Working in-house vs. supplier side: what’s the difference?

Work in Publishing Week is taking place this week to inspire people aged 16+ to consider a career in publishing. The Just Content team have previously worked at a number of companies and in a variety of roles across the publishing industry, with many of us also having worked as freelancers.??

Monique du Plessis has recently joined the Just Content team as a Content Lead after previously working in-house at Pearson in South Africa. For Work in Publishing Week she discusses the differences between working in-house and supplier-side.

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Why did you decide to move from freelance to in-house/supplier-side when you did??

My family and I recently moved to the UK from South Africa where I worked in the educational publishing industry for almost 9 years. As exciting as the thought of life in a new country was, the thought of job hunting again after a very long time was also a very real reality. I knew that I wanted to continue working in the publishing industry if at all possible so when I learned about Just Content, I just knew it was a company I wanted to be a part of. How lucky am I? Now I get to work and collaborate with this amazing team of professionals and I could not be happier.

What were the most challenging aspect/s of the shift??

For me, the most challenging aspect was the mental shift. I was naively worried that how things work in South Africa were going to be very different but it turns out the work stays the same. I did have to switch my mindset from publisher to supplier. In this case, to think of Just the Content. See what I did there? That meant I did not have to think of other aspects of the publishing process like marketing, printing specs, sales etc.

What have struck you as the key differences between working in-house at a publisher and supplier-side?

Working at a publisher, you will be working on one process of publishing depending on your role and remit. Whereas working supplier-side gives you the chance to work on a variety of projects, at different stages of the publishing process and even in different capacities. Today you could be proofreading a short story and tomorrow you could start on a multi-authored, five-hundred-page textbook.

Are there any day-to-day/routine elements that you had to change? What stayed the same?

A lot of the day-to-day admin tasks remain the same. I still start my day with checking my workload and upcoming deadlines and creating my to-do list accordingly. Completing spreadsheets, updating trackers, attending meetings and emails all form part of (dare I say) the joy that is admin. I mean, who doesn’t enjoy marking a task as complete on Smartsheet or moving a card over to the next phase on Trello? Some of the platforms and software I am working on are different but, essentially, they all have the same function.

What advice would you give someone who’s considering moving supplier-side?

I would say, go for it. The advantage of starting in-house is that you get to know how all aspects of the publishing process work. You might not necessarily be involved at all the stages but you do gain some oversight of all the stakeholders and their roles. So, if you are looking to pursue a different career in the publishing industry or you are looking for the opportunity to work on a vast variety of projects and for many different clients, then make the move. Moving supplier-side can also mean more flexibility.