A Desk with a View: Doing Work Experience at Virago

Posted by Victoria Pepe in Guest Posts, Virago Book Club

We get applications all the time from people wanting to do work experience at Virago. We try and let as many of you as possible in and actually have someone here every week! But what do they get up to when they're here?

Ella was in the office last week, and here gives you the low-down:

Like many third year students at university, I have suddenly found myself living in the shadow of looming graduation. Faced with the all-too-soon prospect of casting off into the life of a real grown up, I have felt the rising panic about the question that I’m sure many other students are currently struggling with: What am I going to do with my life??

Feelers have been put out, emails have been sent, and I now find myself in the offices of Little, Brown Book Group – but more specifically Virago. Well, where better for an anticipated BA in English Literature and History? The open-plan floor hums with meetings, visiting authors, the tapping of keyboards and the excited exclamations of proud editors seeing the finished products.

What I have really enjoyed in my short time at Virago is how contented people seem working here. I have heard no growls of frustration, no hushed angry tones. But what has really caught my eye here . . . is the books. Shelf upon shelf of them! I must confess on more than one occasion I have found myself mesmerised, staring like one would at a fish-tank, their bright covers surrounding me.

Being a temporary fixture in the office, I did not expect to be given any jobs of my own, but to simply help by doing the menial and tedious jobs of others whilst they got on with important things. I was pleasantly surprised. I have been trusted with writing website pieces, researching stories and articles, and I even attended a Book Club meeting. Watching their fevered discussion and debate, I felt like I was sitting in a seminar room back at university, with thoughts and observations tumbling out, annotating notes with notes, and creating a plan for their website companion to their chosen book. (Obviously, being a trusted work-experience girl I could not possibly tell you the title, but I would definitely recommend it!) I felt inspired with the thought that perhaps one day I will have a career in something that I am truly passionate about, much like those who work for Little, Brown Book Group.

And so now, halfway through my final year, the scary milestone that is graduation doesn’t seem half as scary anymore. In fact, I am feeling surprisingly optimistic about my future, and I have those at Virago who allowed me to visit for a week to thank.