ABC as Online Producer of Heywire.

Bryce has directed over ten theatre productions including Disney's Beauty and the Beast and The Witches of Eastwick for the Geelong Lyric Theatre Company; You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown for Melbourne Musicals; A Midsummer Night's Dream for the Ballarat Begonia Festival; Once on this Island for Westbourne Grammar School, Tangled up in Blue and Karen for Theatre Movement Inc. Bryce is currently directing Call Girl the Musical, a new musical by Tracy Harvey and Doug MacLeod. The October season will star Alan Fletcher (Neighbours –Channel 10)

Bryce is currently a Company Director of the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia and Express Media.

link:
Community Broadcasting Association of Australia

George Dunford is the Chair of the Express Media Management Committee.

George is a founding member of Cardigan Press, a small press dedicated to the short story. He’s a Melbourne-based writer, web producer and podcaster, who has worked on several guidebooks for Lonely Planet (including Micronations, Southeast Asia on A Shoestring and The Travel Book) and the Rough Guide. As a freelancer, he’s written for several publications including The Age Cheap Eats, Australian Book Review, Wanderlust and The Big Issue. He currently produces regular podcasts for ABC’s Rollercoaster and works as a web producer with Radio Australia.

link:
Cardigan Press

Jessica Anne Friedmann, 21, is one of the co-founding editors of alternative fashion journal a cloth-covered button, a former editor of Farrago and an all-round editorial gun for hire. Her writing has appeared in The Age, newmatilda.com , Thank God We Died Together, The Pun, Voiceworks, and many many tiny press projects. She likes the smell of paper in the morning.

When Jess isn't eking out a living as a freelancer, she tends to bake, write poetry, sew things and write on her blog (http://jessicafriedmann.wordpress.com). She's also polishing off a Creative Writing major, although she tends to forget this until the night before assessment is due in.

link:
Read Jess\' blog

Lili Wilkinson is an author, and an advocate for youth literature. She works at the Centre for Youth Literature, State Library of Victoria.

Following an honours degree in Creative Arts and six months of teaching English in Japan, Lili began working at CYL, where she now manages Australia?s first website for young people about books, www.insideadog.com.au.

Lili was first published when she was eleven, in Voiceworks. Lili?s first book, Joan of Arc, was published by black dog books in 2006. She is currently working on a novel, to be published in mid-2007. She has also written for The Age and Good Reading magazine. She blogs at thinkingsofalili.blogspot.com

link:
Read Lili\'s blog

John Marsden is Express Media's patron. Mr Marsden's books, which include the immensely popular Tomorrow, When The War Began series, have been acclaimed by readers and critics around the world.

"I've had a good look at the many activities that Express Media offers," John says. "It's an extraordinary range, and very contemporary. They cover areas that didn't even exist ten or twenty years ago. They are allowing young people to express their creative visions. In an ocean of gluggy stuff like television and video games, Express Media is offering the chance for authentic and lively artistic activity. I was very happy to be asked to be their patron, and hope I can be of some use.'

Not only is John a successful professional writer, which is rare enough in Australia, he is also immensely popular with young people, and is dedicated to encouraging their creative expression. We are extremely excited to be working with John.

About John Marsden
John Marsden was born in Melbourne in 1950, the third of four children. He began a teaching career at 28, which included nine years at Geelong Grammar, during which time he became Head of English at the school’s prestigious Timbertop campus. John’s first novel, So Much To Tell You, was published in 1987, and won the 1988 Children's Book Of the Year Award, the Allan Marshall Award, the KOALA Award and, in America, the Christopher Medal. Among his many other books are Tomorrow, When The War Began, (first published in 1994, and in 1995 winning the older readers' sections of every state award judged by children and teenagers themselves. It has been reprinted 33 times in Australia and the series has helped push John's worldwide sales to almost three million.); Dear Miffy (1997), a tough novel about a new underclass of Australian youth; and Secret Men's Business (1998) a groundbreaking work written specifically not for parents or teachers, but for young men themselves. John has been called 'the most popular author today in any literary field' (THE AUSTRALIAN) and is also committed to teaching. His regular writing courses at the Tye Estate outside Melbourne are popular with adults and young people alike.

About the Marsden Prize
Since 2005 John has generously funded and supported a prize to encourage creative literary work by young people. The annual prize is launched in May each year with entries closing in August. More information about the prize to follow.

Lisa Pham is the former Chair of the Express Media Management Committee.

Lisa Pham is a writer and independent media maker. She has edited and coordinated various media projects and print publications over the years, including the Monash University student newspaper, Lot's Wife. Her reviews, articles and arts features have been published on Australian and French web sites. She has also written a thesis examining the historical development of artistic communities in
Melbourne and Sydney. Lisa has been heavily involved with Express Media and Vibewire over the years and will be studying post-graduate Journalism in Paris. Her passions include the arts, writing, media and French culture. She blogs at http://coloursofbohemia.blogspot.com.

link:
Lisa\'s blog

Nic made this website, because he has absolutely nothing better to do. You can now find him over at the National Young Writers' Festival.

link:
www.dislocated.org

Bel Schenk is the Artistic Director of Express Media. Her poetry book ‘Ambulances & Dreamers’ will be published later in 2008 by Wakefield Press and up until very recently, she was the lead singer and guitarist with local Adelaide popsters Emergency Crank Radio. Melbourne called. She arrived.

Emily Andersen is general manager of Express Media. Emily has a BA (Arts) in Journalism from RMIT and a Graduate Diploma in Creative Writing from Melbourne University, and she's currently studying a Postgraduate Diploma in Community Cultural Development Practice at the Victorian College of the Arts.

Emily joined Express Media in May 2007 after working as a journalist at Leader Newspapers. Emily loves writing poetry and plays, and undertook an Express Media poetry mentorship with Dorothy Porter in 2004. She founded the Union Players theatre company, who have performed in the Melbourne Fringe Festival and Malthouse Theatre 3D Fest. Emily has previously served terms as President of SYN and RMIT Student Union.

Marc Martin is the Voiceworks Graphic Designer. He also works as a freelance graphic designer and illustrator. He has worked both locally and internationally on various projects, including This Is Not Art Festival 2007, And Collective publications, Laurent Fetis and Bureau Paris design studios in France. See more of Marc's work at www.smallandquiet.com.

link:
Small and Quiet

Ryan Paine no longer has time for fishing, let alone a mistress. His beautiful wife, Voiceworks magazine, gets all stroppy and suspicious when he’s away for too long. A 24-year-old writer and editor, he previously worked as a book editor and typesetter at Wakefield Press in Adelaide. Before that he packed trucks with cereal, toilet paper and/or car tyres, built roads, x-rayed welds and trimmed the plastic dags off those yellow cricket-bat-and-wicket sets. He doesn’t write fiction much lately, but he writes book reviews for Radio National's The Book Show and aspires to salmon steaks on the way to the frozen lasagnes.

Email Ryan at editor (at) expressmedia (dot) org (dot) au

Tom Rigby is the incoming editor of Voiceworks magazine. Tom will take over the position officially on September 29 2008..

Tom Rigby got his start in the magazine business writing book reviews for the Jesuit magazine Eureka Street. He has since contributed to many publications including Is Not Magazine and the Melbourne Uni Student Union orientation guides 05 and 06. While studying at Melbourne Uni in 2004, he co-founded the student magazine Bizarro Farrago in protest against what was commonly perceived as a decline in the quality of Farrago, Melbourne Uni's official student newspaper. In 2005 Tom took the position of editor of Farrago with the popularly elected Bizarro group. Tom has recently coordinated the National Editors' Workshop and Skillshare (NEWS2006), presented by Express Media in January.

Tom was previously the Editorial Committee's representative to the Management Committee of Express Media, and Secretary of the Management Committee.

At Express Media we get lots of applications for every position we advertise – applications that vary greatly in quality and attention to detail. So whether you’re applying for a paid position, a role in our annual Internship Program, or a project or event volunteer role, there’s a few things you can do to make sure your application shines through.

GETTING MORE INFO
During an application process there’s plenty of time to phone us for more information. Please do call and ask anything you’d like to know! This is often better than emailing, because then we can have a proper chat about it all – and keep in mind the days that we’re available in the office – see our website for details.

HOW TO APPLY
Read the application guidelines carefully, and follow them exactly, making sure that your final application includes everything we’ve asked for.

COVERING LETTER
In your covering letter, let us know what makes this opportunity the perfect one for you right now, given what you’re up to and where you want to go. Your cv will list your past work, and your statement against selection criteria will give us detail about your skills and experience. Use this brief letter (not more than one page) to tell us about you.

SELECTION CRITERIA
Make sure that your statement against selection criteria is a document which uses each criterion as a subheading, and then gives answers and examples that address each one. These are the criteria we’re going to use to make our shortlist, so you want to be sure that you’ve directed your application to them really well. For creative roles, we will ask for a specific number of text pieces, images, zines etc – please don’t go overboard and send us everything you have, just what we ask for.

TIMELINES
The application document will state quite clearly when shortlisting and interviews will take place. Once applications have closed, please don’t call and email asking when the interviews will take place and whether you’ve been shortlisted! We’ll let you know within the timeframe we advertise. If you already know that you wouldn’t be able to make the advertised interview date, you must let us know in your application.

REFEREES
Have you worded up your referees in case we need to call them? You should give them your full application, as well as our Selection Criteria and How to apply document, so that they know all about your application and the position when we need to call.

CHECK IT TWICE
Double-check your contact details – did you include an email address (essential)? Is that really your phone number?

EMAILING
When emailing your application, attach only one document that incorporates everything we’ve asked for, and has a document name which includes your full name e.g. if Esther Anatolitis were applying for an Arts Management internship, she would attach Esther_Anatolitis_artsmgmt.doc (or something like that) to her email. The document would include Esther’s covering letter, statement against selection criteria, cv and referees’ contact details, all in the one Word document or PDF. Under no circumstances call your document something generic like “Express Media application” ! Don’t forget to use the subject line we’ve asked for, so that our spam filters don’t eat your application. Your application must arrive before the close time.

POSTING
Include the full Express Media address as well as the position’s name, so that you application goes to the right place. Your application must arrive on or before the close date.

Remember, this is your only chance to make your impression. It might seem onerous and uncreative, but if you don’t respond to our selection process, then we won’t be able to compare you to the other applicants fairly and comprehensively. We’re a small office staffed by part-timers – by making our processes clear, we hope to give you the best possible chance. Feel free to print out and keep these guidelines as a starting point for your other job applications. (Bear in mind that a growing number of organisations use recruitment agencies who won’t even read your application if it’s not in the format they outline.)

And best of luck with your application!

Poetry and prose writers are in with a chance to win a share of $4,500 in prize money. You can download the entry form here.... >> read more

BUZZCUTS 2008
Applications are now open for volunteers for this year’s Buzzcuts. If you are under 25 and you would like to write reviews as part of the Melbourne Fringe Festival (September 24 –... >> read more