Top Job Opportunities In Printing And Publishing

Man has come a long way since the era of the caveman, when inscriptions on cave walls were all he had. Over time he learned to engrave on barks of trees with stones. This gradually paved the way for discovery of paper and people started writing on the same.

Over time, the art of literature established its stronghold and more and more books were written. With digitalisation playing its role, electronic books started coming into the picture. The combined effect of all of this was a growth in the number of new professions that started coming up in the world of printing and publishing.

What started off as an industry of labourers and managers soon started expanding its horizons. Today, for qualified and dedicated freshers who begin their career in this field, the sky is the limit in terms of professional achievement. However, on a sad note, not many people in India are aware of the different career options that are available in this field.

This article aims to throw light on some of these long-neglected aspects of the printing and publishing industry in an endeavor to make the same a coveted profession in this country.

1. Writing Industry

For anything to be published, first of all it must be penned down; for this you need a host of writers. Authors, reporters, correspondents and others fall in this category. These people usually have further specialisations, like education, crime, sports or world news.

The work of these people is to either gather information on a subject that is allotted to them and write on it or take up a fictional matter and submit content on the same.

2. Editing Jobs

Editors are the people the writers report to. They assign, edit and review the work of the writers. They themselves end up writing certain sections of the publication (like forwards, editorials, etc.). There is a range of editors and there is a hierarchy in them with the executive editor being in the pinnacle. It is usually the executive editor who has the final say about what is going to be printed and what is not.

3. Copywriters and Copy Editors

Copywriters are the people who write the advertising copy of what is going to print. Copy editors on the other hand are responsible for the quality of the written matter. They are the ones who check the spelling, grammatical correctness and accuracy of all that has been written. Issues pertaining to the style of writing and plagiarism are also dealt with by them.

4. Art-related Jobs

Artists, designers and photographers are people in this field whose primary job is to complement the work of the writer. The design of the book jacket, cover of the magazine and page layout is dealt by the art director. The photographer provides live photos to complement the news.

The placement of text, artwork and photographs are overseen by the art director. In fact, even matters pertaining to the advertisements that will go into the publication are their duties.

5. Production Jobs

The planning and production clerks report to the industrial production managers and cumulatively set out production schedules and ensure that the same are met. Maintaining product integrity while keeping the printing costs as minimal as possible is the biggest challenge in this job.

The scanning layout and camera set-up are done by the pre-press technicians and printing machine operators who also fall in the category of production jobs in the printing industry.

6. Sales Jobs

The main work of advertising sales agents for magazines, newspapers and directories is to generate revenue for these publications. Market research departments come up with demographic data which is then used by people in these sales jobs to make presentations to potential clients.

The presentations are aimed at promoting the use of the said magazine or newspaper for advertising purposes. Some of the advertising agents go out of their way in arranging advertisement campaigns for the said client in multiple publishing industries.

Advertising and promotions managers of the different printing and publishing firms also fall under the category of sales jobs. These are amongst the highest paying jobs in this industry.

7. Public Relation Jobs

Once a book has been written and published, people like the public relations experts come into the picture. They ensure that the book reaches out to a large number of people. This is done by organising media interviews with authors and book signing events and placing relevant advertisements about the book in proper places.

This role is a very crucial one, as in the present-day Indian context, how well a book is publicised determines what its sales will be.

8. Computer Technicians, Engineers And Website Developers

The computer technicians are responsible for ensuring that all the computers that are in use in office are up and about in good running condition. Keeping the systems updated and implementing new technologies are also their duty.

On the other hand, website developers are responsible for the design and implementation of the websites operated by the publication. Keeping these websites updated is another prime duty of these developers. Sound engineers are needed in this field to be able to transfer media from one form to the other (from books to tape to CD).