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Part 13 (1/2)

How to Get a Job in Publishing Alison Baverstock 119650K 2022-07-22

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job in publis.h.i.+ng.

Publis.h.i.+ng 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 publis.h.i.+ng 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 publis.h.i.+ng 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 publis.h.i.+ng.

(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 publis.h.i.+ng 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 publis.h.i.+ng 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 publis.h.i.+ng scene, so make sure you double your research efforts so that you can fit in.

As well as publis.h.i.+ng companies, consider organisations that operate internationally and have publis.h.i.+ng 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 friends.h.i.+p 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 friends.h.i.+p 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.