How to Get a Job in Publishing Part 13

job in publishing.

Publishing is an international industry, and what is more, publishers worldwide share the same characteristics and look for the same skills, talents and personality styles. It follows that if you like the kind of people who inhabit your local industry, you are likely to feel welcome and fit in wherever you decide to work.

If you long to work overseas, there are several main options.

1. Work for an international company and apply for jobs overseas Get your start at a company that has offices overseas, prove yourself over a few years here in your home town/country, and then apply for a promotion or job swap to an overseas office.

This is different from getting a transfer (see below) in that you're doing the work on it applying for jobs overseas, probably going through an interview process and if you get the job, you may well be covering your own moving costs and figuring out your own accommodation and visas.

This works best as a long-term plan you need to prove yourself first by building a good reputation, and that usually means at least a few years with an organisation. If you start as a sales a.s.sistant and two weeks later request a job in the Hawaii office you will get laughed at. If you want to move this along quickly, you'd be better placed to go for option 3 job hunting overseas.

As a young rep in Melbourne I knew I'd love to work overseas at some point in my career. When I was promoted to Marketing Manager based in Sydney I started being sent to company conferences in the USA, which helped me meet the managers from the UK and not just meet them but get to know them! By the time I was ready to move overseas I was offered a fun-sounding job in New York at the same time as I was interviewing for positions in the UK. The USA immigration laws meant the company could have got me a visa but my husband wouldn't have been able to work there so that didn't get very far but we both had UK residency so that made things much easier, and I ended up working with a wonderful bunch of people at McGraw-Hill UK. (SUSANNAH) 2. Get a transfer This is the easiest option if you can manage it get a job at a publisher that operates in a number of countries, including where you'd like to go, and angle your way into an overseas posting.

If the publisher where you work decides to send you overseas, you're getting a transfer often a promotion (going into a smaller market but with larger responsibilities), and they'll sort out moving costs and help you with accommodation and visas and life in a different part of the world.

Indeed, sometimes large firms try out new recruits with a spell overseas as a key method of finding out what they are made of: I got my first job in publishing by applying to the Macmillan Graduate Training Scheme. The job was as trainee Marketing Executive and six months later I went to Australia to look after the marketing of the UK books there. (MARTIN NEILD, MANAGING DIRECTOR, HODDER HEADLINE, UK) My first job in publishing was as a European Sales Rep for Oxford University Press, which involved travelling for up to six months p.a. explaining in German how it was that the orders I had taken from them on my previous visit four months before had still not emerged from the industrial relations carwreck that was OUP's Neasden distribution centre in the late 1970s. From my short time at OUP I met most of the brightest and most independent-minded people I've met in 30 years in publishing.

(ANTHONY FORBES WATSON, PUBLISHER, UK).

When you are in a relatively junior position, early in your career, getting a transfer is more likely to work from the UK, where many publishing companies run European operations from the UK office. It's less likely to work from a country like Australia where if you work for any of the big internationals you are essentially starting out in a branch office, with the head offices in UK or USA.

3. Move overseas and look for a job when you get there If you have relatives or friends you can stay with while you get yourself sorted, this can work well. You get to pick the place you want to live in (as opposed to an international transfer where you may end up in a city you weren't that keen on) and it can happen right now rather than investing the years it might take to find the right organisation and get a good name for yourself.

This can work particularly well if you are starting your publishing career. If you need to find yourself that starting job, why not do it in the place you actually want to be living?

Be aware that you'll have to work that much harder to get your job in the first place you'll be up against local candidates who know the neighbourhood and the publishing scene, so make sure you double your research efforts so that you can fit in.

As well as publishing companies, consider organisations that operate internationally and have publishing divisions, such as international government and government support groups with positions in Geneva, New York and other cosmopolitan cities, universities, big professional groups, and other workplaces mentioned in Chapters 10 and 14.

Ten Key Tips for Working Overseas 1. There's novelty in being a foreigner Lots of people like foreign accents and to hear about how you got here, and to have a representative on hand to tease about sporting triumphs. Play up to this (it will happen anyway so you might as well use it to your advantage).

2. The weather is better If you're in the UK, the weather everywhere else is better. And if winter makes you sad and unhappy, that on its own can be worth moving for.

After a decade away from the UK, I still feel as if I'm living on holiday with work thrown in. (STEVE) 3. 70% of international placements fail Meaning that they last less than 12 months before the person packs up and goes home. As well as settling into your work life, make the effort to enjoy living where you've moved. It will be different from what you're expecting and it's easy to get disheartened when you're far from your normal family and friendship networks. So, holiday in places you wouldn't normally be able to get to, go to local theatre, join local sporting groups or whatever makes you enjoy your weekends.

4. Spend (some) time with other expats Your fellow exiles are going through similar issues it gives you a great base for friendship when you can moan about the locals together! But you should also ...

5. Spend time with locals Whether it's through work or other avenues, make an effort to get to know the locals. For a start you don't want live overseas and only a.s.sociate with people you could have hung out with at home what's the point of that? And for a second, expats tend to go home, as you probably will sooner or later, and if your only networks are expats and they all go home you will feel very lonely indeed.

6. Partners can get unhappy In fact, that's the main reason international placements fail. In almost every couple we know who have moved overseas, one partner loves it and the other is chafing at the bit to get home again. So invest in making your partner feel comfortable, help them build up networks and recognise that your happiness depends on theirs.

I could have stayed in London forever I was living where I'd always wanted to, in my dream job, seeing Europe, and we'd made good friends. My husband Adrian found it hard work, though. Coming from Sydney, he really missed the good weather and outdoor lifestyle. His career was stalling and he was spending hours on the tube every week commuting. He used to wake up and say, 'Look at those clouds. Another grey day', every single morning for three-and-a-half years. Finally I cracked and we moved back to Australia. He was thrilled. (SUSANNAH) 7. Don't underestimate how different another culture can feel If you have not had this experience before, you can find it more alienating than you expect. And you suddenly realise how much you value the support you've previously taken for granted. In addition to finding a job, you have to find somewhere to live, and find subst.i.tutes for all the other support mechanisms you have depended upon at home.

When I started at McGraw-Hill UK there were two other recent international arrivals a guy from Spain and a woman from New York. They brought in a chap to give us all a day of cultural training about living in the UK and dealing with being away from home. We thought it was a bit of a laugh at the time but it really made me think about the challenges ahead. And guess what 18 months later both of the others had moved back to their home countries. (SUSANNAH) 8. You will miss your family and friends It will be hard. You will spend a lot of time on the phone and email and you will be tempted to spend all your holiday time flying home to see people.

9. Working overseas is a great way to see the world Especially compared to backpacking and working in bars! You're building up professional experience in other markets, you've got money to live decently on, and if you're lucky your job will cover a wide territory and you'll get to travel in style you couldn't possibly afford.

When I was in the UK my job responsibilities covered all of Western Europe so I travelled a lot through Scandinavia and continental Europe as well as the UK. This is much less glamorous than it sounds mostly I was seeing airports, hotels, bookshops, universities but I always tried to see something of every city I was in, and quite often I'd do a trip on a Weds-Thurs-Fri and stay on for the weekend.

(SUSANNAH).

10.Visas are vital Check them out before you construct a five-year career plan all around working in Turkey/Sydney/Edinburgh/Boston. If you don't have a visa, will your company be able to sponsor you? Often this only happens at very senior levels. More than that, even if you have one, will your partner be able to live with you and work too?

And something you won't care about now, but you will in the future: Coming home is very, very hard Just about everyone suffers horrible culture shock when they move back from living overseas. (That's if you do come home, of course, and most people do.) Everything seems different/far away/provincial/ isolated/too full on. You lose the glam factor of saying to your friends, 'I've just flown in from New York' or 'I've been sunbathing at Bondi Beach' because once you move home you probably won't be doing that any more. If you've been working in a bigger economy, your pay and benefits were probably substantial over there, and you're suddenly getting paid about half of what you were before. That's if you can get a job at the seniority level you were working at before, as once you are away, it's hard to hear of opportunities and you are no longer on the spot to follow them up. Or your experience may be on a more international scale than you can use back in your home city. You feel like an alien in your own land and it can take years to wear off.

After working in j.a.pan for years, on returning to my home city I felt changed but as if the city and people hadn't moved on. I'd grown but I felt pulled back to who I was before I left. It was like I'd become more worldly but it was going to be stomped out of me. They say it takes as long as you've been away to readjust. Now I feel like this is my home and I wouldn't want to live anywhere else but it took quite a while.

(LOUISE, AUSTRALIA).

How to internationalise your CV To prepare for your move you need a CV, and crucially you need to adapt it for the market you are approaching. Don't a.s.sume recipients know what you are describing or will take the trouble to find out.

The most important consideration is that you don't want to put any obstacle in the way of a company thinking about employing you. It's vital therefore that you provide a smooth path to them drooling over your relevant qualifications, terrific experience and undoubtedly sunny personality rather than wondering what on earth a TAFE1 college is.

Here are ten tips on how not to appear parochial: 1. Add international dialling codes If you are applying from your home country, add international dialling codes to the phone numbers you quote and the difference in time from the time at your home: (001) 212 274 1160 GMT five hours behind you And if the time differences are too hard, nominate e-mail as a starting point for conversations, and then you can negotiate a phone meeting at a mutually convenient time.

2. Make it clear, if it is not obvious, how your name is p.r.o.nounced If your name is 'Ruarig', explain that it is p.r.o.nounced Rory.

3. Get rid of local terms which may be unclear So for example if you originally wrote in your (Australian) resume: Attended Holmesglen TAFE: Certificate IV Marketing Then you might amend it to read: Holmesglen Further Education College: Certificate in Marketing State the age at which educational qualifications were taken in case the recipient is not familiar with the name, and put in the local equivalent: GCSE (age 16, year 11) A level (age 18, year 13) Note that in Australia, undergraduate degrees are achieved with or without Honours, and usually without other delineation, whereas in the UK degrees are cla.s.sified in First Cla.s.s (First or 1st), Upper Second (2.1), Lower Second (2.2), etc. Unify your CV so it's easy to read for someone from your target country, not full of mystifying abbreviations and terminology. The best way to do this is to ...

4. Rope in a friend If you possibly can, make sure you're getting this stuff right by having a friendly local go through and help you 'de-foreign' it.

5. Highlight your ability with languages Do not lie or talk up your basic skills you may find yourself being interviewed by a fluent speaker!

6. Underline travel you've undertaken State where you've been or if you've lived overseas previously, of course. Emphasise your ability to cope with change. Stress occupations (vacation employment can be particularly handy), and what you have learnt from them, that draw attention to your flexibility: Have lived in UK, Australia and New Zealand previously.

But don't overdo this your aim is to sound like an interesting person who can thrive away from their roots and bring a valuable external perspective to the host organisation, not to sound like you are in a permanent state of restlessness.

At one interview I was told that the fact that I had taken time to travel after university definitely disqualified me from being a serious applicant; later in my career the fact that I had travelled alone around India proved to be the thing that tipped the balance in my favour against a more experienced candidate.

(HELEN FRASER, MANAGING DIRECTOR, PENGUIN UK).

7. Highlight your familiarity with the country where you want the job A potential employer may be more interested if they sense your ambitions are based on realism. Mention that you are committed to a long-term (three or more years) stay in the country.

8. Highlight your availability for interview You want to make this easy for the employer! Offer yourself for phone or Internet (Skype etc) interview.

9. Stress the benefits of employing you Such benefits might include your flexibility, objectivity, your new perspectives and fresh insights.

Working overseas is a wonderful experience in many ways, and incredibly hard in others. Consider the long-term consequences before you leap in.

More reading.

Reuvid, Working Abroad: The Complete Guide to Overseas Employment, Kogan Page, 2007.

Hampshire, Living and Working in Australia, Survival Books, 2007 Dunman, Living and Working in Australia: A City by City Cuide, How To Books, 2006 Collins and Barclay, Living and Working in the United Kingdom, How To Books, 2006.

Hampshire, Living and Working in Britain, Conde Nast, 2005 Laredo, Living and Working in London, Survival Books, 2004.

Hampshire, Living and Working in America, Survival Books, 2006 Liebman, The Immigration Guide to the USA, How To Books, 2005.

1 Technical and Further Education colleges in Australia, offering more practical courses than universities the equivalent of what used to be polytechnics in the UK.

Chapter Nineteen.

Your first job in publishing and your future in publishing.

This last chapter is partially a summary of what's gone before. It's also a way for you to plan your progress, and measure how you're doing.

It starts with five things we really wish we'd known, and then talks about one of them: making a career plan. Next are a few thoughts about what to do when things don't work out the way you'd planned. Finally, we encourage you to look to the future your future and encourage you to take yourself seriously (but not too seriously, obviously).

Five things we really wish we'd known ...

Here are five things we wish we could go back in time and tell ourselves. The next best thing is to tell you, and then perhaps you can avoid making the same mistakes that we did. (Of course, that simply means you'll have to find some new ones to make instead ...) 1. Yes, you can do it Too many people spend too much time telling you that you can't do this thing and could never do that thing. It starts sometimes with a careers counsellor who thinks that if they can talk you out of something then clearly you're not serious about it. Or maybe a parent or sibling tells you not to aim so high perhaps for the best of intentions, because they don't want to see you disappointed and hurt.

Well, never mind all that. Someone has to do it, so why shouldn't it be you? Aim high, have a bash at it and you'll almost certainly not regret it. Regret more often comes from things not done, rather than things attempted.

2. Find your mentor If you have someone you respect and whom you can turn to for advice and help in your career, you're very lucky. Make the most of that person.

If you don't, find one. A good boss, perhaps, or someone who takes an interest in your career.

You'll find them invaluable as a sounding board and a good mentor often does nothing more than nod sympathetically and murmur the occasional 'Hmm ...', which can mean almost anything, from 'Tell me more' to 'That's interesting, what do you think that means?' to 'Are you sure you've not got that back to front?'

What you really don't want is someone who takes you literally and gives you advice when you ask for it. You're actually not after advice at all, though that may be what you ask for. Instead, you're after someone who can give you just enough of a response so that you know they're actually listening and haven't nodded off. Almost always you'll end up talking yourself into the advice you need, at which point you can thank your mentor profusely and praise them for their incredible wisdom.

3. Make friends and build your network It's a fact that some of the people you work with now you'll continue to b.u.mp into, and may work with again, for years and even decades to come.

So be nice to them, (a) because you never know when you'll find yourself needing them to be nice to you, (b) because they'll be nice to you back, (c) because you should be nice to people, and (d) because publishing is a notoriously small business, and while people may job-hop they seldom industry-hop, and an argument with a key person could haunt you for ever.

You don't have to be friends with everyone, though you will in fact make friends now you'll keep forever. Mutual respect is quite sufficient. So get networking (see Chapter 13 for more on this).

Believe us, in 20 years' time you'll be doing this almost constantly. Better if you take our advice and start now you'll have a ma.s.sive head start on everyone else!

4. Read (and stick to) The Rules of Work We like Richard Templar's book very much.1 These rules are about how those who always seem to get on, avoiding the backstabbing and the nonsense and succeeding at work, actually manage it. If you like, it's a codification of what they're doing. It saves you having to do it the hard way, making mistakes and learning the lessons (which is how we did it).

Some of it sounds too obvious to be worth saying dress smart, don't sleep with the boss but in fact if you follow this book and observe the rules, you're virtually guaranteed success.

(We like it too because it reminds you that doing the right thing, such as telling the truth and not b.i.t.c.hing, is good not only for your moral bank balance but your real one, too. Tell the truth and you don't have remember your lies; don't b.i.t.c.h and you won't get known as a b.i.t.c.h that kind of thing.) 5. Have a plan If you were going to tackle Mount Everest or run a four-minute mile, you'd probably want some sort of a plan before you started, wouldn't you? Sounds sensible. Yet many, and perhaps even most, of us don't really bother building a plan for our own careers. This needn't be anything too elaborate, but a clear, written statement of perhaps just a couple of pages, stating what you're aiming to achieve and how you plan to achieve it. The writing down means you take it seriously, reviewing it regularly ensures you think about what you are trying to do. Now read our box on 'How to Make A Plan in Four Easy Steps'.

How to Make a Plan in Four Easy Steps Why don't they teach you some really useful stuff at school, like how to make a career plan? Here's what you should have been learning, when you were actually doing algebra or some other such nonsense.

1. Plan to plan The world is divided into two kinds of people: those who divide the world into two kinds of people, and those who don't. We're in the former group, and we reckon there are two kinds of people in the world: those who plan, and those who don't. Guess which mob are more likely to hit their goals? Yes, that's right: those who have them in the first place, and make a plan to get there.

2. Make a plan If you're in London and you want to get to Birmingham, then you'd make a plan on how to do that. Admittedly you mightn't recognise it as a plan exactly, since the elements are so obvious, but it is definitely a plan. It's worth thinking for a second about what you'd do. You'd consider: * Resources in this case, what mode of transport you'd take (car, train, hitch-hike etc) * Budget not just money, but time. If you have lots of money and no time, then your method of getting there will be different from someone with loads of time and no money (or 'student' as they are sometimes referred to) * Practicality cycling is good for your health, but if you have a heap of luggage it's not really on * Time frame you have a fair idea it'll take a couple of hours. You won't be there in the next minute, but neither should it take all weekend ...

... and so on, and so on. Now, let's apply that same very obvious logic to your career plan. Ask yourself a few simple questions and see where they take you: a) What is truly important to me?

Career, cash, satisfaction and the pleasure of a job well done, helping others, keeping busy ... there are many reasons people do what they do. Be clear about what you want and you're closer to getting it.

b) What is my goal?

Be honest about this and say out loud and very clearly what exactly you want. If you really, really want to be a copy editor, then say so. If you actually want to run a multinational publishing company and make squillions, then say that instead. In the first instance, becoming a copy editor is the goal; in the second, it may well be a means to an end. (That reminds us that the man who founded and built up the magazine publishing business Haymarket, Michael Heseltine, was always doing so with an ulterior ambition on his mind, to become prime minister of the UK, something he'd dreamt of since he was very young. He didn't quite make it, but he did make Haymarket, and millions, in the process. For him, however, the aim was always to get to Number Ten. Most of the rest of us would be happy just to have the millions.) c) What do I need to get there?

To become a copy editor you need a terrific eye for detail, a high degree of literacy and the ability to live very frugally. If you can't organise the proverbial in a brewery, you can't spell to save your life and you spend money before you've earned it, then the gap between where you are and where you want to get is fairly wide. Either you start bridging that gap take training on time management, copy out entries from the dictionary every night and buy a piggybank or you accept that your goal is unrealistic, in which case you need to revisit it and create a goal that is both aspirational and achievable instead.

d) What's the first step?

Confucius's statement that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step has become a cliche but only because it's true. If you want to get into publishing, think about what you can do right now to start you off. If you're at school or university, contribute to every publication you can, get as heavily involved in student media as you can and suck up to everyone who can help you. Choose subjects to study that are publishing/media/words relevant. Work on your writing. Find out everything you can about the publishing industry.

The great thing about this is you can start right away. In fact, there's a school of thought that getting your stuff published early is by far and away the best thing you can do more effective, even, than getting a postgraduate degree in publishing or journalism: Like Nike, my message is Just Do It. Any journo who is after a job needs to show me a portfolio of work that they've had published (paid or unpaid), or bring me ideas and people they have teed up for interviews. Rather than turn up with qualifications and expect to be given work, they need to bring something to the party which is vigour and pragmatism, rather than ideals. The quicker they get that, the quicker they'll get their foot in the door.

(ROB PEGLEY, EDITOR, ALPHA MAGAZINE, AUSTRALIA).

Get some work experience as I'm more interested in your common sense than whether you have a PhD in English Lit.

(ANDY JONES, DIRECTOR, FEEDBACK MEDIA & PR, UK).

Main tip is: just get published. School mags, student mags, freelance stuff, hole-in-the-wall budget-of-thruppence mags just get published. It shows a determination, an interest, a desire to communicate.

(GREG INGHAM, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, MEDIACLASH AND FORMER CHIEF EXECUTIVE OF FUTURE PLC, AUSTRALIA).

3. Visualise your goal It gives great power to your plan to make it as real and tangible as you possibly can. Rather than vague, abstract, airy-fairy goals (like 'get into publishing'), set yourself as specific a set of targets as you possibly can such as 'Become a full-time employee in an editorial position working for a company, the main business of which is publishing, within two years.' Now you know exactly what you're trying to achieve. You also have something clear and uncompromising that you can work your way backwards from, and for which you can develop some short-term goals along the way.

4. Revisit your plan It's harder than it sounds to keep a plan alive. The temptation is to work on it till it gleams, then lay it to one side in your bottom drawer and never take it out again.

Don't worry; you're not the only one. We all do it.

So, part of your plan should include specific review dates perhaps every three months. Then you can check on your progress.

And every significant step on the way should include a date by which you're aiming to complete it. That helps keep you on track.

When things go wrong Forgive us if we've sounded a little too gung-ho throughout this book, making it all sound as if everything is fun and easy. We know it's not, and we know that sometimes things can go badly wrong. If that's what's happening for you right now, then this is for you ...

1. Sick with nerves?

You're nervous, perhaps sick with nerves. Whose stupid idea was this in the first place? I can't go through with this. Why did I ever think I could? I'm a fraud, they'll see through me and they'll laugh and point ...

Calm down. Every person you meet today was once experiencing exactly the same feelings. In fact, as hard as it may be to believe, some of them may be experiencing the same feelings this very day, too. Think about it this way: how would you regard a new person, if you were in their shoes? Of course, you'd be patient and understand their nervousness. You would expect them to get things wrong and muck up. Well, guess what? That's just how all these strange new people do think about you.

OK, so let's be honest about it for a moment. There are people out there, in senior positions and positions of power, who've lost touch with their own humanity, and in fact don't show much sign they ever had any to start with. But fortunately, in publishing they're rare and, in truth, rather sad. They lead unhappy, self-centred lives and no-one likes them.

2. Undervalued, underpaid, under stress?