University of Cambridge Careers Service Publishing Careers Panel (part of Creative Careers Festival 2024).
Publishing is a popular career and a very broad industry. Hear from this panel of speakers to find out more about what roles really involve, the skills you’ll need to develop to stand out and tips for following in their career footsteps.

Speakers:
Anna Lawrence Managing Editor at Royal Geographical Society. Managing oversight of several journals.
Jane Evans Commissioning Editor at Jessica Kingsley Publishers. A leading publishing house on autism, arts therapies, gender diversity, social justice etc.
Jean Jollands Section Editor, Bauer Media (owners of Take a Break, That's Life, Heat, Bella, Grazia)
Lucy BeresfordKnox Rights Department, Penguin Random House.

00:06 Intro
01:50 Panellists – descriptions of a typical day in their job
10:50 What do you like about what you do?
15:20 Did you know which part of the industry you wanted to go into, did you have a plan?
20:40 Are there any departments in publishing that students may not consider that are a good entry point to get into the industry?
25:48 what key skills and attributes are employers looking for in entry level candidates?
30:32 How has digital/AI changed the industry and the skillset candidates need to get into the industry?
36:10 Do you think that a postgraduate course in publishing, editorial, digital skills or even data science would make you more competitive when getting into publishing?
41:12 Would you say that Publishing is a diverse work environment in terms of gender, ethnicity, disability? What efforts are being made to diversify?
47:53 Is networking important for people looking for, and in, publishing roles?
51:50 Are there any views on worklife balance in the publishing industry?

Q&A
55:44 Do you work with books that get translated into English from a different language?
56:56 How did you go about getting work experience when you were starting out?
1:01:32 What sort of activities would you recommend to demonstrate to employers you have the necessary skills?
1:03:32 How can I learn and improve my applications when I don’t get feedback?
1:08:07 Would having a (literature) PhD count as equivalent work experience?
1:10:09 Is there risk in applying for several different roles at the same publishing company?
1:11:30 Does work experience need to be recent?
1:12:18 How do you find the publishing industry in terms of career progression?
1:14:56 Is there a fair amount of reading involved in editorial roles?
1:16:39 For editorial assistant roles, what skills are transferrable from a research degree?
1:18:33 Are you able to move into publishing from another industry at a later stage?
1:20:16 What balance should there be in a cover letter between why you want to work there vs why you’re a good fit?
1:21:26 What advice would you give to a studentauthor looking for a literary agent, but who has no industry connections? Is reaching out to alumni permissible?
1:23:10 What careers would you say there are for creative writers in the industry?

The University of Cambridge Careers Service helps you to prepare for your future. Whether you are an undergrad, masters student, PhD student, or postdoc, our team of experienced and impartial careers advisers are here to support you at Cambridge and beyond. https://www.careers.cam.ac.uk/

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Created by the University of Cambridge Careers Service.