My dream placement at HarperCollins

Last summer, through the Professional Skills Module at the University of Birmingham, I was lucky enough to complete a placement as an Editorial & Marketing Assistant at HarperCollins. HarperCollins are the second-largest publishing house in the world, so, as someone hoping to enter the publishing industry after graduation, this was an incredibly valuable experience.

The Professional Skills module is an optional module that you can take through your course when studying at the University of Birmingham. The university puts together a huge list of placements spanning multiple industries and you can apply to any 5 from the list. When I initially had a look, the HarperCollins placement immediately jumped out to me and I thought ‘This would be my dream placement!’, both because it was with a major publishing house and because it covered two of the departments I was most interested in – Editorial and Marketing. I’d heard that it was a very popular placement though, so I was hopeful but knew I would face lots of competition.

After submitting my CV and cover letter, I was invited for an interview. I did a lot of prep, researching the company and drafting answers to common interview questions. I had an interview via Zoom, kept my fingers crossed and…I got the placement!

My placement was with the Collins dictionary department and was fully remote, which allowed me flexible working around my summer schedule. I worked with supervisors from the Editorial team in Glasgow and the Marketing team in London and completed my own independent marketing project, researching digital engagement strategies and creating my own proposal for new techniques to implement on their social media platforms and website. I got to do market research, create social media content using Canva, write articles and blog posts, network with the team and present my proposal. I got some lovely feedback on all my work and a lot of my suggestions were actioned after my placement ended, which made me feel like I’d made a real impact on the company.

As my placement was remote, I decided to reach out after my placement ended and organise a visit to the HarperCollins London office. I had an amazing day – I was given a tour around their office (which is right next to the Shard and has an amazing view of the Thames), sat in on a team meeting, completed some research tasks and even got given a free book! It was great to chat with the team in-person and experience their office culture (dream office vibes).

As a publishing hopeful, I really could not have had a better placement experience – I got the chance to work with a Big 5 publisher, make contacts within the industry and build practical skills I can take forward into my career. The whole experience boosted my confidence and gave me loads to talk about on my CV, cover letter and in interviews. Now I’ve started applying for full-time publishing roles, I am more grateful than ever that I have real-world publishing experience to talk about.

The Professional Skills Module is just one of many incredible opportunities I’ve had throughout my time at Birmingham. The careers team here is truly exceptional and curates so many fantastic opportunities exclusive to students, so you can leave with real-world industry experience under your belt.