We recently spoke to Alice Hiley, a recent English Literature with Creative Writing graduate, who has spent the summer working as an intern with Copify as a Content Delivery Manager. Alice is continuing to work with Copify until December!
Why did you choose to undertake an internship?
As graduation approached I was unsure what steps to take in terms of my career, but knew I shouldn’t spend the whole summer eating, reading and watching Netflix – as tempting as that sounded! I eventually want to get into book publishing, but would struggle to live in London where most publishing opportunities are based, so I knew doing an internship which would give me relevant editorial skills would be really worthwhile.
Please briefly describe your internship role.
As Content Delivery Managers, myself and the other interns working at Copify were in charge of editing copy submitted by freelance writers to the site. The main factors we gave feedback for were spelling, grammar, punctuation, as well as how well the writing met the brief attached by the client. We were also looking out for ‘insight’ – a piece of copy was insightful if it taught the reader something new and was succinct and easy to understand.
Copify handle press releases, web page content, product descriptions, meta descriptions, blogs, and more. So although the editing process itself could be quite repetitive, the constant switch from reading about Botox, Bitcoin and bathroom taps to tree pruning, recyclable Tupperware and auto insurance kept us entertained and on our toes!
How would you summarise your internship experience?
I have definitely become a better writer as a result of working with Copify. After Creative Writing workshops, I already thought I knew to cut unnecessary adjectives, description and filler sentences. But with such tight word counts, it was even more important to make my writing (and that of the writers!) as short and snappy as possible, while still ensuring the copy was informative.
Copify were amazingly flexible, allowing me to take a holiday a week into my internship, work from home after a brief training period and try out writing my own copy as well as editing others’. I’m extremely grateful that they have offered me an extended contract to work with them until December.
What did you like most about your internship?
Throughout my time at university, I wrote blogs, articles and news write-ups for Accommodation for Students and Inspiring Interns. Before working at Copify, I simply submitted my writing, not giving much thought to how it was improved and formatted before publication. It was fascinating to experience the other side of this process and find out how much work goes into creating publishable content.
Has this internship helped you decide on the next steps of your career?
After December, I’m hoping to gain some experience with a publisher or literary agency. Interning with Copify has definitely helped me to hone and develop a lot of the skills which these employers look out for: attention to detail, time management, multi-tasking and writing in a variety of formats.
Were you supported by the FASS Placements and Internships team or the Careers team before gaining this internship?
The FASS placements team were extremely helpful and supportive throughout the application process and during my preparation to start the internship. I’m really grateful to Careers and the FASS team for sourcing these internships in the Lancaster area, as it’s a rare experience which would be very hard to come by elsewhere.
Alice Hiley
You must be logged in to post a comment.