Applications for our summer internship have now closed. We had 163 applicants. We will evaluate all applications and, if we wish to interview you, you will hear from us by email by mid-April. Good luck to everyone who applied!
Update and status report on 14 April 2018. Our search for a summer intern is over. We have in fact recruited two interns.
Over half of the applications were unsuitable in one way or another, usually because applicants hadn’t followed our guidelines about what to do or what not to do when applying.
We formed a long list of 12 applicants, from which our recruitment team chose five to interview. From these interviews they decided to offer an internship to two applicants: one from the University of Edinburgh and the other from the University of Stirling.
We are looking for a
publishing intern for summer 2018.
The job will involve assisting one of our production teams to deliver publications on schedule to the required level of quality. Your tasks will be tailored to the specific skills you bring but are likely to include undertaking or assisting with:
- styling and preparing files for project editors
- collating proofs and proofreading
- editorial office management.
You will have an excellent command of English and at least a basic understanding of scientific terminology.
You will be helping out during peak holiday season, so you will be kept busy and your contribution will certainly be valued. We can promise that you won’t be bored.
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Ross Stewart, one of our Editorial Office Co-ordinators
Our internships are designed to allow you to get to know the company and us to get to know you. Our internship programme is one of our principal means of recruiting new staff, and several of our current employees started out as interns. You can read about the internship experiences of some of them here.
While we can’t guarantee that interning with us will lead to a long-term position, we can guarantee that the experience you gain will be relevant, useful and representative of what happens in a professional publishing office. And you get to meet nice people.
The internship will run from either Monday 28 May or Monday 4 June (to be mutually agreed), for a period of 13 weeks. It is a full-time post (37.5 hours weekly) based at our offices in Perth.
Unlike some companies, we pay our interns a proper salary. This year the salary is £1425 per calendar month.
If you are smart, resourceful and interested, send your application to Dr Lucy Harrier by filling in our application form by 17:00 on Friday 23 March. Tell us why you believe you would be suitable for this post, and attach a full CV.
Studying for or possessing a degree in an academic subject is essential. Be sure to look at our lists of what to do and what not to do before applying.
All applications that meet the above criteria will be acknowledged. We will contact you by the end of April if we want to arrange an interview, which will include a short test.
Applications from postgraduate publishing students are welcome.
FAQ: Some questions asked by previous applicants, with answers
Assisting with editorial office systems for managing peer review of academic journals, collating proofs, preparing files for copy-editing and assisting project editors in preparing files for press or web publication. You will be trained and shown what to do. We do not expect any previous knowledge of publishing.
- Follow our requirements closely and submit as comprehensive an application as possible. Avoid our red flags. If you don’t explain why you are suitable or supply a full CV you are unlikely to be interviewed.
- Your cover letter is vital as it tells us how good you are at conveying information – the core service we provide. It should have impeccable spelling and grammar. Tell us what you can offer, not just how you expect to benefit from the internship.
- Please try not to ask us questions that have been answered in this list.
- Note that studying for or possessing a degree in an academic subject is essential.
The test consists of general knowledge questions, for example about current affairs, spelling and grammar. We may also ask you to edit a few paragraphs of text that needs improvement. It will take about 30 minutes.
The publications we work on are mostly, but not exclusively, on subjects such as animal health, banking, biochemistry, drugs and drug addiction, environmental affairs, European affairs, finance, health technology, health and safety, human rights, law, medicine, microbiology, molecular biology, neurology, public health, soil science, and general scientific research policy. We operate in the areas of publishing usually known as scholarly, academic or business publishing.
Please note: we do not work on literary fiction nor, in general, on titles for trade publishing. We do not work in advertising or marketing and do not produce promotional material.
Not really. We may be able to accommodate small changes, perhaps up to a week, but it is probably best to assume that we can’t.
Yes. You will be entitled to just over 6 days’ holiday. These may be taken at mutually agreed dates.
No, doing so would largely defeat the purpose of the internship and the nature of the work requires your presence in our offices.
No. The internship post is for one person.
No. This is a full-time position.
Yes. Travel expenses from a UK address to our offices in Perth and back will be paid (you will be given a budget when asked to interview). At the interview you will receive an expense claim form.
No, not for this post. Also, the test requires your presence.
We usually receive well over 100 applications for an internship post.
We have no preference. The post is open to anyone studying for or possessing a degree in an academic subject. For information, about two-thirds of our employees have degree in a science subject (mostly life sciences but also engineering and mathematics) and the other third have a degree in a humanities subject (mostly English but also languages, history and law).
We currently have 32 people, four of whom started out as interns with us.
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We welcome speculative applications even when we are not actively recruiting, but only if you have solid publishing experience.
We won’t reply directly, but we will keep your details on file and consider your application if a suitable vacancy comes up in the following 3 months.
Skills we are particularly interested in:
- writing and rewriting
- copy-editing, especially in science and medicine
- proofreading
- publishing project management
- editorial office management.
Apply now!
You will have direct contact with clients and the opportunity to develop a strong personal reputation for quality, reliability and delivering results. Note that we are a specialist publishing services company: our clients are publishers, but we are not.
