Volunteer with Us

Posted on October 15, 2018 in UK

You may or may not notice that volunteer season at the SYP is upon us. The application process to become a committee member is now open for most regions. This time of the year you are able to put in your applications to join the team. Whether you want to help organise events with the Northern team, handle social media for the Scottish team, work with students and universities in London, or manage the finances for the whole organisation, now is your chance to take part.

Why should you do so? That’s what I want to quickly touch on here.

Of course, I am a committee member so you may think I am only ever likely to say positive things, but the thing is this year I have had so many ups due to volunteering. The bottom line is I firmly believe being on the committee and looking after this website helped me into the job I find myself in now.

By being part of the committee I made new contacts and learnt more about the industry than I knew prior to joining. That meant I was able to talk more widely about the industry and what I could bring to the role I ultimately interviewed for. It worked. I’m not saying this will definitely happen for you, but being a committee member opens up the possibility.

I’m not the only one who thinks that. I asked a fellow committee member to contribute to this article and they said almost exactly the same thing. Maisie Linford, the Managing Editor of InPrint, had this to say:

Being part of the SYP Committee is an indispensible experience – you get to take on responsibilities that you could never get in an entry-level publishing job. In my role I learnt about aspects of publishing I would have never thought about, as well as getting the chance to think about things I personally want to write about. I’ve learned more about the industry and my own skills and development to achieve things with the collective support and skills of like-minded peers.

If you have seen the development of the InPrint magazine this year, then you will see what Maisie is referring to. If you have come across this, find the latest issue to see how a team pulled together to create a new-look product and get it on sale in Blackwells in Oxford.

Maisie went on to say that ‘anyone who applies should not be disheartened if they don’t make the committee at the first time of asking’ and to ‘continue to be be involved and apply next year’. I wholeheartedly endorse that statement as I was an active member for a long time before I joined the committee. The contacts I made and lessons I learnt during that time were incredibly useful. Over time the ‘ideal’ role I wanted to undertake once on the committee changed, and it did so because I had time to learn more about the organisation and what everyone did within it.

On top of your own personal and career development, there is the chance to help others. For me, and I am sure most of those on the committee, this aspect of the committee means so much. Be that trying to create engaging content for InPrint or the website that teaches the reader something new (which both Maisie and I have done), organising events based on exploring what the Rights department do around Frankfurt Book Fair, putting together book clubs, and speaking to students about their career paths, it is all about helping the future industry leaders find their footing.

Whether you are just starting out in the industry or have been in it for a few years, we want to hear from you. The SYP as an organisation has been running for 70 years, and we want to know your ideas for taking what we do to the next step.

Your ideas and enthusiasm are what will keep this organisation relevant for the next 70 years.

Your voices are new and will be listened to.

Your insights are valuable.

You are important.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Carl
Website Officer, UK Committee