| Back to Home > Bulletin Board > Beginner Issues > Topic: Grad school or publishing jobs abroad? |
Topic: Grad school or publishing jobs abroad?
| Author | Message |
| interstella | Posted – 1/26/2008 8:42:04 PM | show profile I'm currently working as an editorial assistant at a small book publisher in California. I have an intense desire to travel, and soon. I am looking for a way to go abroad for a year or so that will not hinder my career progress. Some background: I got a late start on my career, having completed my undergraduate degree at age 25. My prior jobs were admin positions in law offices. So, when I finished college, I immediately got an internship with the company I'm currently working for. After the internship, I was hired on as editorial assistant. I've been in that position now for about a year and a half. The official word is that I am "in training" for a promotion, but I have been told this for close to a year now. I have been given more editorial responsibilities as of late, which is great, but I'm starting to wonder how long i should hang on, waiting for a promotion that may not come anytime soon, while I'm languishing at a company I'm not really interested in working for long-term anyway. Part of me thinks that now that I have solid experience, I should start applying to other book publishers. But a large part of me is lamenting the fact that while my peers were traveling Europe, studying abroad, or teaching English after college, I was lumbering away at my office jobs and just sort of getting by, thinking "one day" I would see the world and get out there and do all the things I wanted to ever since I was tiny. Having turned 27 (and having begun to notice the fine lines appearing around my eyes..ha), I have begun to experience a sort of crisis. I want to get out of my humdrum existence, just for awhile, and have some experiences other than bed-car-cubicle-lunch-cubicle-home-dinner-bed. Perhaps I'm being flighty or idealistic. I don't expect to escape the daily grind of working, forever. But I wanna scrape some excitement from what remains of my twenties. So! Should I go to grad school abroad? Are publishing MA programs worth it? Or a waste? Would an MA in English be pointless if I just want to come back and get back into book editing? Or...and this sounds really good to me...is there any way I could get an actual publishing job somewhere in the UK for a year or so? Perhaps in conjunction with a masters program? Stuff like the peace corps and teaching English aren't really in my realm, because I want to remain connected to the publishing industry and I want to continue my progress in developing my editorial skills. Any advice is appreciated! |
