Self-Positioning and Re-positioning -- Reflection on Career Exposure Project

984 Words2 Pages

Having discovered my interest in the editing and publishing profession while I was on exchange at the University of Melbourne, I started building my own professional profile on LinkedIn and have maintained contact with practitioners from the publishing industry in Melbourne and Hong Kong.
Upon returning to the University of Hong Kong, I was greatly inspired by the Career Exposure Project, thinking that it would be an eye-opening opportunity for me to take a glance at the publishing industry in Hong Kong. I had always positioned myself as a linguistic student with remarkable academic records and strong analytical abilities, which seemed to match the requirements for an editor. With much confidence and enthusiasm for this project, I immediately reached out for my contacts on LinkedIn after the first lecture, and successfully received an offer from Mr. Lau, Publishing Manager of Dictionaries at Oxford University Press (OUP), two days later. Aside from being amazed by the efficiency of my host, I believed that my advantage was rooted half a year ago when I first started building my LinkedIn profile and positioning myself as a university student seeking opportunities to enter the publishing industry. As the old saying goes, “opportunities favor prepared minds”. This seemed to confirm that I was on the right track of self-positioning: an early start to present myself in a more professional way has certainly helped me stand out among all other applicants of OUP.
My work-shadow experience at OUP embarked with a weekly group meeting of the Dictionary Publishing Team, during which I was allowed to obtain an overview of the ongoing projects. Positioning myself as a junior editor in the Dictionary Publishing Team, I became most fascinated by...

... middle of paper ...

...lowed me to reflect on how I should re-position myself before entering the editing profession. The focus of my re-positioning should be to develop my interpersonal communication skills in addition to analytical abilities, and to present my qualities as a team player and loyal worker in a confident yet humble way, instead of simply displaying my past achievements. My interest in becoming an editor remains strong, and my spirits remain high for obtaining a clearer vision of self-positioning from this experience. I must fully prepare myself by learning to understand the responsibilities of being an editor and to present myself properly in front of potential employers, before I try to dash into the industry. There is still a lot for me to learn, but with a determined mind, I will continue to be proactive and well-prepared when seeking career opportunities in the future.

More about Self-Positioning and Re-positioning -- Reflection on Career Exposure Project

Open Document