A Day in the Life

Marketing Assistant - Katie Evans

When it comes to working within the HE Marketing team, no day is routine! In the short eight months I have been with Cengage I’ve had the opportunity to try my hand at a number of different marketing, and publishing functions as well as making some fabulous friends.

As the Marketing Assistant my job can include anything from proof-reading new marketing material, to organising and attending conferences, to negotiating print quotes, to collating sales hand-outs and adding prices to our internal systems. I try to start each day by answering and forwarding on the numerous emails received in the Marketing email inbox. These can be about anything and everything from lecturers requesting inspection copies or experiencing problems logging onto the online resources to a potential author wanting to send in a brief.

After brewing a well needed cup of tea I move on to answering any queries I have received and organising my priorities for the day. This is incredibly important within this role as there is a steady stream of queries from our large team of sales reps requesting product information and lecturers with technology problems to keep me busy! There are always new projects and opportunities to be involved in. One of my current projects is to look at ways in which we can improve and update the Arden Shakespeare website. This task has involved carrying out my own detailed research and attending brainstorming meetings. It’s really exciting to be involved in a value adding activity providing me with great marketing and team working experience helping to develop my skills and continuous learning.

A typical Friday is rounded off with a team drink and a look back on the week’s events. It’s also a great chance to socialise and a catch up with other employees you might not get the chance to speak or work with during the week.

Sales Support Executive - David Kennedy

I provide support to the three Library Reference field sales representatives who cover the south of England and northern Europe as well as all the customers in those regions. My average day involves contacting customers to promote our new online archives and databases, particularly those customers who the field sales representatives find it hard to reach regularly in person. I also set up trial access online to our resources for these customers, provide formal quotations, prepare orders for processing and answer customer enquiries.

The best part of the job is of course securing a new subscription or direct sale. However, it’s about more than that – the resources we provide help facilitate teaching and learning in the institutions we sell to and so help the librarians do their jobs better. It’s good to feel that you’re a part of that process.

The Library Reference team for EMEA is relatively compact so I interact with my colleagues in the publishing, marketing and customer service departments all the time, which is great for understanding the whole process and makes it easier for me to deal confidently with the customers.

This role would prepare you well for becoming a field sales representative - going out and visiting the major customers in person. The skills and knowledge gained could also help you move into any of the other Library Reference departments – publishing, marketing or customer service.

Development Editor, ELT - Jennifer Nunan

My day-to-day work is very varied and involves editing manuscripts; checking and approving designs; commissioning, and working closely with, authors and freelance editors; and liaising with the Sales and Marketing teams so that we can be sure to be producing something that they can sell. Editorial work is often done on a flexitime basis, and I prefer to get to work early and leave early (when my deadlines allow it), so my typical day begins around 8am. The first thing I do is check my email. We work a lot with the US and due to the time difference all the emails they send in their afternoon/ evening, I don’t get until the next morning.

In order to work in editorial, you must have a very strong command of the English language and close attention to detail. It is also important to be highly organised and able to prioritise, as you will often have several projects going on at the same time, all with very tight and strict deadlines. You must also have good interpersonal skills as developing good working relationships with authors is critical. Although you work mainly in the office, sometimes we have trips out to meet with authors, designers and freelance editors. We also spend a day every few months in the recording studio, overseeing recordings for student’s books and sometimes graded readers as well.

The best part of my job is working with wonderful authors and material and being involved in developing the content and design of books. And there is no better feeling than when a book you have poured your life and soul into lands on your desk printed and ready to be made available to learners.

Content Product Editor - Jamina Ward

My role is basically to oversee the production process of a title once the final manuscript has been approved by the editorial department. This starts with the organizing of a text design for the book, and continues up until I hand over the final proofs to manufacturing for printing of the book. On a day-to-day basis this involves liaising with the editorial department on when titles are likely to be handed over to me and discussing any potential problems for my work processes, liaising with freelancers who are working on my projects and keeping a general eye on the budget and schedule. We work on all different kinds of books, from Business and Finance to Computing and Hair and Beauty. The variety and differences between all the different titles is one of the enjoyable parts of the job. I feel like I’m learning about different subjects all the time.

Most of our books also have companion websites and another aspect of the job is to put these websites together with material supplied to us. This involves working within Dreamweaver and therefore getting a rough working idea of HTML. We normally have several titles rolling through production at one time, so the job definitely requires a lot of organization, and time management skills. You need the confidence and ability to articulate yourself as you are responsible for briefing several people on what you need them to do for your titles. Attention to detail is also a must for this role, as part of it – one of the parts I enjoy the most – is to take over the proofreading of the titles at the latter stages, making sure previous corrections have been taken in.

I love the challenge of coordinating people to work together on a project to try and achieve the targeted deadline and budget. And also coming up with strategies when unforeseeable circumstances mean things don’t always go to plan. The best thing is getting the finished product in your hand knowing all the hard work you have put into it.

Publisher - Thomas Rennie

I am the Publisher for Management, Strategy & Decision Sciences and my day-to-day role involves the commissioning and project management of an increasingly diverse range of content – from traditional textbooks through to digital content such as online videos, test banks and podcasts – all targeting the Higher Education business and management market. The role encompasses a wide range of tasks including: undertaking market research, commissioning new projects, coordinating with marketing and production, developing product strategies, presenting to sales teams, coordinating freelancers and liaising with authors.

I work in an Editorial department comprised of over a dozen people working across a wide range of different subject disciplines. High value projects that I’ve commissioned are assigned to a team of Development Editors and I liaise frequently with them to ensure they are proceeding as planned. Editorial Assistants also assist me in managing my other projects through to publication and, more broadly, coordinate the publishing systems and administrative workload. I’m also frequently in contact with my line manager, the Publishing Manager, and members of the senior management team in order to receive clearance to proceed with projects and devise new product strategies.

The best part of my role is the entrepreneurial aspect in identifying and capitalising on market opportunities. Provided you, of course, do your homework and put forward a convincing proposal, Cengage Learning EMEA is extremely supportive of innovative projects and provides an excellent environment for developing high-quality new products.

I’m currently working with colleagues from the Biz/ed team (www.bized.co.uk) on various projects that maximise the opportunities provided by blended learning. New web technologies, from blogs and podcasts through to customized digital delivery of textbook content, are providing exciting new opportunities and the department is very well placed to capitalize on these. The challenging part is trying to manage increasingly complex projects with lots of variables, but we have a unique mix of skills and talents here that allow us to tackle these new opportunities head-on.

I’m only at a very early stage in my career as a Publisher, so still have a lot to learn and a lot to publish! But, typically, the next step would be to break into new subject areas – beyond my current focus on management, strategy and decision sciences – or advance into a more senior role with wider managerial and strategic responsibilities.