The Blair Partnership launches third iteration of virtual work experience programme

The Blair Partnership is preparing to open its doors virtually for the third year to students from secondary schools from across the UK to play the part of a literary agent within the publishing industry.

Taking place this year between 11th and 14th April, the programme will give students an opportunity to hear from a wide range of publishing staff from agents to digital publishers, product developers to intellectual property lawyers, who will give them a week’s work experience on “a true-to-life project where they utilise the advice and knowledge from these professionals to build a publishing plan for their client”.

Staff from across the business are actively involved in mentoring, coaching and completing tasks with each group of students over the week, with the objective of opening the world of publishing and author representation to students from all over the UK with an interest in a career in the field.

Arising from necessity during the Covid-19 pandemic, the programme has remained virtual, post-restrictions, to enable students from all over the UK to participate.

Jenny Phillips, group managing director of the Blair Partnership, said: “We believe work experience opportunities should be open to all. Our programme was developed with that principle in mind.”

Neha Karia, senior talent manager, said: “Having seen four sets of students complete the programme, with 100% stating they would recommend the programme, we are excited to offer this opportunity to any student interested in finding out more about where they could find a home in our industry.”

More information on how to get involved can be found here.