Pros
While working in editorial, I got to experience the ins and outs of the publishing world - although I was pretty much at the bottom of the food chain, I got a good idea of what working as an editor there would be like. Most of the people were welcoming and friendly and there were good opportunities to go on courses and learn on the job.
Cons
High levels of stress - the particular editorial department I was at works mostly in silence because they have so much to get through. A peculiarly highly strung office culture - I once heard my boss shout at an editor, and I heard that this was considered the norm at RH - the higher up you get, the more you have adults shouting at other adults. However, what I was most disappointed with was what happened after I left - after a mutual decision that the position wasn't a good fit, I moved away - I thought we'd left things on an amicable note and both of my bosses promised me good references with whatever I planned to do next - which seemed fair, since I'd worked really hard. On landing a role I was really excited about, I directed them to my bosses for a reference and then didn't hear from them for six weeks, when they sheepishly admitted they'd given the role to someone else. Baffled, I made contact with a friend of a friend working in HR at the company I was hoping to work with, and she told me that my boss had been tentatively positive but then inserted a few choice statements like "Bright girl but she's bored by admin" - which caused the company to change their mind,since the role was entry level, and involved a degree of administration. Since my bosses had been the ones to state they'd give me a good reference, I thought this was surprisingly unprofessional - if they'd had reservations they should have declined to give a reference at all. So, as a heads up to anyone who worked there briefly and ended up leaving for somewhere else - skip the reference.
