Vocational Training: Should I do it?

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I have been emailed previously in regards to completing vocational training courses, and whether this is good training to have on your CV. Obviously, there are plenty of courses available for pretty much anything and everything publishing related. If you are considering a vocational training course, then consider the questions below in order to make an informed decision.

Consider these questions:

1) What are your reasons for wanting to complete a vocational training course?

Create a list of your reasons and what areas you specifically feel you need training in. For example, when I was considering vocational training it was purely for improving English skills like, grammar, proof reading, editing etc. However, I found that if you do your own research, and use a search engine to look up e.g., ‘how to proof read?’. By doing so, you will be able to pick up plenty of skills/tips. Thus, I would encourage that you do your own research first, in the areas you fill you need help in the most, before undertaking a vocational course.

2) Is it feasible?

If you’re a student contemplating a course over summer, think about the feasibility of undertaking a course. This covers all aspects such as, cost, travel and time, as when you’re a student time is very valuable for building up work experience and skills.

If you’re a graduate seeking work and wondering if a course will improve your CV, it probably won’t. In the grand scheme of things, employers will be looking at the whole package. Your time will be better spent researching companies and applying for full time jobs. Expand your search if you’re not getting anywhere. Someone once told me that it’s easier finding a job when you’re already in a job.

3) Is your time better spent doing other things?

This comes back to whether the training is feasible as once you get a full time job in publishing; this is when you’ll be able to focus on your skills. Some companies will train up new employees too. Remember, publishing is a fast-paced industry, where you’ll be able to pick up and improve skills quickly.

4) What are your other options?

As I said before, if you want to improve your proof reading skills, you’re probably better off becoming a writer for your student newspaper, and experiencing editing first hand. Many areas that you may feel you are weak at can be improved by covering those aspects in a working environment.

Weigh up the pros and cons, everyone is different and will have different reasons for completing a vocational training course. As long as you have considered all the questions above, then you should be able to make your own informed decision. Don’t forget, you can also use my previous blog post ‘Working Skills: A Guide to the Six Thinking Hats’, to help you make the best decision possible.

Would you like any further blog posts on vocational training? Use the comments box below or tweet me to let me know.

Keeping you updated...

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With the lack of intern opportunities on social media and company websites, I decided that it would be a good time to post ‘keeping you updated’. Although, if I’m honest, not a lot has changed for me since the previous post last month.

A lot of people have been asking me about the job market and the inevitable question ‘have you started applying yet?’ in short, I have and I haven’t. I’ve applied to three PA/Editorial positions at magazine companies, but it appears I’m still too early. My classic enthusiasm bug never seems to go away - I know some of you feel the same..

I received an email from a reader the other week asking ‘how do you do it? How do you write so much outside of University and still keep up with it all?’, and I simply told them (like other final year’s I’m sure) that I have no social life whatsoever. However sad it may be, it’s still one hundred percent true. Even when I take that into consideration, it remains no understatement that as my dissertation deadline approaches, I’m definitely feeling it and quite frankly I’m struggling. So on that positive note, much to my dismay, I will not be posting my regular Saturday posts up until the 31^st of March, which is when they will resume. Some of you may feel heartbroken others relief. Any which way, to my joy, I will still be posting up regularly on Tuesdays.

As usual, feel free to send me a quick email if you have a query, statement or just want to chat – I’m a big fan of social interaction. Also, don’t forget that I’m still looking for any bloggers that want to contribute to this blog and to write about their positive intern experiences.

Here’s a snippet from an older blog post -

Over the next coming months, I would really like to expand my blog to include other student/graduate experiences of any publishing placements undertaken. I would like to do this as I think this would help other reader’s gain a bit more of an insight into work experience, in terms of what is involved and what they can expect from different companies.

If anyone would like to contribute to this blog then please email me. The written piece will be in a similar style to my own snapshot diaries, and will be entitled ‘Guest Snapshot Diary – [Name]’. There is no minimum word count as long as the piece is insightful.

For more information email: steff.lever@gmail.com

Hope you all have a lovely weekend :-)

Top 5 Tips for Affording Unpaid Publishing Placements

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Since my new page ‘Paid Internships’, I’ve been thinking a lot about how individuals can afford placements when they’re not paid. At present, it seems as though the industry offers very little in terms of paid work, but I’ve established a few top tips below, which are ways to ensure that you can afford an unpaid placement.

1) Choose Your Placement Wisely

It’s true that a lot of publishing placements are unpaid. However, don’t forget that companies do offer contributions towards travel expenses, and sometimes lunch. If you are lucky, some internships will pay for both travel and lunch (within reasonable limits). Fewer placements offer no reimbursements towards travel or lunch whatsoever. These placements I would be tempted to avoid as it will probably end up costing you a lot of money.

2) Flexible Placements

There is always that catch 22 of placements that ask for experience and you don’t have any experience. To get around this, if you’re writer, start working for your local University newspaper or a smaller establishment where you have the flexibility to work from home. This is beneficial as you’ll have flexible hours and you’ll gain the work experience you need, and it shouldn’t cost you anything.

3) Create Savings and Budget

If you’re still a student, put some money aside each week from your student loan, you’ll need the savings. Although companies will pay towards your travel and sometimes lunch, you will still need to pay for this all in advance and provide the company with receipts later. Therefore, it’s good to budget early on. Many publishing placements are within the London area, so find out how much a travel card will cost you per day and how much you’ll spend on lunch. Do your calculations and find out how much money you’ll need in your savings for a two week placement.

4) Part Time Work

If the above is proving difficult, there is always the option of getting a part time job at the weekend. This will work whether you’re a student or a recent graduate, and hopefully this income will help you to afford an unpaid placement.

5) Temporary Administration Pool – Conde Nast

Conde Nast offers work in their ‘Temporary Administration Pool’ so if you’re a recent graduate out of work, you can gain admin work with them. You never know, it could open up other opportunities for you. To find out more go to: http://digital.condenastinternational.com/uk/pub-page.contact.htm. Currently, I don’t know any other publishing firms that offer the equivalent.

Paid Internships/Placements in Publishing

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After analysing my website statistics and traffic sources, I’ve seen that many of my readers have been referred via search engines, searching for the term ‘paid publishing placements/internships’ in publishing. Therefore, I’ve decided to write a blog post as a guide to the limit paid placements in the industry.

Many of you that have already done research on paid placements have probably realised that really there isn’t many out there. I’ve been doing my own research in preparation for this blog –covering magazines, newspapers and book publishing. I have to warn you, I haven’t found a great deal.

Below, I have listed the companies that have advertised paid placements:

Penguin – Penguin have introduced their new ‘Paid Summer 2012 internships’, which I believe they recruit for annually. I did a blog post on this a while ago - 'Penguin Paid Internships Summer 2012'.

For more information visit: http://gs12.globalsuccessor.com/fe/tpl_penguin01.asp

Pearson – The Pearson diversity internship and the journalism placement at the FT.

For more information visit: http://summerinternships.pearson.com/how-to-apply.htm

Hachette – Occasionally, they do have paid internship openings. I met the paid digital intern when I was doing work experience there, and I know that she had been there for a least a few months.

Keep checking this page for paid internship opportunities: http://www.hachette.co.uk/WorkForUs/Careers

The National Magazine Company - Occasionally, they do have paid internship openings.

Keep checking this page for paid internship opportunities: http://www.hearst.co.uk/magazines/8-Opportunities.htm

Conde Nast – Easy Living are currently looking for a Picture Desk Intern, who will be paid for 3 months at national minimum wage.

To apply send your CV and cover letter to: lucy.teasdale@condenast.co.uk

For more information on this vacancy or to find other paid internship opportunities visit: http://digital.condenastinternational.com/uk/pub-page.current-jobs.htm

Please note: Some of the companies that I have listed above aren’t advertising paid placements at the moment. Thus, the links I have provided may not currently show the paid placements, but it is important to check these links regularly for the limited vacancies.

Please be aware that there may be other paid placement opportunities advertised with the companies above, which I have not stated. Unfortunately, it seems that other companies just aren’t offering many paid internships. It is a bit of a bleak outlook for my blog post this week. However, I will add the few placements listed above into a new page entitled ‘Paid Internships’.

Please feel free to leave comments/responses below. Don’t forget that I’m still looking for contributors to share positive intern experiences.

Are you still feeling unenthused or at a loss? Next week I plan to write a blog post entitled ‘How do I afford work experience?’

Competency-based Interviews: STAR Q&A's

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Although it is rare, sometimes you will have to attend an interview as part of the application process for an internship. Previously, I have written two other blog posts on interviews, which are ‘preparing for intern interviews’ and ‘surviving intern interviews’. Both these blog posts provide basic advice that offers a starting point for completing a successful interview.

As you already know, the publishing industry is a tough one to get into, especially if you have zero contacts. This is why I have created blog posts that not only apply to students seeking internships, but also graduates that may need advice when looking for full time work. In particular, the interview will be the main part of your job application, and will make or break whether you are the person to secure the internship/job. This is why over the next month or two, I shall be creating a lot more blog posts, which tackle the fundamental part of the recruitment process.

As some of you may have found out from my Twitter page, I’ve currently been brainstorming new ideas for upcoming blog posts. These future blog posts inevitably mean that I’m going beyond my current knowledge of recruitment advice, and turning my attention to the stuff that I don’t know much about. In order to achieve this, I’ve been taking my own time to research various career based topics, which include expanding my interview based blog posts and specifically, competency-based interviews Q&A’s.

STAR is a method that most if not all employers are familiar with, and it is a popular way to structure your interview answers. STAR allows you to answer behaviour-based interview questions in a structured and coherent manner.

STAR interview questions, typically are questions that seek out a candidates level of competency and behaviour. For example, a sample question would be ‘Describe a time in which you have had to work as a team?’ These types of questions give the interviewer a feel for how you have acted in the past, which provides a good indication to how you will act in the future. To make sure that you don’t slip up on STAR questions, give your interviewer a STAR answer.

The STAR acronym consists of:

Situation – Describe the situation that you were confronted with, including the context, and any other relevant information that is useful to your story.

Task – Describe the task that you needed to accomplish. Make this concise and informative. If the question is about teamwork, then explain the task that you had to undertake within that team.

Action – This is the most significant aspect of the STAR structure. Now that you have set up the context of the situation, make sure that you are now describing your performance, personal attributes and highlight the skills that you have gained. This should include the standard details of what you did, how you did it and why you did it.

Result – Describe how the situation ended, what you have accomplished, and relate it back to any skills that you have learnt.

This universally recognised way to communicate will be valued by your interviewer, even if they haven’t directly been trained in STAR technique. As a result, your answers and the information given to your interviewer will be competently delivered in a concise manner. Please be aware that there are plenty of websites offering an array of sample STAR questions and answers. Do your research and impress your interviewer.

Have you had a positive intern experience?

Over the next coming months, I would really like to expand my blog to include other student/graduate experiences of any publishing placements undertaken. I would like to do this as I think this would help other reader’s gain a bit more of an insight into work experience, in terms of what is involved and what they can expect from different companies.

If anyone would like to contribute to this blog then please email me. The written piece will be in a similar style to my own snapshot diaries, and will be entitled ‘Guest Snapshot Diary – [Name]’. There is no minimum word count as long as the piece is insightful.

For more information email: steff.lever@gmail.com

Are you looking for a publishing placement?

Intern Opportunities

All vacancies below are advertised on Twitter.

My Beautiful City is seeking a few interns to work in fashion production. The positions are paid.

To apply: Send your CV to terry@mybeautifulcity.co.uk

Wonderland Magazine is looking for interns. Unfortunately, I have no more specific information about this, and I can't see any further information on their website. However, use the email address below to find out more details.

To apply: Send your CV to info@wonderlandmagazine.com

Are you seeking a one-year work placement in publishing?

6footfashion are currently looking for an intern to do a one-year fashion internship with them. You should be passionate about fashion, and be able to travel to North London for the placement.

To apply: Send your CV to info@6footfashion.com

Career Opportunities

If you are seeking your very first job in publishing, then M&S magazine are looking to employ an exceptional editorial assistant. Unfortunately, I don’t have any more details on this vacancy, but I assume it will be a full time position. This will be a very competitive vacancy so you will need to apply as soon as possible.

To apply: APPLICATIONS CLOSED

Please remember that all the vacancies above can be found on my Twitter profile page - @steff_lever

Keep yourself up to date with intern opportunities by following me on Twitter.

x Happy New Year x

I hope you all had a wonder Christmas.

Don't forget that there's still time to apply for placements or graduate schemes before University starts up again. If you haven't already, check out my previous blog post, which includes productive things that you can been doing during your holiday - Top 5 Tips for Occupying Your Spare Time Over Christmas.

It feels like I haven't done a proper blog post in ages, but they will be resuming from Tuesday the 3rd of January 2012, and following the same format/schedule as 2011.

My next blog post will be 'Top 5 Tips for Dealing with Stress'.

I'm sure all students and graduates are stressed at the moment, whether it is because of January assessments or whether you're trying to find employment. Therefore, I hope you find it useful.

All that is left for me to say is - Happy New Year :-)

Love from,

The Publishing Intern

Why am I not getting employer responses? And what should I do?

I’ve had quite a lot of people telling me that they aren’t getting the employer responses that they were initially hoping for. So, I’ve decided to make a blogpost dedicated to answering the all important questions ‘Why am I not getting employer responses? And what should I do?’

• How did you initially contact the company?

Sometimes, if you’ve felt that you’ve waited a long time for a response, then it’s good to re-evaluate what method you used to try and contact the company. For example, did you apply via a generic email address, e.g. workexperience@{companyname}.co.uk. If this is the case, then worst case scenario may be that your application hasn’t even been looked at yet.

If you’re really keen on getting a work placement with that specific company, then it may be best to send in another application via letter. Check the website for a company address, and also check to see if there is the name of an employee that you can properly address the letter to. This way, you know your application has at least been read by someone. So, after waiting a considerable amount of time with your first application, send in a second application via email/letter (the different method of contact you used initially).

• How long have you waited for a response?

It’s not unheard of to wait a considerable amount of time before receiving an application response. I’ve been in the situation before where I applied in January for a placement in June, and then I didn’t hear back from the company until May. So, I waited quite a few months before I got a response. Additionally, I have also received responses a week before the placement was meant to start, so don’t always think that because you haven’t had a quick response means that you’ve been rejected – it doesn’t.

• Do you expect that the company receives a lot of applications?

Obviously, not all applications will be successful; I have had quite a few unsuccessful applications for one reason or another. Unfortunately, you never know whether you’ll get a response and it’s unlikely that you’ll get a response if your application has been unsuccessful. Do keep in mind how desirable the company is that you have applied for. Some companies simply can’t take on all of the ‘good’ interns who apply there. Don’t be offended, and instead get your application out to as many places as possible.

• How in advance were you applying for a placement?

It’s really important to be realistic and to look at the bigger picture. You may not have received an employer response because you may have applied to late for the placement date you wanted. You’re decreasing your chances of getting a placement if you apply for work experience in summer, when you want that work experience that summer. Sometimes, you can get away with this, for instance, if you’re applying to Random House via there Facebook page as they usually post up opportunities a few weeks before the placement start date, but for most companies you would have ‘missed the boat’. Try to make sure your applications are 5-8 months in advance to when you actually want the placement, this way you’re more likely to be considered.

I know a lot of companies who are now booked up until 2012. From my knowledge a lot of companies start to look at applications again in November 2011 for the following year, so make sure you get yours in.

• Wondering what to do next?

You need to keep trying and don’t give up. Persistency will definitely pay off. Make sure you’re researching at least 2 or 3 times a week, and trying to get as many applications in as possible - making sure you pay extra attention to the placements you really want. It may also help to create a log of placements applied to. I did this and found it useful for keeping a record, this way you’ll never lose contacts you’ve made during your search – you never know when you’ll need them again.

My second Guardian article will expand on this research a little more. Once live, I’ll make sure I add the link to this blog post. Stay strong fellow interns!

Website Pick of the Week

This week I have chosen a website that I came across via Twitter. The website is called careercake.com, which is a blog offering great advice, and tips for people on how to kick start their career. The Career Cake blog was created by Aimee Bateman, and features professional videos covering a range of careers. However, if you don’t have a specific one in mind, why not have a look at the more generic ones such as, ‘CV Advice – the personal profile’ or ‘What to ask the interviewer?’. It’s a very useful blog and it is particularly interactive - I highly recommend it.

Visit Career Cake @ http://careercake.com/

Snapshot Diary - Orion Books July 2011

I undertook a placement at Orion in between my time working at OldCastle Books. This is because I was keen to get back into working life at a larger company. At Orion, I was working in the publicity department. When I think back to my Orion placement, I always think about how little I was actually doing. It makes me think of the whole intern and employer debate, about whether employers are taking on interns instead of full time employees (because obviously it’s cheaper), but this certainly wasn’t the case at Orion. I definitely wasn’t replacing anyone full time.

Although the employees were very nice and friendly, unfortunately the work flow didn’t match up to my own expectations. Perhaps, one could argue that by this time I’d already been on numerous placements, and maybe the more and more experienced I got, the less stimulating intern work was me – partly I think that’s probably true.

As always though, I will provide a small list below of what I was doing on my placement.

These are the tasks I was involved in:

• General admin duties
• Web-link checking
• Editing Documents
• Showcards
• Mail outs

Overall, this wasn’t a placement I would rate highly in terms of productivity but in general it was a nice workplace. Though, I probably should have just stayed for the 1 week as opposed to two.

Penguin - Getting into Publishing

This is a great book publishing event, which I must admit, I've had my eye on since last year. Penguin's annual open day called 'Getting into Publishing' is both for students and recent graduates, who are keen to gain a bit more of an insight about the book publishing world. The event is via invitation only, and due to the volume of candidates will be decided upon an application, which will contain your CV and cover letter.

Anyone with an interest in book publishing should definitely apply.

To apply for an invite, email: gettingintopublishing@penguin.co.uk

Don't forget to include, your CV and cover letter, name, University and graduation year.

DEADLINE: OCTOBER 14TH

CV Workshop - 'Skills' heading

If this is the first time you are viewing this blog series, please refer back to the first summary post called 'CV Workshop - Top 5 Headings for your CV'.

I have left one of the most important CV headings till last; this is because this section should be a very clear and concise part of your CV. This is significant as employers will want to look here to determine your suitability for the job/placement.

I’ve placed key skills at the end of my CV, but really you can put it anywhere, the reason I placed it at the bottom is because it seemed like a nice section to round off my CV. Thus, effectively I’ve got a section summary containing the skills that I’ve learnt from the above (education, employment history and experience).

A really obvious skill to include in this section would be your computer skills. This skill is one of the most significant these days as everything is going electronic so, your employer will want to know whether you’re at least computer literate and to what standard. This is particularly true in the publishing industry - they do want people with computer skills. These skills are transferable in terms of Ebook production, websites and digital marketing. Luckily I have a double A-Level in ICT so I have quite a lot of computer skills that I can put in this section. However, if you’re struggling with this section you should at least put some of the basic skills down. This could include MS office package (a lot of people can use MS office), familiarity with a MAC or Windows operating system, typing speed etc. It’s definitely the little skills which will count – so don’t leave stuff out thinking that it will just be assumed.

As always, don’t forget to keep this section consistent with the other headings. So, I’ve spoken before about indentation and bolding/italicising fonts; make sure this heading is the same. Keep your font between 10 and 12, so that it’s readable and make sure you’re not too experimental with size or fonts – if in doubt, you can’t go wrong with size 12 times new roman.

I hope you’ve found the CV workshop series useful. At a later date, I will do a template for a CV, so that it can be more easily visualised.

Website Pick of the Week

The Society of Young Publishers is a great starting place for young budding publishing professional. The main aim of SYP is to provide people with the industry services they need, to get their publishing careers off to a fantastic start. The society offers, regular monthly speaker meetings, a free subscription to the InPrint magazine, industry contacts, a comprehensive job database and more. The only snag is that you have to pay to be a member of SYP. Memberships for students are slightly cheaper though at £24 as opposed to £30 for adults. Nevertheless, this society is highly recommended and I’m definitely going to consider joining.

For more information visit: http://www.thesyp.org.uk/