Determined to find trade (fiction) experience to broaden her publishing knowledge she secured a 10-week opportunity with Parthian Books, based at the university, as an editing and E-commerce strategy assistant.

The placement was part of a GO Wales scheme delivered by Swansea University Careers Services. A total of 798 students and graduates from Swansea University have gained work experience and paid work placements through the GO Wales scheme since the current project started in 2009.

 ‌Kate said:  “I am now working as an editor for HarperCollins. Without working at Parthian, my knowledge and my abilities would not have been up to scratch.”

 ‌Kate said: “I learnt so much from the work placement. I travelled all around Wales and the UK attending conferences, book festivals and book events. I had my own authors to look after and had my own projects, and because of this I never felt like a temporary member of staff.

“I'll be forever grateful to Parthian and GO Wales for giving me such a great head start.”

 “With Parthian being such a small company I got to experience all sides of publishing, which is very rare. I am extremely fortunate to have started my career at a small, independent company. I was given a lot of responsibility and managed to get experience in a lot of areas: editorial, marketing, publicity, sales and production.”

 “This is not something you'd experience in larger companies. It has not only made me more employable but, from completing tasks in all areas, the experience helped me to discover what I'm good at and which area I wanted to work in.”

“I stayed at Parthian for nine months in total, which was an extension on my work placement.”

Recent figures show that 64 per cent of graduates are kept on after a 10-week GO Wales Work Placement. The scheme has benefited thousands of students and graduates during the last 11 years.

Students and graduates can visit www.gowales.co.uk to view and apply for work placements.