Making the Most of Your Publishing Internship

The other day I had lunch with one of my former interns and was told a story I don’t think I have ever heard before.

When Intern was still working at BookEnds we heard about a job opening at a major publisher. After Intern went ahead and sent her resume through traditional channels, I asked her to send it to me so I could get it into the hands of the editor directly. Intern got the job.

Now here’s the part of the story I had never heard before. Apparently, a few weeks after Intern had started working she received an email from the HR department telling her the position had been filled and they weren’t interested in interviewing her. Panic ensued. She thought she was being fired. Luckily that’s not what happened. Instead, it seems the department was cleaning out resumes by responding to candidates who had not gotten hired. When sending the form letter they had not connected the new hire with the resume. Not a surprise in a big company. In fact, I could even see it as something we would accidentally do.

One of the many things we feel we offer BookEnds interns is a path into a publishing career. Beth first started at BookEnds as an intern, as did our previous two assistants. So did a few who are now working at publishing houses. I’ve talked a little here and there about our interns and resumes, but I don’t think I’ve talked about next steps once the internship is over. We at BookEnds have a direct link to publishing professionals and when we hear of an opening somewhere we will try to get in touch with former interns to help them get their foot in the door. We need a little help though. Staying in touch with the people from your internship goes along way in showing your enthusiasm and keeping you top of mind.