Breaking into the publishing industry can seem like an incredibly daunting task, especially if your aspirations lay with the “Big 5” houses (Penguin Random House, Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, and Simon & Schuster). While entry-level positions boast seemingly reasonable responsibilities and qualifications, the application and interview process for these roles can be ruthless: you’re competing against a huge pool of applicants and sometimes it feels like you can’t help but blend into the sea of desperate publishing hopefuls.
But it’s not all terrible. This article is going to cover a few concrete steps you can take to differentiate yourself from other candidates, leverage what you (yes, you!) already have been working towards, and, ultimately, successfully break into the industry.
Leveraging Classes
Something wonderful about Emerson courses is how specific they are—especially when it comes to the publishing program. You’d be hard pressed to find classes specifically about the current issues in publishing or children’s book editing (with real life application) at many other institutions. This means that Emerson students have the unique opportunity to leverage their courseload in their applications.
Relevant Coursework
Underneath the “Education” section of your resume, feel free to include all of the most relevant publishing-related courses that you’ve taken at Emerson. These courses will not only help recruiters understand your educational experience at Emerson, but they will also cement your credibility in the field due to your in-class experience.
An example “Relevant Coursework” subsection on a resume
An example on Linkedin, too
Not many colleges have a dedicated publishing major (more often publishing hopefuls are classified under Creative Writing or English), so this may additionally be an eye-catcher or a conversation starter that will help boost your resume above others in the slush pile.
Adding Class Projects to Your Portfolio
Especially if you’re hoping to apply for a position in design or production, you will likely be asked to provide a portfolio or a small sampling of your work. This is meant to give the recruiter/your potential manager a taste of your skills, your artistic eye, and your ability to execute a vision.
If you’re about to click out the application because you either (a) think you don’t have any samples or (b) think it’ll take way too long to create samples from scratch, wait! You can and should use the projects you worked on during class to submit as your portfolio! Whether it’s a cover design that you made during Book Publishing Essentials or an interior layout that you labored over in InDesign for Intro to Electronic Publishing, all of these projects that you poured your heart and soul into for a grade can be used to help cushion your application too.
Networking with Professors
Before you start rolling your eyes or closing out this page, let me be totally truthful: I am a huge introvert. I hate talking with people more than I have to, and I sometimes feel like I’ll melt into the floor when I have to engage in polite small talk.
However, being an introvert has not inversely correlated with my ability to network with professors. You never know if your professor runs a publishing press of their own or has taught students who have gone on to close major deals at Big 5 houses. Beyond that, Emerson professors are simply just interesting people who have stories from the workplace to tell, who are excited to help you explore your career options and set you up for success beyond just the classroom. Doing your class readings, engaging in class, and attending office hours are simple but effective ways to make a good, lasting impression.
Leveraging Extracurriculars
Extracurriculars are a great way to meet new people and explore your interests, but did you know that they can be a fantastic way to accumulate work experience too?
For activities that are adjacent to your field of study (for publishing majors, this may look like literary magazines, newspapers, student-run publishing presses, book clubs, among many others), there are a number of actionable steps you can take to leverage your engagement on an application.
Take Note of Your Responsibilities
Are you writing emails promoting events? Creating graphics and videos for social? Are you editing manuscripts or liaising with writers? Regardless of whether you’re on an e-board or if you’re a member, your participation in this extracurricular matters!
Think About Your Narrative
What made you want to join this club? What kinds of experiences and opportunities did it enable you? What did you contribute to the club? These questions are a great way to get you thinking about the story you want to tell a recruiter or future employer—whether just on your cover letter or during an interview. Being able to speak eloquently about something you’re passionate about, that makes you excited and happy to get up in the morning, is a super important. Thinking about it early on will allow you to articulate yourself more clearly.
For Extracurriculars Not Directly Related to Your Field of Study
Even for a club which, at first sight, might just seem like a hobby club (e.g. Anime Club, or something niche like the Pickle Ball Committee), the right language can make you shine! Think about any sort of skills that you’ve learned during your time with the committee—anything relating to leadership positions or collaboration, or maybe even transferable skills like spreadsheet management and professional communication. You may have learned these things subconsciously, and perhaps you joined a club merely for the enjoyment and not to bolster your credibility (which is usually our hope). Regardless, the right language can help you leverage your experiences, however conscious or unconscious they might be.
Leveraging Internships/Jobs
Internships and jobs seem like the most obvious place to start with when filling your resume, but did you know there’s even more that you can do to help set yourself up for future success at your current job?
Make a Good Impression
This goes without saying, but sometimes you might find yourself wondering—why exactly do I need to make a good impression when my internship/job will end in [insert a finite span of time which feels so miniscule in stark comparison to the holistic existence of humankind]?
The answer to that question is: the impression you make at your internship or job is going to follow you throughout your professional career. I’m not saying that to scare you or to make you feel as though everyone on planet Earth knows about that one time you hit reply all on an email that you definitely weren’t supposed to. (Or that one time you were downloading Premiere and your laptop fans kicked on SO LOUDLY during a conference meeting. Definitely not speaking from experience.) I’m saying that instead to help you realize that while your supervisor is perhaps an admittedly temporary fixture in your professional career—who knows if you’ll ever see them again after your role is over or after they move on to a different company/get promoted/etc?—they are your cheerleader for LIFE. If you do your best, if you communicate professionally, show up on time when it matters, and prove that you’re a team player, your supervisor is more likely than not going to root for your success, regardless of whether you stay with the company or not. As someone who has likely experienced a similar job-hunt drudgery to you, your supervisor will become a resource for referrals and recommendations if you do a great job in your role. They’ll remember your positive impact and when a role opens up that you’ll be a good fit for, who’s to say they won’t put in a good word for you?
Informational Interview
Oh no, you’re thinking to yourself. Not networking again. But yes, networking again! Before you scroll away a second time, allow me to clarify.
When you’re working in an office, there are going to be people you come across who you’ll work with directly, who you’ll work with indirectly, and who you’ll mostly just awkwardly nod and smile at in the kitchen when you happen to both be grabbing a glass of water at the same time. But each of these people are full of stories! And if you want to hear their stories, get insight into who they are, what they’ve accomplished, what they’d suggest for a college student like you to one day stand in their shoes, you’ve got to ask for an informational interview! These conversations (and yes, you should view them as conversations, not interviews) will be great for you not only to gain insight into your industry, but also to demonstrate your interest and passion for what you do. It’s always good to be prepared for a question being thrown back your way. And hey, if you find yourself stumped by what to ask once you’ve booked your interview slot, check out this resource.
Practice Your Work/Life Balance
A lot of the time, jobs and internships will mimic the true 9-5 experience. This means that you’re not only experiencing a real “day in the life” of a professional, but also that you can understand what life feels like outside of work too. Oftentimes, publishing can feel very draining due to the creative nature of the work required from you. This means that nourishing your creativity outside of work can be a balancing act. Take a good look at how you spend your time at work and outside of it. What hobbies do you have outside of publishing, reading, or writing? Do you find yourself leaving work only to open your laptop again once you’re home? How can you strike a sustainable balance between doing the work you love and making sure that your mind and body are still energized when you clock out for the day?
Breaking into the publishing industry can be a long and arduous process. But you truly have all you need. You, yes, you, are equipped to succeed. Everything you’ve been working toward is going to pay off and you will find your place.
Give these tips a try! You never know where you might find yourself tomorrow (or the day after, or the day after that…).
