Editorial assistant : Employers and vacancy sources

Publishing is a diverse industry encompassing both large, multinational groups with a wide and varied range of publications and small, independent, specialist companies with a much narrower focus. Publishing can be divided into five main sectors:

• books;
• magazines and newspapers;
• academic and professional journals;
• public and not-for-profit publishing;
• directories and databases.

Advances in technology have created new areas of business for publishers. Electronic forms of publishing are growing in importance. Many publishers complement their traditional print publishing with websites, CD-ROMs and other multimedia products. There are many new companies specialising solely in electronic publishing. This is likely to be a future growth area.

Opportunities also exist in organisations that have a publications or publicity department. These organisations range from commercial companies that produce in-house newsletters to smaller charities or not-for-profit organisations that need to communicate with their employees or donors. Working as an editorial assistant in one of these organisations gives you an insight into the publishing process, from initial ideas through to the final product.

Sources of vacancies

• Search graduate jobs on this site.
• The Bookseller  
• Book People  
• BookCareers  
• Campaign  
• The Guardian   (Mondays)
• The Independent  
• The Times  
• The Scotsman   
• The Herald  
• The Daily Telegraph  

There are several, well-recognised publishing recruitment agencies that might be useful if you already have some work experience. Find a full list of recruitment agencies at The Bookseller  website.

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