Round Two: Join The Cambridge Tab Team in Michaelmas 2020

Apply by Saturday 10th October!


With the beginning of Michaelmas 2020 just round the corner, The Cambridge Tab is opening the second round of applications for our editorial and writing positions for the speedily upcoming term. Whether you want to write news, culture, or lifestyle articles – feel free to apply for more than one section – there will be a place for you within The Tab! It gives you the chance to inform and shape the opinions of Cambridge students, in a style that they want to read.

This term will be an especially exciting one to be a student journalist, with the return to University after a six-month hiatus, a socially distanced term, new ways of learning (and socialising) as we all adapt to a ‘new’ normal. We want to hear your views and read your coverage of such an ‘unprecedented’ student experience!

The Cambridge Tab has received 1.8 million views over this past year, publishing 218 stories and receiving 867,000 page views in Easter term alone. There are opportunities for your articles to be read nationally (or even picked up by major news outlets), room for progression, a lovely team, and a platform for you to try out writing. Even if you’ve never tried out journalism before, we’d love to have you on board. We want to recruit as diverse a team as possible in order to represent the many voices of the Cambridge student body.

We are especially keen to recruit freshers for the Tab team  (although if you’re not a fresher, we still encourage you to apply!) who didn’t have the opportunity – or CRSid –  to apply during our first round. If you’re looking to get involved with student journalism in a friendly, fun team (we have stash!), The Tab is the place for you <3

If you have any questions, feel free to email us at [email protected] or drop us a message on Facebook.

Apply here by Saturday 10th October 2020

The positions:

News editors and news reporters

Breaking big stories is key to The Tab’s success, having covered events in Easter like exam arrangements and Cambridge’s decision to move all lectures online (which made the national news!), and recent news including Cambridge’s place at the top of The Times’ Good University Guide. This is a fast-paced role which means that you get to be part of a small team responsible for informing the student body on major issues as soon as they happen.

Opinions editors

Have you ever thought that more people need to hear your hot takes on current events who aren’t your close family, friends or your dog? This is your time! Opinions editors discuss the important issues that Cambridge students face, for example tuition fees in light of COVID-19 or why students should be allowed to undertake paid jobs during term. There will be plenty to talk about in Michaelmas as you can hold the university to task on how it adapts to socially-distanced learning, or its promise of COVID-19 tests for the whole student body, and more. Or, alternatively, you could write a spicy piece on why Cindies is not, in fact, the deal-breaker of a social life in Cambridge…

Features editors

This is Top Tier Tab. This is the most read and most interactive section. There is so much freedom as to what you can cover, creating quizzes, lists or how-to articles alongside more conventional pieces. You could be the leading source of inspiration next term on how to socialise during a pandemic, outfits to wow from a 2m distance, and much more!

Culture and theatre editors

Books, TV, film, music – if you’re interested in it, you can write about it. You’ve got the unique opportunity to navigate both the series of virtual and in-person events that will be happening in Cambridge, and theatre editors get the chance to review Cambridge theatre (free comp tickets included) in all its wonderful forms.  You can also write and commission other theatre-related articles, like interviews with directors and the production team – it’s a fast-paced, creative role.

Interviews editors

A role essential to The Tab, being part of the Interviews teams offers opportunities to chat to academics, students, and celebs (possibly in person, possibly at a 2m distance, possibly via Zoom).  Last term, Tab interviewers have spoken to the likes of Caroline Calloway and had the opportunity to interview Graham Virgo on his favourite memes (as well as more serious matters!) –  the opportunities are endless.

Lifestyle editors

Whether you’re interested in fashion, cooking, sport, or simply want to write about life in Cambridge, lifestyle is the section for you. You can create advice content for incoming freshers (does anyone really know why a Cambridge week starts on a Thursday?), tips on how to juggle your work-life balance, your favourite recipes for a tiny gyp, or anything to do with how you live your Cambridge life.

Social media managers

Run The Cambridge Tab’s Instagram (over 4,500 followers) and Twitter (over 6,000 followers)! Produce exciting and interactive content which will engage students on different platforms. This role grew so much over lockdown and is still developing, so we are keen for any ideas you have for growing The Tab’s online presence – meme knowledge is a must!

Tab TV

For Michaelmas 2020, we want to reignite Tab TV on our Instagram platform. You can work with the social media managers to utilise IGTV and create engaging videos for our audience, be they vox pops, longer interview-style pieces or something completely different. This is still a rapidly developing and highly creative section, and you will be able to have a say in how Tab TV is structured, what we produce and how we produce it!

Columnists

The most open of roles. You can write for any section, on any topic you think students need to know about. You can go from funny to serious in the space of a week! Whether you have an idea for a weekly (or not!) column about adjusting to an online-offline term, or anything else for that matter, we want to hear from you.

Apply here by Saturday 10th October 2020

We’d also encourage you to join the Tab’s writers’ group that advertises commissions, and you can always message the Facebook page (or the editors, Genevieve Holl-Allen and Izzy Dignum) with article ideas.

We’re really looking forward to receiving your applications – get in touch if you have any questions, we’d be delighted to help!

Lots of Tab love, 

Izzy and Genevieve 

Editors-in-Chief, The Cambridge Tab