My hunt for my first job
in publishing officially started when I finished university in May, and after
trawling through publishers’ websites, sending out triple-checked covering
letters and CVs, and interviewing at a few pretty big academic publishing
houses, I’ve recently accepted my first publishing job at Palgrave Macmillan as
an Editorial Assistant. I feel like my hard work has finally paid off and I
cannot wait to take the first step in my publishing career in a couple of weeks’
time.
But just in case you’re
wondering how I reached this point (and how you can too), here are some of the
most important things I did which helped me land my first publishing job:
Researched the industry
Technically, the process
began for me during my first year at university three years ago when I was
already considering the possibility of a career in publishing. Knowing very
little about the publishing industry at the time, I decided my first step would
be to start doing some research. The first, and by far the most useful, book I came
across was How to Get a Job in Publishing
by Alison Baverstock, Susannah Bowen and Steve Carey. This book provided me
with the introduction to the industry I really needed. It discusses all the
different types of publishing (trade, professional, education, academic,
journal and magazine) as well as the different job roles within publishing (editorial, sales, marketing, production and
rights), helping you to find out which areas of the industry might best suit
your skills and interests. It also has some great advice on how to find internships,
write flawless covering letters and CVs, and impress in interviews, as well as
lots of useful tips from professionals inside the industry. So this book really
is a great place to start if you’re eager for a career in publishing – it definitely
helped me land my first job in the industry!
Completed internships
After reading the book
mentioned above, I realised that completing an internship or gaining work
experience was a must if I wanted to have any chance of finding a job in this
notoriously competitive industry. I was lucky enough to complete two editorial
internships at a small academic publishing house during my summers away from
university, and these placements really were invaluable. Although unpaid,
interning gave me a thorough insight into the editorial side of academic
publishing and helped me catch the eye of prospective employers when I started
applying for jobs after university. They were also a great way of proving my
unwavering commitment to the industry.
There are a few things to
think about, however, before you start applying for internships or work
experience. First, these placements are often unpaid, so they might not be an
option for everyone. Second, as tempting as it is, don’t just apply for every
single opportunity you come across. You should think about which type of
publishing you want to go into and which department you want to work in. Yes,
any experience is good experience, but it will be much more valuable in the
future if it’s an area you actually want to work in! You might want to look for
marketing internships at non-fiction trade publishers, for example. So once
you’ve considered what areas you’re interested in, try and find a handful of small
publishing houses within these areas (don’t just go for the big names), see
what internship/work experience opportunities they offer, and tailor your covering
letter and CV for every role you apply for. This method brought me some great
results and gave me lots of relevant
industry experience.
Created standout covering letters and CVs
Once I’d completed a
couple of internships and finished university, I was ready to start applying
for full-time jobs in publishing – this meant creating the perfect covering
letter and CV for each role I applied for.
With my covering letter, I
didn’t want it to look like I was just sending out the same standard letter to
each publishing house. So instead, in every letter I sent out, I not only highlighted
my relevant publishing experience, but also emphasised my knowledge of, and
interest in, the particular publishing house I was applying to. In my covering
letter for the position at Palgrave Macmillan, for instance, I mentioned a title of theirs which I’d read at university and I also congratulated them
on the success of their new Palgrave Pivot book format. So your covering
letter should demonstrate both your suitability for the role and your
interest in the publishing house. Is there a title of theirs you recently
enjoyed reading? What excites you about this particular publishing house? Have
they won any awards recently? Make the publisher feel like you really want to work there. Just think, if
you were reading the hundreds of covering letters that came in for one vacancy,
what would impress you?
Alternatively with my CV,
I made sure to draw attention to my relevant editorial internships and include
detailed descriptions of what these placements involved. I also referred back
to the job description for each role I applied for to see what specific skills
they were asking for and then added examples of where I’d previously
demonstrated these skills to my CV.
So make your covering
letters and CVs stand out by tailoring them for every role you apply for.
Although it is time consuming, making an effort like this will really increase
your chances of being invited to an interview. It’s definitely worth it!
Prepared thoroughly for interviews
Averill Chase, a now
retired publishing professional, gives the following advice to publishing
interviewees: “sell yourself – no-one else will”. I loved coming across this
quote. It made me think, how well could I actually talk about me? Could I explain how suitable I was
for an editorial assistant position persuasively and effectively? The starting
point for my interview preparation was, therefore, to focus on ME. This meant making
sure I could talk positively about myself and could discuss in detail
all my skills and experience relevant for the position. I practised this simply
by talking to myself out loud!
Once I was confident that
I could sell myself well, I spent the rest of my time doing more
research on the publishing house. I made sure that I’d read a few of their
titles, that I could demonstrate a familiarity with the list I’d be working on,
and that I was aware of their new and innovative projects. I also researched the
company’s values and memorised their mission statement so I could make brief references
to these during my interview.
Next I prepared a list of
questions ready to ask the interviewer. These included one about the
job role, one about the interviewer’s own publishing career, and one about the
publishing house itself. Some questions I asked were:
- What will be my biggest challenge in this
position?
- What’s your own experience of working at this
publishing house in terms of career progression and company culture?
- Are there any areas of your list which you’re currently trying to develop?
My final bit of interview prep involved guessing
questions that might come up and having answers ready for them. You can read more about this in my previous blog post: 5 questions likely to come up in a publishing interview.
Started writing this blog!
Finally, I think setting
up this blog whilst job hunting actually helped me secure my first publishing position.
During my second interview at Palgrave Macmillan, I was asked whether there
were any projects I was working on outside of university, giving me the perfect
opportunity to talk about my blog. The interviewer seemed really impressed when
I explained how I was writing about my pursuit of a publishing career whilst
trying to help other people with similar aspirations to me. So this blog
might have just set me apart from the other candidates I was up against! If
you’re thinking about setting up a blog related to publishing, reviewing books
is a great way to show that you’re keeping up with the latest and most
popular books gracing the shelves.
So they were some of the
most important steps I took which helped me land my first job in
publishing. Maybe they’ll do the same for you!
