My ambition upon completing my Chemistry degree was to move into a job where I could use my new knowledge and skills. However, over my four years at the University of Birmingham I had become sure that continuing in a lab wasn’t the way for me.
My role at the RSC as a Publishing Editor not only allows me to use my degree but also to continue to be involved in the world of the chemical sciences while also learning new skills and new science on a daily basis.
As a member of the General Team I am part of the peer review process for
Chemical Science,
ChemComm and
RSC Advances, and I get to work closely with not only my colleagues in the office but with our academic Associate Editors across the world. As well as peer review, since starting at the RSC I have also been trained to edit scientific papers. As the quality of the work we do is so important to the scientific community the training team is also of the highest quality, and I found their commitment to helping me learn the new skills I needed phenomenal.
The RSC has one of the friendliest atmospheres I have ever been lucky enough to work in. The office is full of people from different backgrounds and different specialities and even from day one I’ve been made to feel welcome.
In a few weeks I will have been at the RSC for 18 months and as that anniversary, which will be celebrated as all events are at the RSC with cake, approaches I find it hard to believe how much I have gained in that short span of time. From knowing very little about publishing I have discovered a new career which I find exciting and challenging each and every day, and also made some fantastic life-long friends at the same time.
James is working as a Publishing Editor in the General Chemistry team, in the Royal Society of Chemistry's Publishing Department. To see if there are any current vacancies in Publishing click here.