Salary Idea, assistant editor??

[UKGal]

Any ideas what an assistant Fashion Editor might earn for a big magazine in Singapore??

Thanks

[disraelinan]

i have recently tried emailing the various editors of bigger fashion magazines here in singapore but to no luck. but of cos its different as im looking for a temporary job and have no experience.
what i heard is that its pretty much an exclusive circle and its pretty hard to get into it.
wish you luck though!

[madura]

salary for magazine editors are pathetic in singapore.
$3-$3.5k/month if you are lucky.

if it is a less well-known title, it might dip below $3k.
figures quoted are local package.

[ceej1979]

Hi

Publishing in Singapore is pretty poor salary. I've just been offered an Editor job on a magazine, and it's about $3000-3500.

You may struggle to get over the $2500 (you basically need to earn a certain amount to get a working visa) visa threshold as an assistant editor.

So you may be in a position where you are offered a job, but they won't let you in, as you don't earn enough.

Have you applied, or done any networking with companies? As in, e-mailed the magazines HR to chat about the move?

They are normally very welcoming, helpful, friendly, and you may well find that you get further with finding a job by just chatting to them, than actually applying.

My offer just came from e-mailing an HR guy at a publishing company, and making a few general enquiries. We got chatting, and he suggested I send in a CV for a job he has. That was basically it.

I'd suggest, in publishing, in regards to chances of it happening:

1: What's the market like. You know, publishing is an incredibely popular career route for local grads in SG. If your experience, or nationality offers nothing to them that they can't get locally they won't bother. However, in my experience, they tend to like British applicants, in regards to editing the English language. There is some value there, if your an expert (What an Ed/Assitant Ed basically is) in writing and editing native English.

2: Getting a salary to get a visa. It will be very hard to get a visa unless you can get over the $2500 threshold. You don't have any value to their economy, if you are not qualified enough, or experienced enough, to earn a certain amount.

[ceej1979]

i have recently tried emailing the various editors of bigger fashion magazines here in singapore but to no luck. but of cos its different as im looking for a temporary job and have no experience.
what i heard is that its pretty much an exclusive circle and its pretty hard to get into it.
wish you luck though!

All publishing is incredibely hard to get into. One of very few industries, where it's nearly all just about having market experience.

Publishing is all learning. Other than being able to spell , every other skill can only be picked up through working for a company.

It's nearly all about just knowing the market, and knowing how the industry works. You may be working on a magazine about fashion - but the key skills for the roles will simply just be things like understanding printing deadlines, and understanding type setting techniques, and understanding house style rules, and copy editing, and being able to manage publishing deadlines.

There isn't a single academic course on the planet that will give you a head start in publishing.

It's all, sadly, about taking any job you can in the industry, and keeping your head down, and learning the trade.

The theory that you can just walk into a mid level editorial job, as you have a degree is really wrong.

The lowest roles in an editorial office (say just doing admin/secretarial work) generally require degrees. Most admin assistants and secretaries in publishing companies have degrees.

My advice. Don't aim too high. If you see a low paid, low skilled, bottom rung publishing job, go for it. I assure you, there will be hundreds of grads applying for the exact same lowly role.

All about just getting into the industry. Within 3 years, you could find yourself in a positon to chase Editorships

[morenangpinay]

hi ceej my question is more for writer than an editor.How do you tailor your writing to the local market? If you're coming from a foreign experience?

[ceej1979]

hi ceej my question is more for writer than an editor.How do you tailor your writing to the local market? If you're coming from a foreign experience?

As in any country, you just need to read what they are putting out there. And research the local market heavily. You'll need to know Singapore as well as any local I'd suggest.

I actually found the writing in Singapore quite bizarre. It's not like the English you would see in the USA or the UK.

It was very "straight to the point" and simple. No real expression, or opinion. And the grammar was just the same. Just really straight forward.

I kind of left thinking "god, I could write something much better in about 2 minutes".

However, don't be fooled by that. They are more than likely writing that way on purpose, to suit the tastes of the readership, and local markets.

That's why it's very important to read a lot of singaporean titles (plenty online) just to pick up on their writing styles

[ceej1979]

hi ceej my question is more for writer than an editor.How do you tailor your writing to the local market? If you're coming from a foreign experience?

From an Editors point of view, publishing is very simple. We just give our readership what they want, in the format they want.

I'm not sure how well you know the industry, but magazines work on "style guides". We have rules on style, and how we write, to suit our market.

You won't be able to get access to a Singaporean magazines style guide (They are closely guarded company secrets, and all employees sign confentiality agreements, meaning they are never seen outside of the company) but as I said, you just need to read Singaporean articles, and pick up on how they write, and what they are trying to do.

All magazines write in a very structured, rule-based way. It seems free flowing but the author and editors will be following very strict style rules.

As I said, to prepare yourself the best you can:

A: Read lots of articles, and try and mimic their style. Really try and see how they tend to write.

B: Research the market in Singapore heavily. A writer is only as good as their source knowledge.

[morenangpinay]

thanks .. i can't get the local style yet lol. did you notice the press is not free?

[ceej1979]

thanks .. i can't get the local style yet lol. did you notice the press is not free?

Yes, I think the press is state owned, so not free at all. A lot of the TV is as well. So are a lot of the media companies and publishers!

So it won't be like Europe, USA, or anywhere like that, in regards to newspapers printing what they want. You'll have to accept that it would be under a governmental structure, with a fair bit of potential censorships.

[ceej1979]

thanks .. i can't get the local style yet lol. did you notice the press is not free?

I think the company I have an offer with is privately owned. It seems to be owned by a Singaporean entrepreneur. It has offices all over the world as well, and not much of it's business is actually done locally. It's HQ is just there

It will of course have to abide by local media laws, but I don't think there is an governmental influence.

[morenangpinay]

i guess im just not used to the government censorship.