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What Next?
The Inside Guide To The World Of Work

By Future Booster, a Young Enterprise company from Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School

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Rachel, Collections Manager and Archivist (Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre), Charity
Job overview
I look after the Collections of The Roald Dahl Museum, which includes Roald Dahl's collection of literary manuscripts, letters, personal papers and photographs. My role is to care for the archive collection but also to provide access by putting on exhibitions; cataloguing the material; giving archive tours to the public; helping researchers and answering enquiries about Roald Dahl and his work.

An average day in the job

An average day includes answering enquiries from the general public about Roald Dahl and supporting the organisation in promoting Roald Dahl's work, such as supplying information or photographs. In addition, I might be: Putting together an exhibition for display in one of our galleries Cataloguing material onto the archive database Digitising archive material Overseeing visiting researchers Monitoring environmental conditions inside the archive store Preparing for the monthly archive tours

The best thing about the job

Discovering new things about the Collection and then sharing them with museum visitors and researchers. No two days are the same, so there's always something new to do or learn. I also have a lot of contact with people - I'm always getting new enquiries from researchers and it's great to be able to help someone with a question they have. It's also really rewarding doing the detective work to answer some of the more obscure enquiries...

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The worst thing about the job

Like most archivists, although I'm part of a larger team, I work on my own so I don't have people to bounce ideas off. On the other hand, it's also nice to have some peace and quiet so you can concentrate if you need to... The work can also have boring or time-consuming parts to it - for example, digitising archive material means a lot of scanning and having to be very meticulous about entering the correct information.

School qualifications
Good A-levels or equivalent are required Subjects are not so important at this stage, but as archives contain historical material, an interest in history is useful - as is an interest in people, as people create archives! In general, though, a willingness to learn about any given subject, curiosity and an enthusiasm for creating order out of chaos are all good traits for an archivist.

Post-school qualifications
You will need to have a degree - the subject doesn't have to be relevant but a lot of archivists come from a history or arts-based background. Then youll need to do a postgraduate course to qualify as an archivist. Most courses require you to have gained pre-course experience in an archive, usually around 6 months to a year. Many archives offer precourse experience, either paid or voluntary. It's good to get as many different types of experience as possible.

Useful resources
See www.archives.org.uk/careers/careers-in-archives.html for further details of entering a career in archives.

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Recommended courses
Archives and Records Management courses are offered at several universities in the UK; most are available full or part time and some offer opportunities for distance learning.

GCSEs

A-level

Post-school
A degree, not necessarily in a related subject; postgraduate archivist training course

Good enough GCSEs to Good A-levels in any get onto A-level course subjects, History and Arts subjects would be especially helpful

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Jacquie, Publishing Manager, Publishing and Media

Job overview
My main responsibility is to build a profitable programme of technical publications for architects and structural engineers in a variety of formats - print and digital. I manage a small team of five people who handle different aspects of the publishing process - technical editing; publications; sales and marketing; production; and web development.

An average day in the job

A typical day this week included: Checking the beta version of a new app on wood species which we are adapting from iPhone to Android Briefing authors on how to structure a publication for students Finding a photo for a book cover and writing the website copy Creating special offers for a new online bookshop we are launching Chasing up authors who were late delivering their first drafts Finding a reviewer to check the quality of a new book Chairing a brainstorming meeting to come up with ideas for new publications next year

The best thing about the job

When a box of new books arrives from the printer or a publication goes live on the website it is very satisfying because it's a visible sign of a job well done. I also enjoy exhibitions, as customers often give feedback about our publications.

The worst thing about the job

If a customer or a colleague complains about something you have got wrong it is not pleasant - but on the other hand if you can put things right

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it's not always as bad as you first think! I also find proofreading a bit dull and my mind tends to wander.

School qualifications
A-levels or equivalent. Subjects not particularly important - other than English - at this level.

Post-school qualifications
Most jobs in publishing require a degree level qualification - however it is not especially important to have a specific subject.

Useful resources
The Writers and Artists Yearbook (annually updated) - published by Bloomsbury - tells you a lot about the differences between publishers and what sort of books they publish. Oxford Brookes University has renowned courses in publishing, as does City University. The Insider's Guide to Independent Publishing (published by the Independent Publishers Guild) is useful for getting an understanding of how small and medium-sized publishers operate.

Recommended courses
Educational and academic publishers are often keen to find graduates who have studied science or law subjects as there are far fewer who apply (than say English graduates). I studied foreign languages and that helped me get my first job in the European sales/marketing division of a big publisher. Fiction publishers may prefer to recruit humanities graduates. An understanding of electronic publishing is becoming important too.

GCSEs
High English grade

A-level
English is necessary, but other subject choices dont matter as much

Post-school
Degree is preferable, but subject is not especially important