My Job in 5: Claire Carrington

Describe your role.
I work with publishers and candidates on roles outside London, covering all sectors across all roles, including editorial, design, production, sales, marketing, operations and distribution. I place candidates in permanent and contract positions, and help our publisher clients find the best candidates for their roles. It is a busy and varied desk, as I cover a wide variety of locations and a mix of publishers from diverse sectors, including academic, STM, trade, professional and charity publishing. No one day is them same but I always make sure I am offering and delivering the best service we can to our candidates and clients.

What do you like best about your role?
I really enjoy meeting clients and candidates; meeting them in person helps me understand their needs. But I have to say that the satisfaction of helping teams find the right person to join them, and helping people get a job in publishing, is definitely the best part of my job.

What challenges are you seeing in the job market at the moment?
The market is candidatedriven at the moment and employment levels are high, so we are encouraging companies to move quicker to secure the best candidates. We encourage our clients to choose our Gold service, which gives them an agreed recruitment schedule so they know exactly how long the process will take.

What skills do you need for your role?
As well as knowledge of the industry, you need to be an excellent communicator. You also need a fair amount of resilience, as recruitment is unpredictable, and you need to be able to keep abreast of industry developments and the job market.

What advice would you give to those looking to work in the industry?
Research all the roles in publishing and spend some time interning at publishing houses. Prior to my first job as a special sales assistant at Octopus, I worked as a bookseller and floor manager at Blackwell’s, and then in admin in an office. I was applying for lots of editorial jobs and not getting anywhere, until I realised my people skills could be put to use in a job in sales. I got my first job at Octopus pretty much straight away after that, and I haven’t looked back.