Alumni - Ellie Reedy, MA Publishing

I had been encouraged to apply for the MA in Publishing at Oxford Brookes by a family friend who was working in the industry. I’d always been interested in the idea of working in publishing, but given I had studied in Nottingham and was from North Yorkshire, I wasn’t sure how to pursue this and it was difficult to see how I would get experience in my home town. Applying for the MA was absolutely the best decision I could have made for my career. 

It was clear Brookes had an excellent reputation in this area, and after being interviewed for a place on the course, I knew it was where I wanted to be. The course introduced me to all areas of publishing through the engaging lectures and projects, and the support from the staff was invaluable. As well as the studying itself, one of the highlights for me during the course was being able to get work experience at several publishers, allowing me to really get a sense of what a job in the industry would entail, and helping me to grow my confidence. I also had a fantastic time with some great friends on the course - we definitely had a ‘work hard, play hard’ attitude! ...

I am currently working as an Assistant Commissioning Editor at Oxford University Press in the Reference department. This is my third role at OUP in the three years since I started back in May 2013 as an Editorial Assistant in the Law department. I worked full time whilst also writing my MA dissertation, which I wouldn’t necessarily recommend, as having a social life on top of this is not really possible! However, I was so pleased to be given my first role in publishing thanks to the MA course. OUP is a brilliant company to work for, and I feel so lucky to live and work in Oxford. For the last year, I’ve been focusing on building up my commissioning experience as much as possible, and my ambition is to pursue a long-term book commissioning career in academic publishing.

Posted on 29 Apr 2016 around 8am