We’ve had spring for a week now, so naturally, conversation in The Uniter offices has turned to the topic of fall. 

That’s the nature of our publishing year, and as much as last fall was about a fresh start for this paper, next fall will be about building on what we’ve learned this year. We don’t need to reinvent the wheel (or the printing press) or rehash debates about the Oxford comma. Some of those things, at the very least, have been sorted out. 

We learned that when we’re bringing new staff on board, many more applicants are looking for jobs in the fall, winter and spring, and less so in the summer. We’ve traditionally hired our staff for the next year over the slower, warmer months (and ended up with some mighty fine people as well), but just because it worked out OK for us doesn’t mean it’s the best idea. It doesn’t mean that we’re casting as wide of a net as we could be. 

And if we want to be an inclusive paper, we’re learning that a big part of that isn’t just showing up and hoping people will get on board, but rather, we need to go to the places where people are already congregating and having conversations. 

So even though it’s just barely spring, we’re hiring for a couple of positions that begin in the fall. We’re hoping this is a good time to spread the word about these jobs, and that it could also give a few people the chance to get ahead of the game and know where they’ll be working in a post-summertime world. If you want to learn more, check out uniter.ca/jobs. 

Many of our staff will be returning next year, and I look forward to refining our work at The Uniter from the strong foundation we’ve built this year, as well as with some fresh new faces. It may be a little early to issue a full forecast, but I feel like we’ve got another good year up our collective sleeves. 

– Anastasia Chipelski

Published in Volume 70, Number 24 of The Uniter (March 17, 2016)