Some of you may have noticed that I blogged before as a summer intern at the RSC (
http://my.rsc.org/blogs/87/486) and now I'm blogging in the Graduate Blog. Well, having really enjoyed my summer position here, I applied for the graduate scheme and joined the RSC as a permanent member of staff in early October. So I've now been here for four months full time (almost seven months if you count the internship!!) and it really has flown by.
Since October I have completed my Proofreading training, quickly progressed onto Editing training and now that is drawing to a close I am just about to start my Peer Review training. Along the way I have adopted a journal of my very own to look after -
Integrative Biology (
http://pubs.rsc.org/en/journals/journalissues/ib) - which involves co-ordinating the covers and building both the print and online versions of each issue.
I think organising the covers for the journals is one of my favourite jobs (so far) at the RSC, I get to invite authors to submit artwork for the covers of the each issue, and then choose which ones appear where in the journal (front cover, inside front cover, back cover). It involve
s a lot of communication with the authors, which I really enjoy, and it's always exciting to see the final product when we receive the first print copies of the issue.
Opporunities for career progression is something the RSC does really well- in just four months I have been given duties involving a lot of responsibility and roles which have a visible impact on the RSCs portfolio of journals. We are given lots of opportunities to take on new things, whether it's running journal covers or organising team events. It's a really good way to learn new skills and it looks really good on your CV if you've been proactive and really got involved. Certainly, it will help when it comes to moving on from the graduate positions and progressing through the company.
In other news, I'm running a stand at a careers fair at the University of Birmingham on the 29th of February, if anyone out there is interested in Graduate roles at the RSC, do come and ask me some questions. I'll be happy to talk about anything- about the graduate roles, about living in Cambridge, or even about what I'm having for dinner that night (probably a KitKat at Peterborough train station). I hope to have a lot of leaflets and information with me so if you're wondering what you are going to do after graduation, come along and find out about working with the RSC.
Alicia is a Graduate working in the Royal Society of Chemistry's Publishing Department. To see if there are any current vacancies go to 'RSC: Latest Vacancies' Blog or subscribe to 'RSC: Latest Vacancies' by Email
