Do you want to get involved with the fast-paced world of blogging all while learning more about Dear Old State? Interested in covering the unique events and people who make Penn State what it is? You must at least have some interest in these things if you’re reading this post right now.

If you love writing, taking pictures, shooting videos, creating graphics, or social media and want to tell the Penn State story, then you’re in the right place: Onward State is hiring its spring class and we want you! We’re always looking for a little bit of everything — writers, visual staffers, etc. — but we’re especially interested in hiring people who want to find unique Penn State stories. We want the people who strive to be the first and smartest to tell the university community about something interesting.

Our bread and butter is, as you can imagine, storytelling. Our writers that specialize in news, student life, sports, and pretty much anything else you can think of. While we have some authors who focus on one subject, part of what makes Onward State special is that we don’t pigeonhole anyone into writing about only one topic — you could cover a UPUA meeting on Wednesday night and a hockey game on Thursday. We’d really love to add some more news junkies that want to investigate or be first on a breaking story, so if that tickles your interest, just skim through everything else and apply below.

The process is relatively straight forward, we just ask that you fill out the embedded Google Doc application below. If we like what we see we’ll contact you for an interview — and if we still like you after that (or you don’t hate us), we’ll offer you a position on staff as a contributor. At first you’ll be asked to produce content weekly, but less than full-time staffers. For example, we ask that new writers compose one post a week, photographers cover an event or shoot stock or social photos each week, and everyone contributes multiple story ideas. We also have a mandatory meeting that is typically Sunday afternoon or evening. All staff members are required to attend.

Don’t be scared off by the word “mandatory” or any of the application questions, however — we’re really just a group of bloggers who like to do good work, have fun, and more than anything, love Penn State. Honestly, how scary could anyone be who can also write a post like this?

Even if you don’t have any experience or aren’t majoring in journalism we welcome you to apply. Our staff is made up of students from every major and we like to have staff members involved in many different aspects of student life.

That being said, if you’re just looking for something to pad your resumé, don’t bother filling out the application. Everyone at Onward State loves what we do and we hope you’re able to contribute to our mission to generate honest conversation in the hopes of enriching the Penn State community. Applications are due Friday, January 20. Happy applying!