Profile: James Hood, Eng, editor

I’m an editor of English Language Teaching materials at Macmillan Education in Oxford. I went to King’s when I was 26 having taught English as a foreign language for 3 or 4 years both in London and Chile. My interest in language grew while I was doing that and I decided I wanted to study it academically. I didn’t have a long term career goal other than wanting to be a full time cartoonist and illustrator, I was just really interested in the subject. When I got close to graduation, I started to look around for jobs I was qualified for. With my degree and experience of teaching, editing for an educational publisher looked possible. I applied for a few positions and was lucky enough to get the first job I went for.

There’s a lot of variety – I check the content of manuscripts, record listening resources in a studio, copy edit the books at various stages... I also work quite autonomously which really suits me. I’m given a deadline and left to it. I do like that about it. It’s nice to work on a project too so that you can see it progress. There is a feeling of accomplishment that you don’t get in every job. Also, as most of my work is copy editing books, I work with pen and paper a lot rather than on the computer. That’s pretty rare these days.

It depends what you want to do. You could become a publisher, director etc... and follow the business route or become a commissioning editor and stay creatively involved with the content. I never lost the goal to become a freelance illustrator, however, so am leaving my job to do that. That’s only possible initially, though, because I am also going to be editing freelance. A lot of editors go freelance and work for several publishers. I’m very lucky to have gained experience in a job that can be done on a freelance basis, allowing me to be my own boss. I will basically have all the benefits without the cons (being in an office).

My degree was definitely a key factor in me being offered the job at Macmillan. I did my dissertation on ELT materials which gave me a lot to talk about in the interview and I also felt well qualified for the position. I use the knowledge of grammar, lexis, phonology, teaching methods etc... learned on the course daily – It allows me to do my job more confidently and accurately.