[sxp842]

basically just looking for some advice, i want to apply for work experience or an internship with penguin but i've got a pretty rubbish cv since i've never had a job before. i've got some work experience and extra-cirricular stuff but nothing that impressive. I'm just wondering if this means i'm going to have no chance getting any work with them? if anyone's applied to penguin before do you have any tips for my application? any help would be appreciated. Thanks

[acupoftea]

Hi, I've completed work experience at Penguin. What do you mean 'you've never had a job before?' Do you mean a part time job or a job relevant to publishing? As long as you have some work experience that's in some way related to the industry I wouldn't worry...I'd expect they'll want to know whether you can write, as they expect you to hit the ground running. If you can't demonstrate this with work experience then perhaps consider including a sample of written work with your application.

[sxp842]

i havn't had a part time job or a job relevant to publishing, but I'm doing an english degree so that may suggest already that I can write? i've had work experience but in law firms rather than publishig, but that did involve a lot of writing reports and stuff that i've mentioned in my cv. I'm not really sure what examples of written work i could send because i've been doing essays so far, should i include a covering letter even though they don't ask for one?

[acupoftea]

Well, yes I think I would, it certainly won't hurt. It will give you an opportunity to convey your enthusiasm for the industry and allow you to explain why you want to go into publishing when you've previously had experience at law firms. Don't worry about including a sample if you're studying English. I think if you apply online there's the opportunity to upload a covering letter along with your CV.