Internships in 2025: Better News, Better Vibes

Posted on February 24, 2025 in INTO, London

To intern or not to intern? If this is your current dilemma, knowing that it has affected crowds of young graduates for the past twenty years might bring some relief. Presently, about half of all British graduates  have been in your boat. If you have set your heart and brain on the publishing industry, you should already know what a competitive process securing an internship is. It’s like a game of musical chairs, but with a handful of chairs and thousands of participants. 

Yes, there are times when winning the lottery seems more plausible than an entry level job in publishing, but please don’t be discouraged. If you live in London and are reading this post in 2025, here is some good news: 

• Opportunities are rising. The number of media/creative/publishing employers officially offering internships has gone up by 20% in the last six years, according to the latest research by Sutton Trust. Whilst publishing placements used to be offered informally, perhaps whispered at cocktail parties, today there is a more equal and transparent selection process. 

• Albeit slowly, the unpaid tide is turning. Whilst in the past the majority of internships were inaccessible to graduates from working class or disadvantaged backgrounds, nowadays one of the government’s current plans includes the ban of unpaid placements. Employers seem to be finally getting on the wavelength that interns have talent and potential that is worth investing in.

• Spring is around the corner, which also marks the start of new exciting internship programmes. Penguin Random House, Curtis Brown, and Financial Times are due to open their doors soon, whereas science-oriented folk can check out the opportunities at the Royal Pharmaceutical society and Springer Nature. All of the publishers mentioned pay London living salaries. Please note that some of the application deadlines might be impending (see also the membership area of this website for further details).

• Even if you can’t immediately secure an internship, there are actions you can take to hone your skills and get work experience. Temping might be an option for the time being (besides, good administrative skills come handy in every editorial office). Don’t overlook the possibilities offered by social media today: Meet the booktokers is a good example of the inevitable collaboration between publishers, authors and social media creators (book-tokers in book influencers on TikTok).

‘If the door is shut, try climbing through the window,’ the author Alfonso Signorini, from the Italian Gruppo Mondadori, boldly advised publishing hopefuls. Whilst we don’t encourage you to actually climb through anything in order to secure a placement, we do hope that you take advantage of all the opportunities in London this year.