The Business Experience
The Business Experience
Winners' Diaries
Read about Gislaine and Marlin's three weeks' work experience with Macmillan Education.
Day 1
This is all so exciting!
I've looked forward to being here ever since the day i got the news about winning the competition and i'm sure it's going to be a very important period in my life, both personally and for my career. I hope i'll learn all about ELT books and other materials created and published. Such experience should open new windows and doors full of interesting opportunities and different ways to follow my own path and fulfill my mission in this world.
I'd like to thank everyone at Macmillan for this wonderful opportunity! Thank you.
Gislaine
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When i first arrived, i was so excited and a bit nervous too. I am sure i'll have an interesting time in the UK. I feel relieved that everyone wants to help and is willing to answer my questions. It is a lot to do during my stay and it won't be boring at all. It's a mixture of presentation and work. We can influence and tell our ideas and that makes me kind of proud. It's very interesting to see how they sell their books and what happens from beginning to the end. I expect that i'll get a clear idea about the procedure within different parts of the company and benefit from these new experiences.
Marlin
Week 1
The first week of our work experience involved getting to know the company and some of the people who work there, mainly from the Marketing and Sales departments. We had the chance to talk to them and hear about their jobs and kinds of activities they usually do.
One of my favourite moments was the training called 'Writing a creative brief', which involved all the Marketing team and gave us an insight into their world.
It's been a busy and, above all, interesting week and we've certainly learned a lot about Macmillan and the world of publishing. But there still is a great deal for us to discover as we enter our second week with just as much excitement as when we first stepped into this company.
Gislaine
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The first week at Macmillan Education is over now and it seems like we have just arrived. Times flies by and we met a lot of different people during this short time. I got an overview about the publishing house and we did a tour of the company and were introduced to the Marketing team. I need to say that our schedule is well organised and interesting, we've met a lot of different people so far and got to know several departments.
We got an impression of what kinds of different resource websites Macmillan has to offer. I enjoyed a meeting with a designer where they negotiated a project. One of the highlights of this week was that we went to a college in Oxford and prepared a display table with promotional material. It was a teacher development day and customers had the chance to ask questions regarding Macmillan books. It was quite challenging to help deal with those enquiries.
Marlin
Week 2
As we get to know Macmillan Education, our days get busier and busier, but this just means that there are lots of different aspects to see. This week we spent a lot of time with the European Sales team. We also had meetings with the Finance, Design and Picture Research departments, which were all very interesting. I really enjoyed meeting the European Sales team and talking to the Design department.
Gislane
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We spent time with the European Sales team and i got an idea how each person work and i noticed that they travel a lot through Europe which is great. We had a task to complete which involved the database and people appreciated our work. We had a talk with someone from the Finance department and then we discussed with Marketing how the book catalogue is put together. You have to be aware of so many little things!
I most liked the visit to the University in Kingston Upon Thames. A sales representative from Macmillan presented the new edition of the Macmillan English Dictionary and did exercises with the students which i thought was really fun.
We had the pleasure of meeting people in the Design department and we also looked into Picture Research. It surprised me that the prices vary such a lot and i could not believe how expensive images can be.
Marlin
Week 3
I think it's fair to say that this week was the busiest of all three weeks.
On Monday and most of Tuesday Marlin and I were seperated to spend time with the European and Latin American Editorial Departments, respectively. It was really interesting because I had the chance to contribute with my point of view as a Brazilian English teacher. We also went to a photo shooting session to get pictures of props for a new book, and talked to people from the Production Department.
I guess Editorial and Marketing are the most attractive parts of the publishing business to me, mainly because there's always creativity involved. But I've also enjoyed getting to know more about web and electronic publishing.
Well it's almost time to go home. I've had a wonderful tome here in Oxford and I have all the people at Macmillan Eductaion to thank, especially the Marketing team, so CHEERS!
I hope we can meet again some time in the not-so-distant future.
Gislaine
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I had the pleasure of going to a recording session at a studio. It was my highlight of the week really and I enjoyed myself very much. This funny guy from America read about a story for English learners for an audio CD. During the day I had the chance to get to know different people from the European Editorial department. My task was to correct a vocabulary list from English to German which was easy for me certainly.
Another day we drove to a professional photo shoot and I could be creative as we decided what kind of props were suitable for several pictures. At the end of the week we had an introduction to the Production team. It was interesting to see how they deal with printing companies and with most of the other departments at Macmillan.
All together I had an absolutely wonderful time at Macmillan in Oxford and now I've got a clearer idea in which area I can imagine to work on in my future. I met so many lovely people over the three weeks and I donīt want to miss this sort of experience.
Thank you so much for everything. You did a great job for us!
Marlin
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