The benefits of volunteer work experience (part 2)

In my last post on this topic, I wrote about working on the 2010 Sydney University student anthology. The second experience I wanted to discuss also came about through the Master of Publishing. For my final semester, I enrolled in an internship unit that involved a two-week placement in publishing, during which the intern would learn about one or more aspects of the industry. With the unit coordinator’s help, I was lucky enough to land a placement with Penguin Random House Australia, in Surry Hills.

Having started a new job only a few months earlier, I had practically no leave accumulated. So I took two weeks of unpaid leave – without batting an eyelid – even though I was getting married later that same year. As a matter of fact, my original internship with another organisation fell through; so I ended up doing my placement between semesters, and completing the unit itself post-internship. By then, the internship requirements had been extended to four weeks, and I couldn’t get additional leave approved; I would have gladly taken the extra two weeks without pay. Here’s why:

If I could get so many insights about the publishing process by working on one aspect of the student anthology a couple of nights a week for several weeks, imagine what I could learn from a two-week immersion in an actual publishing company.

Even if I hadn’t heard feedback from previous students that had undertaken internships at a plethora of different organisations, I would not have hesitated to enrol in this optional unit. In just two weeks, I got so much practical experience, and insights into the various departments and functions of a traditional publishing house.

One thing I must highlight is that not all internships are the same. Some students reported having to shadow employees the entire time, without getting to do much themselves. Others were able to get much more involved than I did, even though I was given a variety of things to do. None of it is a waste of time – even if you are only a shadow, make the most of it. Take notes, ask questions, write down observations on their interactions with others – everything. Remember, they have much more experience than you.

Two weeks with Penguin

I was given many tasks, some more interesting than others. All were great learning experiences, but it would take several posts to go through everything! Here is a snapshot of what I got to do in my time at Penguin:

Read the slush pile!
I know this probably sounds boring, but it wasn’t. It took me a day or so to get through the pile they gave me (okay, so it was probably a fraction of the slush pile), and it was enlightening. There was a lot of not-so-good stuff, to be sure – a lot of clichéd ideas, a lot of bad grammar, a lot of stuff that didn’t really make sense. But there was some pretty good stuff, too. The thing is, “good” isn’t necessarily good enough. Remember that editors have very limited time to spend on unsolicited manuscripts. With that in mind, out of the maybe 30 or so manuscripts I looked at that day, I only wrote reports on two that I thought the commissioning editor might be interested in. And, honestly, mainly because I wanted to have produced something after having spent hours reading all that “slush”.

Check page proofs
It was a book on gardening, with pretty images and a nice layout. I was given a couple of chapters and asked to proofread them. I proudly marked it up with the standard proofreading marks, at which the typesetter was surprised, but also pleased that it would be easy to amend the file without having to decipher my mark-up. That’s a lesson: use what you know! Remember, even though you’re there to learn, it doesn’t hurt to show off a little. Many internships can turn into extended opportunities, or even paid employment. I didn’t get a job out of mine, but I got great references from experienced people, and made some good contacts.

Observe sales pitches
I got to tag along with one of the sales reps on his visits to various booksellers in Sydney City, including the Dymocks store in Wynyard. On these visits, I watched him pitch new titles to the book buyers, and organise to replenish stock of titles they already held. I’d even gotten to add some of the new titles to the database earlier that day.

I was surprised at how quick the visits were, and how simple and tensionless the exchanges – something along the lines of:

“We’ve got this new title, you interested?”

“Won’t suit our customer base.”

“No problem. Next title is …”

Aside from observing the ins-and-outs of a sales rep’s day, what this exchange showed me was the importance of building up a good rapport with your contacts. It makes interactions much smoother, and you can reach out to those people when you need to.

The Manners Rap
Perhaps the most unusual (yet fun) experiences came about because Ita Buttrose was publishing a book called A guide to Australian etiquette. As part of the promotional campaign, Penguin were putting together a video of a rap song that featured some of the advice from Ms Buttrose’s book. One of the editorial assistants and I were asked to participate. It was incredibly strange to see such an elegant lady as Ms Buttrose rapping as “Ita from the Block”, but it was an effective clip that hopefully helped promote a book on a highly-relevant topic in today’s society.

Watch the video here: The Manners Rap

The perks

Aside from the vast potential for learning that an internship affords, you may also get some more tangible perks. During my first week, the commissioning editor for which I had processed the slush pile had recommended a book for me to read during my lunch break. In appreciation of my help, she gave me a copy (they have copies of their published books, as well as advance reader copies, everywhere in the office). I’d read it within a few days, and she gave me the next one in the series. This was already the icing on the cake for me.

What I hadn’t anticipated was being handed a large cardboard box on my last day and told to fill it with as many books as I wanted. They even offered to courier out another box if I couldn’t fit enough books in! I was happy with my one box, which I filled with a range of different titles, including the rest of the series I’d started reading.

I left the office on that last day with a grin plastered on my face, and sat through my train ride (reading), oblivious at how ridiculous I must have looked overloaded with that box. What I’d really learned in those two weeks was how much I loved working with books.

What I got from this experience

With a box of free books, what more could you want?

Seriously, though, my internship wasn’t just 10 days of “doing publishing tasks”. What I got out of doing those tasks was two weeks’ worth of mentoring from experts in the industry. I got to see and experience things I would not have if I hadn’t undertaken the placement. I was surprised that the internship unit was (and still is) optional – the experience is invaluable. I was able to refine my skills in just a short amount of time, have many of my questions answered, and take away so many ideas that floated around my mind until I could find a use for them.

Here are my two cents:

Optional doesn’t mean unimportant. Take any opportunity you can to obtain more experience (whether it gets you credit points or not) – you never know how much you might learn.