David Walsh | Contributing Writer
Illustration by Alicia Mitchell
This summer I was lucky enough to secure an internship in the Sales Division of a London book publishing office. The opportunity to work in one of the world’s great cities and the valuable experience I gained there made it all a highly worthwhile venture. Studying English, publishing had always been on my radar as one of a number of potential career paths and I was conscious that I should spend my summer pursuing at least one of those paths. Most of the major publishers like Penguin and MacMillan have waiting lists of up to a year or more making it unlikely I’d be offered a place till April 2014 or thereafter. Thankfully I managed to land work at a lesser known but big player in the industry, filling in part the employment gulf that had till that point marked the summer ahead. I began life in the office on the 7th floor with two weeks of work experience in early June. My parents told me that I should try to make a good impression during this short period of time, as they may consider me for future jobs. If this were to happen, I would consider decorating my office with something similar to these straight office desks as I’ve always loved how they look. But that is definitely a long way off; I have to get through these two weeks first before I can jump to any conclusions.
Things got off to a somewhat shaky start when my famously shoddy punctuality struck again, leaving me almost half an hour late on the first day. In fairness, it wasn’t pure recklessness on my part as navigating the ins and outs of London’s mammoth transport network leaves most newcomers a bit befuddled. I did arrive in the office eventually and to my great relief was met not with the scorns of reprove I had anticipated but by a warm welcoming face not much older than me. Amy introduced me to the internal workings of the office, letting me know where everything was and running through the essential computer programs that I’d be using. Use of the laptop for work however was halted at that point as an intimidatingly large stack of envelopes and mailing labels landed on my desk. To my good fortune, I had come to the office just in time to help out with their bi-annual mailing order, sending catalogues out to the bulk of their many customers. Thus much of my first week was occupied by the rather menial task of filling envelopes, hardly the most thrilling of work but fine once I found a rhythm. While tackling this mountain of envelopes, I was reminded by Amy that it would’ve been her in my position, a full-time, paid up employee of the company otherwise. In a time old cliché, everyone has to start from somewhere but I learnt early on even the most valued of employees still have the dirty jobs to do.
I didn’t just have mailing to do in my first weeks in the office as I soon progressed to contacting clients, drafting newsletters and managing the client database. Having worked in an office sporadically since Transition Year, it wasn’t entirely unfamiliar work. All the basic duties were recognisable to me, with merely the surfaces of things needing to be pinned down. Microsoft Office soon became a trusted friend of mine. The industry jargon soon followed as I accustomed myself with the TIs and AIs of the office (marketing sheets and cover images respectively). The weeks were not without its hiccups I’d add as I realised one day I’d saved dozens of client details in the wrong place. Nervously I informed my supervisor whose response was to apologise for not showing me properly and to ask if it wasn’t too much trouble would I mind correcting my mistake. Publishing, I soon would learn, is the most relaxed of industries; office banter proved essential to my initiation and coming to work in a t-shirt and shorts was never frowned upon, which came in handy with those 7.30am starts.
I did arrive in the office eventually and to my great relief was met not with the scorns of reprove I had anticipated but by a warm welcoming face not much older than me.
The chance to fulfil anything non-administrative proved to be one of the highlights of my time in my office as I started carrying out Editorial duties. On one occasion, I was asked to draft the back cover text of a series of Enid Blytons soon to be published. Things got more creative as I jumped at the chance to leave Excel behind for a few days. This involved having to skim read a number of the books (a first for me since I was about eight) in order to write a plot synopsis for each. Thus I was faced with the somewhat surreal experience of flicking through kids’ books as those around me worked away. If only every day in publishing was like this I thought. On top of that, I familiarised myself with certain clients, drawing on what they’d ordered from the company previously and proposing potential book titles for them. Research was often necessitated by me to draw up potential customers for an upcoming publication whether it was in wine or arts and crafts. This in practice meant lots of time spent on Google. At this stage, I could probably tell you all the wine distributors in the Greater London Area. As a memorable two weeks drew to a close, much to my surprise, my boss offered me a paid internship for the rest of the summer. My sceptical parents who’d cast doubt over the value of two weeks of unpaid work had been wrong on this count. I’d got a job! I happily accepted and would spend the next two months in Sales enhancing my knowledge of the industry and naturally perfecting all those office skills.
Considering the internship discussion as a whole that’s gone on in this newspaper, it would be remiss of me not to point out that had it not been for the generosity of family and friends, my working in London would not have been possible.
My internship experience was an overwhelmingly positive one, having gained an insider’s perspective into an industry I’d always wanted to try out, taking a step up on the career ladder and forging lasting contacts. Considering the internship discussion as a whole that’s gone on in this newspaper, it would be remiss of me not to point out that had it not been for the generosity of family and friends, my working in London would not have been possible. Having to pay rent on a flat would’ve all but quashed my small part-time salary. Had it not been paid, I’d have almost certainly not had the luxury of agreeing to the internship at all. This is the reality of many students obliged to take a summer job with few long-term prospects, just to pay for college. In many ways, these internships can’t be weighed by the amount of cash you earn at the end of it. They are a foot in the door that will really stand to you in the long run, providing a contact or suitable reference for the future, in essence a platform with which to build on. It won’t always be the most exciting of work but that in and of itself is getting to grips with the nature of the job. And it’s worth remembering that if you’re taken on unpaid, it may well be only a precursor to proper employment should you impress your boss. That’s what I would take away from my time as an intern.
