A few of our interns give us the insider scoop on what it’s like to work at a university press and offer some valuable advice on landing an internship with the Princeton University Press:

EDITORIAL

Juliana Fidler (TCNJ)

Title: General Editorial Intern
Department: Editorial
College Major: Majoring in English with a minor in Spanish
Year: Senior 

1.)    What does your list of duties for the Princeton University Press include?
I help the editorial assistants with any tasks they need/ask me to complete. The most common ones are compiling image permissions logs, submitting shipping orders, and creating contact lists. I’ve been working on two long-term projects: re-clearing image permissions for an upcoming e-book version of a 2007 book (which means finding and communicating with the various rights holders and keeping track of their responses) and researching courses that could potentially adopt a specific textbook. I also get to attend some editorial meetings.

2.)    Are there any special qualifications, skills, or training that you have brought with you to the internship?
I’ve been a writer and copy editor at my college’s newspaper, a file clerk at a law firm, and an intern at another publishing house. So I’d say my training has given me organizational skills—but with creativity mixed in. As an English major (and college student in general), I’ve brought an appreciation for a wide variety of literature and books.

3.)    What aspect(s) do you enjoy most about your internship with the Princeton University Press?
I’ve learned a lot by attending the editorial meetings here, so I’m grateful to be able to do that. I also love seeing my long-term projects bear results. And everyone has been very friendly and welcoming, so I’ve enjoyed getting to know people!

4.)    In what ways do you think this internship will help you in future job endeavors?
Working at a prestigious university press looks great on a resume, of course, but perhaps more importantly, I think I’ve acquired a lot of foundational skills that I would need to eventually start working in publishing/editorial full time.

5.)    What job skill(s) learned at the Press do you feel are most vital to your overall career success?
I have learned a lot about permissions, and I think a basic working knowledge in that area is great for any publishing industry hopeful. The editorial assistants also make a point to keep the editorial interns in the loop regarding the details of new and upcoming books PUP is publishing, so I feel that I’m gaining an understanding of the acquisition-to-manuscript-to-book process (so many hyphens, sorry) that’s beyond just the projects and tasks I complete as an intern.

6.)    Would you recommend this internship to others?
Yes!

7.)    Is there any advice you can give to those applying for internships, looking for jobs in your field, or ways to maximize one’s chance of getting an internship with the Princeton University Press?
For those applying to internships, I’d say emphasize whatever it is that makes you stand out. I included the link to my study abroad blog in my cover letter, and when I had my interview with PUP (via Skype, from Spain) I found out that the people interviewing me had read through it! I can’t say that’s what got me the internship, but it didn’t hurt. On a related note, I think a great cover letter is important, since it’s more personal than a resume. Also, keep an open mind; I wouldn’t have necessarily sought an internship at a university press (as opposed to a private textbook or trade publisher) initially, but I found PUP on my school’s online recruiting network, and I’m glad I ended up here. In terms of looking for jobs…I’ll be checking out the other interns’ answers for tips, since I’ll be doing that soon!

Closing Remarks:

“I’ve found that PUP is a great place to have an internship, because the experience is clearly intended to expose the intern to what publishing at a university press is like and how it works.”

Anna Sandberg (Rutgers University)

Title: Editorial Reference Intern
Department: Editorial
College Major: Double majoring in Italian and European Studies with a minor in Organizational Leadership
Year: Senior

1.)    What does your list of duties for the Princeton University Press include?
CPFS orders, Shipping/Mailing orders, Proofing PUP shorts & other minor publications, Research for editorial assistants such as address look-ups, phone numbers, potential blurbers for publications, etc., Image searches for publications (high resolution copies of images wanted for publications, but not provided by the author/contributor), Contacting sources for image permissions, Data entry, Contract entries, attending various Editorial meetings (Project Review, Hit, etc.) with editorial assistants.

2.)    Are there any special qualifications, skills, or training that you have brought with you to the internship?
I worked last fall as an intern with Rutgers University Student Life in an office setting. I was responsible for a lot of email communication and general office work like printing, scanning, photocopying, etc.

3.)    What aspect(s) do you enjoy most about your internship with the Princeton University Press?
I like the variety. Sometimes I do get stuck on really lengthy projects, but I like when I do a lot of little things for a bunch of projects in one day. It really gives you an idea of how many different projects each editor is working on at one time. The meetings are also really good to gage how many projects are run at the same time here. I also like the continuity. One day I might be working on address look-ups for a whole bunch of people, and the next week I could be sending books to those addresses for review. It’s nice to see how some of my work is used later on in the process.

4.)    In what ways do you think this internship will help you in future job endeavors?
I would like to have a career in publishing (specifically in editing), so this internship is really helpful as experience for job applications. Although I do want to work in fiction for a large publishing company, I’m sure many of the skills that I’ve learned here will transfer or at least serve as a good basis for working elsewhere.

5.)    What job skill(s) learned at the Press do you feel are most vital to your overall career success?
I think knowing the process of book publication will be really helpful to my career success since I want to get into publishing. Of course it might not be quite the same for non-academic publishing, but it’s a start. Knowing how to complete mailings, etc. is another skill that I learned at this job and while another publishing company might use another type of database, it’s helpful to know for the future.

6.)    Would you recommend this internship to others?
Yes!

7.)    Is there any advice you can give to those applying for internships, looking for jobs in your field, or ways to maximize one’s chance of getting an internship with the Princeton University Press?
I think just getting out there an applying is an important step. You may not get every internship you apply for, but that’s why you need to apply to a few. I used my university’s career networking site where different companies post job offerings to find this internship, but if you are looking for an internship in a specific field, sometimes it is helpful to just look on a couple of company websites for information. I’m currently looking for an editorial internship with a large publishing house for next semester and my university’s career site is limited, so I’ve started researching a few prominent publishing houses in NYC and looking for internships at those individual companies.

Closing Remarks:

“The other editorial intern (Juliana) and I both studied abroad last semester in Europe. While it was difficult to find companies willing to interview me via phone or on Skype, PUP was more than willing. They have great communication technology here and they actually use it quite often for meetings with the PUP office in the UK, which I think is really great. It was a really different experience interviewing online that I don’t think many people have. I thought it was really interesting that studying abroad actually helped me get this internship rather than hurt my chances because some companies either don’t have the technology or were unwilling to communicate online or via phone with me.”

MARKETING

Emily Witkowski

Title:  Textbook Promotions Intern
Department: Marketing
College Major: Majoring in English with a minor in Interactive Multimedia
Year: Senior

1.)    What does your list of duties for the Princeton University Press include?
My job is focused on finding comparable textbooks to the ones we publish and pulling up reports on what universities and professors are using them for what courses so that I can find the professor’s contact information to inform them of the texts we publish. In addition to this, I pull reports on books that we publish to see how they are doing and I help prepare the launch of text books with mail outs and other details.

2.)    Are there any special qualifications, skills, or training that you have brought with you to the internship?
There is a lot of research involved in this position, navigating through university websites and textbook distributers like Amazon. So I think research skills were important to have coming into the position, as well as some knowledge of Excel.

3.)    What aspect(s) do you enjoy most about your internship with the Princeton University Press?
I love how interns are not only allowed, but encouraged to attend various meetings at the press. As an intern, you’re really focused on your department and what you need to do for your specific jobs, but the meetings provide a wider scope of what exactly this organization does.

4.)    In what ways do you think this internship will help you in future job endeavors?
I think there are skills and practices that I have learned here that will translate well to other positions, and I also think there is an impressiveness to working at  Princeton University Press that other employers will see.

5.)    What job skill(s) learned at the Press do you feel are most vital to your overall career success?
For me, though I feel I have learned some skills here, it is more about the knowledge that I have gained. I have learned a lot more about the different facets of publishing, as well as how universities work. In my employment future, I want to stay in academia, working with universities and schools in general. This specific position affords you the opportunity to read up on all different types of programs at different schools and helps you understand why they do the things they do, why we read the books we read.

6.)    Would you recommend this internship to others?
I would definitely recommend this internship to others. I think it is an amazing opportunity and something very interesting to a variety of different people.

7.)    Is there any advice you can give to those applying for internships, looking for jobs in your field, or ways to maximize one’s chance of getting an internship with the Princeton University Press?
Don’t be afraid to offer some personal information. What seemed to clinch the position for me here was my involvement in things that did not necessarily have to do with employment or English or publishing. Talk about organizations and clubs you are in even if they don’t seem relevant, and don’t downplay any of your responsibilities or accomplishments. The Press wants well-rounded, interesting employees and interns, so show that about yourself.

Closing Remarks:

“I think people often think a job associated with a top university or a prestigious organization seems unattainable. I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel the same way when I applied. But places like PUP need applications and interest too. I think what has surprised me here in talking to people is hearing about the openings they have and how they want more applicants, so never hesitate! Sending in the application was one of the best decisions I could have made for my college experience.”

PUBLICITY

Holly Jennings (Rider University)

Title:  Social Media Intern
Department: Publicity
College Major: Majoring in Public Relations
Year: Junior

1.)    What does your list of duties for the Princeton University Press include?
Scans print media into the shared drive for easy retrieval in the future, attends departmental meetings to get an overall view of the function of the publicity department, conducts research related to various books for marketing purposes, researches online blogs for specific topics to obtain information for marketing and publicity, and initiates and monitors blogs on various topics related to specific books, updates mailing lists in the database to ensure they are current and accurate, sets up Facebook pages for each trade title, adds events to the Princeton University Press Facebook site and individual book sites, posts articles and creates features on the blog, completes all other duties as assigned or requested for the general support of the organization.

2.)    Are there any special qualifications, skills, or training that you have brought with you to the internship?
I have been doing web design and HTML since I was fairly young – I’ve been self-taught since about 6th grade. My best friend and I used to build HTML/CSS layouts for Xanga, which is an online journal community. Having the skill set to build websites and become familiar with different types of coding is vital to the Social Media Intern position because this is a position heavily based around creativity and putting your own unique touch on things.

3.)    What aspect(s) do you enjoy most about your internship with the Princeton University Press?
The aspects I enjoy most about my internship is the freedom to make what you do your own projects. In my department, I’m given a lot of freedom to show off my creativity. I’m allowed to create my own projects and am autonomous in making a lot of decisions.

4.)    In what ways do you think this internship will help you in future job endeavors?
Building off of the previous question, I think being responsible for my own projects has taught me a lot about responsibility and self initiation. It’s easy to mess around when you have little guidelines on exactly how your work should be done. In a Social Media Intern position, you’re your own boss, in a sense – it is real sense of accomplishment knowing that your work comes from your own successes.

5.)    What job skill(s) learned at the Press do you feel are most vital to your overall career success?
The job skills I’ve learned at the Press that I feel are most vital to my overall career success would definitely be the social media postings. I’ve become very savvy with what types of language you should use in Facebook and blog posts. When you learn how to communicate to your company’s specific key publics in a way that resonates with them, you obtain a priceless skill that is transferable to any type of business you may venture into.

6.)    Would you recommend this internship to others?
I would absolutely recommend this internship to others. The Princeton University Press is a very friendly environment and there are an unlimited number of projects that greatly benefit your resume for future employers.

7.)    Is there any advice you can give to those applying for internships, looking for jobs in your field, or ways to maximize one’s chance of getting an internship with the Princeton University Press?
If there is any advice I can give to those looking to be chosen for an internship at PUP, I would have to say that building your resume is paramount. Play up your strengths, and try to keep job descriptions to the point while highlighting the important duties and accomplishments that apply  to the department you are looking to work for. For me, I made it a point to play up my previous employment in retail on my resume. Although one might not think retail relates directly to social media, the interactions with customers and fellow coworkers have taught me a lot about communicating with others, whether it be in person or through the internet. Another strength on my resume is my GPA. I work hard to maintain a very high GPA, because although a GPA may not be everything to employers, it does help you appear to be a promising employee with a steadfast work ethic.

Closing Remarks:

“For anyone looking for a very respectable and enlightening internship experience, I highly recommend you fill out an application for the Princeton University Press. There are a number of departments that span across many types of college majors. I was really excited when I landed my first internship here as a Publicity Intern over the summer. When I was asked to come back for a second internship as a Social Media Intern, I was thrilled. Doors will open for you if you pursue an internship with PUP.”

To fill out an application for an internship position or for more information about internship opportunities with the Princeton University Press, please click below:

http://press.princeton.edu/jobs.html