Alumni - Adrienn Jelinek

Adrienn Jelinek completed the MA in Publishing by the part-time route over two years.

I now work as a Marketing Assistant at an independent international academic publisher in Oxford. I received an offer before submitting my major project, which meant that immediately after finishing the MA, I had a full-time position waiting for me. I am convinced that my part time office-based job, which I was doing for almost two years, as well as my varied and extensive work experience within the publishing industry were all essential in securing my current position. ...

The main reason I decided to complete the MA programme in two years rather than one was my belief that this would allow me to gain more experience in the industry as well as getting more out of the course itself. By roughly halving the pressure by undertaking fewer courses at any given time, I was able to take multiple work experience opportunities in the publishing industry all through the two years - without having to make any compromises related to my studies. Furthermore, I think I could also be much more focused on and devoted to any particular module I was taking as there was less weekly preparation and fewer assignments to do. I took Editorial Management and Production & Design in the first semester, Children's Publishing and Digital Strategy as my optional modules in the second semester, Marketing & Sales in the third, and Rights Management as my third optional module in the final semester.

Studying part time allowed me to take on a part-time job. Although this work was not in the publishing industry, the job provided me with valuable experience in an office environment and in a variety of marketing tasks as well as a regular wage that covered a significant proportion of my living expenses.

I also got to know twice as many people. This has been a great experience, especially as the second year led to the formation of some very important friendships, which I would have missed out on had I chosen to study full time. I can honestly say that studying part time worked perfectly well for me, and I think I made the right decision choosing this path. Interestingly, numerous full time students said they wished they had been studying part time to ease their pressure as well as to have been more flexible with regard to work experience opportunities.

Posted on 25 Jan 2016 around 5pm