Work Your Work Experience

Posted on March 12, 2011 in Uncategorized

The latest SYP event brought together a range of industry professionals to discuss exactly what work experience in today’s fiercely competitive publishing industry is all about. What should you expect from your work experience placement and more importantly, what does your potential employer expect?

Sarah Sandland, Publicity and Marketing Manager at Michael O’Mara Books

Sarah began her career by undertaking two fortnight-long work experience placements at Random House and Michael O’Mara. She was offered an entry level role at Michael O’Mara Books who publish an eclectic range of books from celebrity autobiographies to children’s novels to non-fiction.

Sarah offered practical advice to make the most of voluntary work experience placements in a small to medium-sized publishing house. As work experience schemes are oversubscribed, it is likely that applicants will be interviewed before being offered a placement. In order to impress at interview, it is imperative to research the publisher’s list of authors and try to read press releases and publicity material in order to learn about the company. This, along with dressing smartly and arriving punctually at the interview, will help you catch the eye of the company and increase the chance of landing the placement.

It is important for candidates to adjust their expectations of the kind of work they can expect to do during their placement. Work experience schemes can provide an insight into the editorial process, rights management and commissioning of books, but will also entail seemingly mundane administrative tasks such as photocopying, filing, mail runs and franking post.

“Never moan!” was Sarah’s cardinal rule for getting the most out of your work experience. Always perform the tasks you are given to the best of your abilities and bear in mind that you are there to make an impression. Photocopying and filing press cuttings may seem boring, but failing to do the task correctly and complaining as you do so is incredibly noticeable to your possible employers.

She warned that publishing is a very small world; great for networking but equally, word will get around if you don’t stick out the full two weeks of your tenure. Instead of focusing your entire attention on editorial work, you should learn about book production, publicity and marketing too. Many interns begin an editorial placement to find they enjoy other aspects of publishing work.

Finally, it was stressed that interns should appreciate that the staff who take them on are very busy, and to conduct themselves accordingly when asking questions or for things to do. By the same token, do not expect to be remembered by everyone in the company after embarking on a two-week placement, but by smiling, remaining willing and polite you can better your chances of making an impression and being recommended in future.

Sam Edinborough, an experienced Literary Agent and Director at the Intercontinental Literary Agency (ILA)

Sam related how writing a professional and polite speculative letter to an agent landed him his first job as an assistant to the Rights Director at A M Heath & Co. He revealed that although the publishing industry has a reputation for being a closed shop, most professionals are approachable and pleased to hear from aspiring young publishers.

He began with a frank assessment of the current book market, stressing that incredible commercial pressure means that changes to the traditional book publisher and agency is inevitable. Although this forces publishers to be selective and sparing when managing staff budgets, it creates opportunities for work experience placements as agencies are forced to be innovative. As such, work experience placements offer a greater breadth of experience and insight than would have been available ten years ago.

Similarly, as prevailing industry conditions exert more pressure on publishing houses to focus on selling books, more editorial and publicity work is falling to literary agents. Agencies are fast becoming the nexus of the industry and can offer excellent experience to interns. On the whole, individual literary agencies are small, so opportunities for internships arise irregularly and candidates are typically interviewed before a placement is offered.

When you are invited to begin your internship, do not expect total access to all aspects of a full-time, paid publishing role. As excited as you may be to begin, try to manage your expectations of what you can achieve. Bear in mind that the cost of taking an intern is borne by the publisher and it is the intern who gains the most from the placement.

Sam listed the things you can hope to learn at an agency, which included how rights are sold; what subsidiary rights are available to sell; what an author’s contract looks like; and aspects of client representation, such as royalty payments and publicity. 

All speakers agreed that although performing menial tasks is an inevitable part of working life, it is essential to learn to make the most of each task you may be asked to do. Organising an agent’s filing cabinet may not sound like riveting work, but each document refers to an important part of the correspondence between agent and author and is therefore a mine of useful information.

Sam’s main advice was to make a point to ask an interesting, pertinent question each day and remember the answer. Keep notes, respect the confidentiality of the work you are involved in and find time to read as much as you can. He stressed the importance of remaining passionate about books and not allowing your hopes to be dashed when searching for your first job.

Daniel Crewe, Publisher at Profile Books

Profile, a company of around 30 people, offer two eight-week internships for which applicants can apply with a CV and covering letter to internship@profilebooks.com.

During their time, interns are paid the minimum wage and gain valuable experience across the spectrum of publishing roles, including administration, publicity, sales and marketing and as well editorial. Daniel noted that not all interns necessarily go on to work in publishing. Work experience placements have led to careers in PR and marketing as well as editorial and agency work.

Daniel echoed the importance of keeping a positive attitude and seeking useful things to do is the key to making the most of your placement. He also suggested be inquisitive and broach new ideas for books if your placement is with a non-fiction or gift book publishers – sometimes these ideas can turn into physical books!

In return for the placement, candidates on Profile’s intern scheme are expected to be punctual, computer literate, level headed in stressful situations and conscientious of other staff who may be busy or stressed. Seeing that the house is prepared to take a candidate on for 8 weeks, they are expected to be keen to pursue publishing career and prepared to work hard and keep organized.

Daniel remarked that a blind eye is often turned to bribes of tea, cakes and chocolate and, in some quarters, is actually encouraged. Crucially, he recommended that interns conduct themselves as if there is always a job at the end of the placement even though the likelihood is that there won’t be.

Suzanne Collier, founder of the bookcareers.com careers consultancy and former Chair of the Society of Young Publishers

Suzanne has worked in every department of a publishing house – from editorial through to sales. Suzanne reminded us that the unequivocal goal of work experience is the attainment of paid employment. Candidates should do no more unpaid work than is necessary to achieve this goal and ought to consider asking the publishing house to pay for travel costs.

She advised prospective candidates to be wary of companies seeking to exploit willing graduates for unpaid, administrative jobs under the guise of an ‘internship’. Two voluntary placements are sufficient for any entry level publishing role.

She also suggested that companies that demand – explicitly or implicitly – months of unpaid work or training are to be avoided. As the future of publishing lies with changing technology, interns should use their time to gain as much experience as they can in the broad range of software used in print and digital publishing.

How to make your job applications stand out

As far as writing an attractive job application, all speakers stressed the importance of an uncluttered, error-free CV of no more than two pages in length. This is particularly important for budding editors who would be expected to practice economy of expression before editing the work of others.   

Suzanne warned against overstating experience. It is better to be honest about your placement and describe it as an insight into publishing rather than claim that, as a two-week intern, you were engaged in copy-editing, jacket design and approving flat-plans. Daniel opined that it is best to tailor your covering letter to what you can offer the company rather than what having a publishing job would mean to you.  

Sam suggested that sending a letter – printed and signed on a piece of paper – is appreciated more than an email. Letters are harder to delete and forget than an email. However, Sarah contended that by the same token an email is far easier to respond to. Regardless, a letter or email addressed to ‘Dear Sir/Madam’ is likely to end up unread and overlooked, so, again, researching the company, its authors and finding out the name of the intended recipient is crucial. 

The importance of prudent networking was emphasised by everyone. Daniel also suggested that interns follow up the end of their placement or the beginning of gainful employment with their old boss so that they are remembered.

The final word of the evening was Suzanne’s. She said that, despite the competitiveness of the industry at large, there are plenty of opportunities for publishing jobs out there. As the Chair closed this fascinating speakers’ event, all wished the audience the best of luck in hunting one down.