Posted November 4, 2009

Spring 2010 Internship Positions Available

Description: The MIT Press seeks enthusiastic spring interns in various departments. These unpaid internships are a chance for people who love books and journals to learn about publishing and see how a busy university press functions. Successful interns will make valuable contacts and gain experience at one of the nation's largest university presses.

Internships are available in Editorial, Acquisitions, Circulation, and Marketing, in our books and journals divisions. These are unpaid, part-time internships from January through May. Hours will be negotiated, but candidates should be able to commit at least 10 hours per week.

Requirements: The ideal intern candidates will have: a strong desire to learn about publishing, basic computer skills, excellent communication and organizational skills, the ability to work well individually and as a member of a group, an eye for detail, good judgment, a positive attitude, and a willingness to take initiative.

Editorial:
Books Editorial: The Books Editorial internship will provide experience with a variety of editorial tasks, including checking revised page proofs, editing indexes, proofreading jacket copy, reviewing prepress proofs, and handling corrections for reprints. The intern will also learn some support functions, such as applying for Library of Congress cataloging-in-publication data. College graduates and graduate students with editorial experience and familiarity with Chicago style are strongly preferred.

Acquisitions:
Books Acquisitions: The Books Acquisitions intern will work in the department responsible for contracting, receiving, and assessing both book proposals and manuscripts for potential publication. This intern will be responsible for tasks such as general manuscript preparation, completing payment requests, placing orders with our warehouse, mailing catalogs and other materials, general data entry into our database, possible long term research projects, and a variety of other tasks. This is an excellent opportunity to learn about scholarly publishing in a fast-paced, collaborative environment.

Marketing:
Books Publicity: Books Publicity interns will learn about marketing and promoting books to the media. Their primary responsibilities include: scanning and distributing book reviews, maintaining and updating the reviews database, assisting with galley and press release mailings, purging and archiving marketing files, researching journals and other media, inputting reviewer checklists and requests, and other general clerical assistance. Office and/or publishing experience, as well as familiarity with Filemaker or other database software, is a plus, but not required.

Journals Subsidiary Rights and Permissions: The primary responsibility of the Subsidiary Rights and Permissions intern will be to help handle institutional licenses. The intern will also be expected to help with organization and filing as well as a variety of daily tasks. Some contact with authors or editors will be required, either through email or by phone, for issues pertaining to copyright and publication agreements. The intern will also be responsible for packaging and shipping journals to the Library of Congress, so the ability to handle some light lifting is required.

Journals Marketing: The Journals Marketing Intern will primarily be performing the following tasks: market research, generating databases with statistics on college and research libraries, and supporting the journals marketing staff on various projects as needed. Interns should be Excel and/or FileMaker savvy, have strong internet research skills, and the ability to communicate professionally via email, phone and in-person.

Circulation:
Journals Circulation: The Journals Circulation intern will assist with customer service. The intern will answer claims and questions about pricing, policies, subscriptions, access by email and regular mail and possibly by phone. Good communication skills, both written and oral, are essential. Good problem-solving skills and working knowledge of Windows, MS Word, Excel, and Internet Explorer or other web browser are helpful.

For more information on other job openings, please see our careers website at: http://mitpress.mit.edu/mitpress/jobs/.

How To Apply For an Internship:

Please send us your resume, portfolio (where requested) and cover letter indicating the department(s) you are interested in applying to. E-mail application to: Internship Coordinator, mitp-interns@mit.edu, by December 11, 2009. For more information about the MIT Press, visit our website at: http://mitpress.mit.edu.

About Our Internships

The MIT Press is proud to offer an internship program for undergraduate students, recent graduates, graduate students, and professionals looking to change careers. This program gives interns a glimpse into the publishing process, the opportunity to try common publishing tasks, and the chance to talk to professionals in the field about different aspects of publishing. The internships are mutually beneficial relationships in which the MIT Press provides instruction, training, and feedback in return for productive work from the interns.