The Apprenticeship

In addition to the placements that run through the year (see below), we have run special placements, called The Apprenticeship, for the month of June, with some of the UK's leading book publishing houses. These placements took place in: Bloomsbury, Cambridge University Press, Hachette, Macmillan, Octopus, Penguin, Sweet & Maxwell and Sage. The Apprenticeship allows students to get full practical experience of work in these prestigious houses towards the end of their course, at a time when their knowledge base is at its most fully developed. Unlike most placements, the publishers were also able to plan ahead for the arrival of the students and prepare a structured programme for them. The Apprenticeship is intended to run every year.

Feedback from the June 2009 Apprenticeship

'Our student was lovely to have around the office, very helpful and probably one of the most enthusiastic people we've had. She was very good in all areas, particularly the practical parts of her placement, and really understood things well. She seemed to enjoy getting involved in all aspects of the department. We really enjoyed having her here as she was always very cheerful and never had a problem with the things she was asked to do, even when they were slightly mundand. We definitely felt the placement was mutually beneficial for all involved.'    Bloomsbury

'We joined the Apprenticeship this year and have been delighted with the results. Our student got glowing feedback from all the people who managed him and we got a bright, knowledgeable and enthusiastic extra pair of hands to help out in several different departments. We look forward to meeting the next LCC Apprentice in 2010.'    Sage Publications

'Our Apprentice was very bright, efficient and quick to understand our systems. Within two weeks she was running our reprint list and providing invaluable cover during the holiday season. She had a mature, hardworking approach and fitted in with the team.'       Hachette Children's Books

'The student who came to us through the Publishing MA at the London College of Communications proved to be a valuable asset to our Journals publishing team. In her month's placement with us she proved to be versatile, hard-working and also had a keen eye for detail. The student embraced all of the varied tasks which were given to her with enthusiasm. She was adept and willing and we genuinely appreciated the help she gave to us.'    Palgrave Macmillan

'The Apprenticeship scheme is incredibly worthwhile both for us - if we continue to receive candidates of this calibre who understand the market and have a good overview of publishing processes - and for the students, who gain valuable hands-on experience of putting theory into practice.'    Sweet & Maxwell

'Our student was great to work with. She was always eager to learn and wanted to take on as much as possible during our time here. She was hard-working and did not mind whatever the task was. She applied the same keenness and efficiency to each one.' Octopus 

'What particularly impressed us about our student was her complete 'sponge' like attitude to learning as much as possible about the business. It was great to see such enthusiasm, and I think for our part we were able to offer an insight into a huge range of books and book-related products under one roof. We got to utilise a really capable and bright student who contributed a great deal to to the day-to-day work flow basically doing whatever was given.'  Penguin

I was really impressed by the student's wide knowledge of the publishing industry. Though her aspirations have naturally led her towards the editorial side of the business, she has an excellent understanding of marketing and PR and how all the different parts of publishing fit and work together. The final outcome of the projects were exactly what we were hoping for. The student understood the brief very quickly and knew what she had to do to comlete the projects successfully, and her wider knowledge and ability to look at the projects with fresh eyes was really useful. Her work was thorough, well-written, creative and nicely-presented. I think that her new employers are very lucky to have employed her.       Cambridge University Press

 

 

A guide to placements for students

Placements run throughout the academic year, including term breaks. They are very popular with publishers and students. Our students will have the opportunity to work part time at a publishing house for anything from one to several months. Placements are not normally paid employment but many publishers will provide a financial contribution towards travel and/or lunch.

The course website Blackboard regularly carries information on placements that are being offered by publishing houses. Students are encouraged to apply for anything they think will offer an interesting experience. Placements provide the opportunity for students to see for themselves the day-to-day reality of working life in a publishing house. On average, most students will undertake two placements during the course of the academic year. Learning from actively taking part in a placement can be critically analysed for future professional practice with the choice of the Work-Based Learning elective in Phase 2.

A guide to placements for employers

Students bring a surprising amount of knowledge to their placement experience. As a result of intensive teaching and groupwork, students quickly begin to understand many of the main functions within publishing which they will then bring to the placement experience.

Students are expected to demonstrate a hard-working attitude, reliability and enthusiasm at their placement, and be prepared to use their initiative. In return, publishers are asked to give students on placement as comprehensive experience as possible of working in a publishing house. Students are available for placements on Mondays and Tuesdays of the working week. The rest of the week, they are involved in their course work within the college. It is also possible for students to work part-time during the course's term breaks of Christmas and Easter, and over the period of June to September, when they are completing independently their masters research dissertations.

The course was one of the original partners who sponsored some course scholarships alongside arranged internships at publishing employers with Publishing Traineeships funded by the Arts Council England between 2004 and 2007. Following this initiative the course supports any application from publishing employers to set up on-going Publishing Traineeships to extend equal opportunities that promotes a more diverse workforce.  

Any book or journal publisher interested in providing placements should contact Professor Gill Davies at

Any magazine or other publisher interested in providing placements should contact Desmond O'Rourke