This week is #WorkInPublishing Week, a national campaign run by the Publishers’ Association to inspire young people aged 14-24 to pursue a career in publishing.
To mark the week, colleagues tell us what they enjoy about working in academic publishing and at IOP Publishing.
Rick Liu, Vice President Sales & Marketing APAC
I joined IOP Publishing in 2007 and started as the Regional Manager for mainland China. In 2012 my territory expanded to Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. In 2016, I was promoted to Vice President, Sales and Marketing, APAC, and I started to manage Japan, Australia and New Zealand markets.
I enjoy my work at IOP Publishing because of our achievements, the training and development of my team members, and the excellent service we provide to local users. We provide the platform to showcase APAC research to the world and bring world-class content to APAC.
IOPP provides colleagues with lots of transparency and knowledge on all related industry and company news and as society publisher we’re very focused on serving the scientific community. Working in academic publishing helps to establish strong relationships with scientists, and I always feel proud of my daily work.
Estela Garcia, Lead Software Developer
As a software developer, I had worked in very diverse fields before coming to IOP Publishing but knew very little about academic publishing. What attracted me most to IOPP is that it’s part of the Institute of Physics, and as such funds its initiatives. I’ve always been interested in science, and have a soft spot for any programme geared towards increasing the presence of girls and women in STEM, so this felt like a natural fit.
When I joined the company, I had a very naïve view that it wouldn’t be that complicated to “put some scholarly articles up on a website”. I have since learnt that there is a lot more to what we do than that! A significant part of it involves managing the human element of the system more than improving the system itself – which is pretty different from other fields I’ve worked in.
In the years I have been at IOP Publishing, the company as a whole and the Tech department in particular has changed significantly, moving towards a closer collaboration between Tech and other departments. This helps us better understand what our colleagues need, and provide them with better solutions. I’ve learnt a lot about the complex processes involved in academic publishing, the many efforts to make science a fairer, more diverse and inclusive playing field.
Colleagues are also encouraged to attend conferences, take training courses, and generally improve their skills. Training events are organised in house, both for technical and soft skills. My team frequently runs training afternoons, where someone will share their knowledge on a particular subject – this helps us minimise knowledge silos. This is a great way of recognising that some members of the team will always be more naturally inclined to evaluating new tech and bringing it into the team, while others will gain in depth knowledge of what we already do / use, and both are needed.
We have a highly flexible working environment – some people continue to work from home, others have returned to the office full time. There is a rich collection of social events during the year, and no pressure to attend any of them. Training is provided to help those in managerial positions so they can better understand their teams as individuals, the challenges they face, and support them through them.
If you’re interested in joining us at IOP Publishing, register with us for information and alerts about current vacancies