| Back to Home > Bulletin Board > Beginner Issues > Topic: Summer Publishing Courses and Previous Experience? |
Topic: Summer Publishing Courses and Previous Experience?
| Author | Message |
| kellyf | Posted – 1/17/2008 4:35:41 AM | show profile | email poster I'd thought I'd post this question to the minds here at mediabistro, as I'm really confused about what to do next year. My resume is not all that great, with only one internship and four years of college newspaper experience (including a job as an executive editor). I'm interested in doing magazines, preferably in New York, but I'm open to elsewhere. The career counselor at school strongly encouraged me to do the Columbia Publishing Course this summer. I was wondering if the lack of previous experience would still be a problem after a summer institute (provided, of course, I can get into the CPC or NYU SPI this summer). I was thinking I maybe ought to try for a paid internship instead, and then apply next summer for CPC. (Again, I know my resume is terrible. But, knowing that, I'm still committed to working my butt off to break into magazines). Thanks! |
| Unemployed-gal | Posted – 1/17/2008 9:59:49 AM | show profile Hey, Just thought I'd post my two cents. I did the summer publishing course at NYU two years ago after graduating from college. I had even less experience than you did--no internships, no experience with college publications, nothing. So that even after I did the Summer Publishing Institute (which is actually a great way to learn about the industry, by the way, and a great way to get contacts and network), I still had to do a few internships because people in informational and job interviews kept encouraging me to get more experience (by the way, I'm trying to get in books, but the same thing goes for magazines). Sometime a lack of experience is a bar to employment, but I would definitely encourage you to do the summer publishing course, at either NYU or Columbia--networking is definitely a key part of the job hunting process. Good luck! |
| fourfold | Posted – 1/17/2008 12:08:07 PM | show profile I would dispute your claim that your resume is "terrible." Four years with the school paper and one internship seem like decent qualifications for an entry-level position. You seem more concerned about getting into the Columbia course than with getting a job, so I'm confused about where, exactly, you are in your career. Are you a new grad? As someone who has hired many entry-level editors, I can tell you this: how you present yourself in an interview will matter much more than whether or not you attended a summer course. |
| kellyf | Posted – 1/17/2008 12:23:31 PM | show profile | email poster I'm going to graduate in June. I would, of course, prefer an entry-level job, but I'm afraid (based on a couple of experiences at job fairs and at my school's career services that didn't go very well) that I'm not going to be able to get an editorial assistant position. Basically, I'm just wondering what (in light of my probably not getting an EA job) would be the best use of my time next year. My instinct is to say paid internships, but would a publishing course this summer be a better use of my time? I'm applying to everything I can think of, editorial assistant jobs, internships, and publishing courses, but I'm just trying to think through my best options. Thanks! |
| Unemployed-gal | Posted – 1/17/2008 1:11:58 PM | show profile Based on your experience at the career fair "interviews," it may just be a matter of how you present/ market yourself. But I wouldn't let something like that get you down. Those are really only practices for the real thing. Another great thing about the publishing courses is that they expose you to other areas of magazine publishing besides editorial--eg, advertising, etc. It might be worth considering. But definitely work on the networking thing--that's how you'll get most of your job interviews. |
| Unemployed-gal | Posted – 1/17/2008 1:14:47 PM | show profile And also, if your job search drags out as long as mine has (nearly two years), you can always temp... sometimes you won't get jobs in publishing, but you'll get hands-on office experience and be earning a little bit of money to pay the bills... KSH http://atreegrowsinbrooklyn-kasthu.blogspot.com/ |
| kellyf | Posted – 1/17/2008 1:41:53 PM | show profile | email poster Thanks for the responses, Unemployed-gal! With your job search, are you looking mostly through contacts made at the publishing course? Would you consider the experience more or less useful than the internships you've done? And have you had fairly positive experience with temping? |
| Unemployed-gal | Posted – 1/21/2008 2:54:00 PM | show profile I've gotten the most success through job postings online--surprisingly, I've gotten a lot of job interviews through them. I've also gotten a lot of job interviews through randomly cold-emailing people, who have led me to job opportunities. And, as always, my internships have been the thing getting me those interviews--at least, its the first thing that people focus on and ask about when I interview. Nothing beats internships, but the publishing course gave me a lot of useful knowledge which I could then use in the workplace. Also, I've had a positive experience with temping. I've had the same assignment for four months now, and the temping service I use is awesome--though it doesn't do anything with publishing. However, I was able to land an informational interview at Conde Nast through a woman I met at work, so sometimes random connections lead to great opportunities. |
