Alumni - Puneet Bola, MA Publishing

I was fortunate enough to secure two marketing work placements during my time at Brookes. The first was unpaid, at Berg, a small local publishing firm in Oxford. They publish specialised journals and books in the social sciences and humanities, with exciting lists in Fashion Theory, Design and Anthropology. This was a varied role for about three months, producing flyers, dealing with review requests and basic data management.

In semester two, I fancied a change, and wanted to look for something in Journals. The journals department at OUP had contacted Oxford Brookes University specifically to recruit a student who had knowledge of journals publishing. This was an amazing role; not only did I get paid, but I got to attend some conferences, received extensive training in html and web management, sent out email campaigns and produced high spec flyers that were used in events worldwide.

This experience, coupled with the excellent journals module I took on the MA in Publishing, persuaded me to seek out a career in journals marketing. Now I’m working for Wiley Blackwell within the humanities department, in charge of around 30 History, Archaeology and Education journals. So in retrospect, the course was a fantastic way to get into publishing – most of the staff have worked in the industry, and have a way of teaching that provides real insight into work practice.

And as the organiser of a few social events, I managed to get most of the course out for a Christmas and Summer dinner, as well as some random nights out in Oxford. A very positive experience - hope good things continue for everyone at Oxford Brookes!

Posted on 13 Feb 2008 around 2pm