Job posting for Storycorps:

StoryCorps Facilitator

StoryCorps is seeking enthusiastic and dedicated Facilitators for a yearlong commitment. StoryCorps’ mission is to instruct and inspire people to record one another’s stories in sound. StoryBooths and MobileBooths are small, comfortable recording studios where friends, families and neighbors bring each other to conduct forty-minute audio interviews. The stories recorded in these booths are housed at the Library of Congress’ American Folklife Center. The StoryCorps collection will become our nation’s largest oral history archive. StoryCorps stories air weekly on National Public Radio.

Facilitators are the field workers of StoryCorps. Part anthropologist, part folklorist, they capture stories of everyday people in order to record and archive the diverse voices of  America. They:
* Welcome participants to the interview and guide them through the experience.*
* Handle all technical aspects of making the recordings.
* Catalogue interviews for the Library of Congress.
* Attend weekly Facilitator team meetings.
* Perform minor maintenance and cleaning of the StoryBooths and MobileBooths.
* Identify and edit tape from interviews to be considered for broadcast.
* Recruit participants from under-represented communities.    

* Are the ambassadors of StoryCorps wherever they go.

* In general, Facilitators are not interviewers—friends or family members of the storytellers conduct the interviews. Facilitators do conduct interviews when participants come alone.

 Locations:

 In their year term, Facilitators will facilitate interviews at:

   1 StoryBooths: One to three 7-hour shifts a week at our StoryBooths in New York City.
   2. Door to Doors (D2Ds): Occasional trips (lasting between a day and a week) to facilitate interviews hosted by a partner organization.
   3. MobileBooths: A two to three month tour on one of our MobileBooths that travel the country collecting stories. One of these MobileBooths, StoryCorps Griot, is collecting the stories of African-Americans, so applicants with an interest in black history are strongly encouraged. A mobile tour of a minimum of two months between late June and December 2007 is mandatory.

Skills:

* People skills are first and foremost—we’re looking for good listeners who are friendly, encouraging, and can put people at ease. Facilitators have a genuine curiosity about people and a keen awareness of interpersonal dynamics.
* Because each Facilitator archives their own interviews for the Library of Congress, attention to administrative details and computer proficiency are essential.
* Facilitators must be flexible travel partners, adaptable and willing to compromise. Solid driving skills encouraged.             * Bilingual a plus.
* Comprehensive training will be provided, so an eagerness to learn is more important than related prior experience or familiarity with audio and photo equipment.
Timing and Salary: The position begins in mid-May 2007 and goes through May 2008.
Must be able to work one weekend day per week and one half weekday every other week at minimum.
The pay rate is $14 per hour in New York. While on the Mobile Tour, Facilitators are full-time salaried employees at a comparable rate and are also provided accommodations.
To Apply: Send resume and cover letter (no longer than a page) explaining why you would like to be a Facilitator to Nora Levine, Facilitator Manager at employment@storyorps.net.  Title your email “Last name – Facilitator” and include both cover letter and resume as attachments entitled: “YourNameLetter” and ”YourNameResume”. Please indicate if you have applied for a  position at StoryCorps in the past.
Applications due March 30.

Early applications encouraged. To get the best sense of the job, make an appointment to interview someone you love in a StoryBooth. No calls please.
 Equal Opportunity Employer
This position will be filled without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, 
disability, veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law.

 For more information about StoryCorps, please visit  
www.storycorps.net.