Application Guidelines: Hello everyone, Ramza here. I’ve observed the staff application threads for quite a while, and I feel that these could bring a few helpful pointers for your best possible chance of becoming staff. First and foremost: We do not care about prior experience with sites. We do not care if you were a moderator on a different forum, nor do we care about where you came from. As Grey said… And this post is designed to help you have a better chance at a staff position. Tip #1: Be Active. By being active we don’t mean post everywhere in 2 days and get 2000 posts, then apply for a job and you’ll get it. We mean be active in the community. The staff is looking for active members who have been here for a while and attached themselves to the community and care for it. Having a lot of posts may not mean you are as active as we want you to be. Whether you are active on the radio, the forums, or both, we will definitely consider you more if you put yourself out there and make friends in the community. Who knows, maybe some staff members will personally recommend you if they see your application! Tip #2: Word Appropriately Yes, it’s this again. I’ll give you an example of what I mean. ‘I’d like to apply for the position of Forum Moderator.’ –Acceptable ‘I want to go for a spot on the mod list because THIS IS THE BEST SITE EVAR!!11eleven!’ –Not Make sure your application is worded in plain English, with no 1337 speak or ‘text talk’ and write out why you want to be staff, and why you think you’d be a good addition to the team. If we can’t read it, odds are we won’t pay much attention to it. Tip #3: This isn’t a VIP Club. Undoubtedly, we have some members who just want to join staff because they want that super-cool Forum Moderator title under their names and they want to be important and powerful. Well, that isn’t how the staff is. You don’t have any special privileges (Except for Moderation powers), you aren’t above the rules, and the title is just that. A title. What the staff really stands for, is a team of individuals working together to make the site a better place for everyone. This means that if you go in with the mentality of you being the ‘cool kid’, you likely won’t be a very good addition to the team, and we will most definitely ignore your application. So if you have the intention of signing up just to be ‘cool’, don’t bother. We’ll see it from a mile away and very likely ignore it. Tip #4: Don’t Get Your Hopes Up This is the worst part of making an application: just because you send one in doesn’t mean you’re going to get in. We cherish the idea that the staff is a place for everyone, yes. But we can’t let anyone be staff. Even if you send in the most heartfelt and truthful application you can, we may not take you in. Odds are, we’ve already narrowed down who we want, or we just have way too many staff members already. However, if you don’t post an application, we won’t know who to look for. So don’t let this discourage you, write one if you want. Be polite. Be efficient. And plan to help everyone you meet. Being active in the community and an application that really stands out will definitely help your chances. So don’t be shy and give it a go if you want to. Tip #5: We Don’t Care About Experience I said this in the beginning, sure. But I feel this is the most important of them all. We do not care about your experience with past forums. As far as we are concerned, you are starting on a new slate and have –never- worked as a moderator before. We have different standards from other sites, we have different values and we have different things we look for when looking for a staff member. So don’t waste your time saying that you were an administrator on a different site (Which is really easy to lie about mind you.) because we honestly don’t care. We can teach you how to be a moderator, and we care more about your character than your experience. You can be the best moderator in the world, but if you’re a jerk to everyone, we won’t hire you. Simple as that. -------------------------------------------AS STAFF------------------------------------------- Tip #6: Be Prepared On one side, moderation seems easy, right? See a problem? Press the big red HTML Ban button and you send that troublemaker on his way and the site is just dandy. …Right? Sorry, but that isn’t the case in its entirety. That’s only partial. In reality, the job is much harder than it actually sounds, and you will very likely find it to be stressful and take away from your spare time. Here on staff, we are constantly coming up with new ideas and ways to implement them, and this also has its fair share of challenges. As staff, you are going to be expected to participate in group discussions and try to improve upon other aspects of the site. Here on staff, we encourage you to come up with new ideas. However, not only is this not required for you to do, but it may also not lead to your idea seeing the light. Some things do sound better on paper, and it is the staff’s job to determine which ideas are beneficial to the site and which would harm it (Or just not do anything in general.). This includes user ideas. We very –highly- encourage user input and prefer if you privately message a moderator/administrator of an idea you have for the site. So if you feel that becoming a moderator is the only way that you can have ideas and pitch them, I assure you that this is not true. We will constantly update you of the progress of your idea and tell you if it is taken or denied. Tip #7: The Community is What Matters Most As staff, we expect you to think from different perspectives and try to see things from different points of view. In other words, when you come up with an idea and want to have it pitched; don’t just think from your standpoint. Think about how the idea will affect the community as a whole and work your idea around that. The staff isn’t here to accommodate the –staff’s- needs. It’s here to accommodate –your-, the –community’s- needs. Selfish attitudes are not tolerated, and we will very likely discipline you in some manner if you become staff. So you know. Don’t be a selfish jerk. Tip #8: Don’t Kiss Up (But Don’t Fight, Either!) Here on the staff we encourage having an opinion and working with it. We also encourage expressing this opinion in a non-confrontational, polite manner, and we know, sometimes that is hard when people don’t get along too well. And as such, we want you, as staff, to speak of your own opinion, and follow your own, not follow someone else’s. On the same coin, we do not want people to fight amongst themselves among staff. Sometimes this does happen, because you know. People fight. We do, however, want the staff to be as secure and stress-free as possible. We do not want our own staff members to fight one another about their opinions. As staff, you should always do your best to go to an administrator if you have a problem with a staff member. This also applies to you community members out there. If you feel a staff member is out of line or just feel they’re being unfair to you or someone else, report them to their appropriate administrator. (Foxytail, Zephyr, Berry Punch.) We won’t attack you for voicing your opinion, and we –will- investigate any claims made on a staff member. We will, again, update you on the investigation and tell you if they were deemed to be at fault/not at fault. Tip #9: Have Fun! The staff isn’t a stuck-up corporation of secrets and bottled up angst. We are a friendly collective of users who have taken up the banner of protecting the site and users we care.. about. We encourage our staff to participate in the forums and take breaks from the staff when needed. So if you feel overworked as staff, you can always let an administrator know your concerns and reasons. You can always take a break as staff, so long as it isn’t every other day. Tip #10: The End As staff, always make sure that you can be unbiased, selfless, and careful when the time comes. When an important decision for you arises, answer honestly and to the best of your ability. Don’t let what someone else told you affect your decision. Follow your heart and follow what you think is right.--------------------------------------------The End--------------------------------------In conclusion, know what you are signing up for, and know that you matter, even while not a staff member. This is Ramza, signing off.
A bit more on topic, this is very well made! Everypony, take your notes now; this is important stuff!
Wow, this is the first time I've seen a forum where you can actually apply to be staff. Normally they have where the staff looks for people they want and then tells them, like "don't call us, we'll call you." In fact on most vB forums I've seen, you can actually get infracted for asking how to become a mod. This is a nice change from the norm, although I don't think I'll ever be qualified to be a mod on a forum like this. I don't think I'd ever be cut out for the job because I hate to hurt people's feelings; I wouldn't have the heart to give an infraction or anything like that.
You could add something about adding times available since I have seen a few that lack the times that the member is available.
