Our panel reflects on what an indexing career can be like, compared to what they imagined it might be while training.
Rohan Bolton, Fellow
Starting indexing nearly twenty years ago I had not realised how important computer and IT skills are in order to be efficient and how quickly things are changing: learning how to use Macrex and the various add-ons, creating macros, maintaining a website, dealing with PDFs, using spreadsheets to keep track of projects and, in the early days, to keep track of my marketing approaches.
Sue Penny, Advanced Professional Member
I hadn’t expected to find indexing so absorbing. Of course there are some texts where you have to push your eyes across the page, but so far I’ve been lucky, and most of what I have indexed has been engaging: I love the unexpected things I learn from each one. There’s also something rewarding about getting to know a text in intimate detail.
Helen Taylor, Advanced Professional Member
As I had not been self employed before I started indexing I was expecting it to be difficult dealing with clients. But in fact it’s been really easy – they ask for an index, I send them one, they are happy and they pay me, usually reasonably promptly!
Ann Hudson,Fellow
People often go into indexing expecting to specialise in the subject areas they have studied or in which they have a particular interest, but things often don’t work out that way. Personal and professional contacts and chance encounters can lead you to places where you weren’t intending to go. I went to university to study archaeology but changed to art history, and that was what I was mostly hoping to index; I naively visualised myself indexing beautiful illustrated books about my favourite Renaissance painters. However, when starting out as an indexer one has to accept commissions in any subject where one has sufficient knowledge, and the commissions which came my way were mainly in general history, local history and archaeology. I got a couple of lucky breaks early on which led to indexing two prestigious national archaeological journals, and archaeological indexing thus became one of my main specialities. As for art history, not many books about painting and sculpture have come my way, but architectural history has also become a speciality of mine, as has local history. The more you index, the more you learn about a subject area, and the more expert you become. I am lucky that the areas I have ended up specialising in are ones that interest me more and more.
Michelle Brumby, Advanced Professional Member
I didn’t fully anticipate the physical toll of an indexing career. I experience a lot of back pain from sitting for long periods and my eyesight has deteriorated significantly in the past few years. I now have multiple apps set up on my phone that remind me to stretch, stand, take breaks and look away from the screen and I ensure that I get out for a walk or exercise class daily to counteract the amount of time spent sitting and staring at a screen (I also need to remember to do some work in between all the movement!)
I also didn’t expect to be as busy as I am. When I finished the training course in 2015 much was being said about the demise of print and the rise of the e-book, which made me nervous about the uncertainties of a starting a freelance indexing career. For the time being I am turning down far more work than I’m accepting, but I won’t let myself get too complacent and am always looking for ways to increase my skill set.
Helen Bilton, Advanced Professional Member
Something that is more to do with freelancing in general, but I expected it to be a good way to work while my children were babies and in need of childcare. It has turned out to be a great way to combine work and family right through their school days and into university years (probably beyond too but I haven’t got to that yet!). Having complete control and flexibility over my working hours has meant I could be available for all school and extracurricular commitments and, for example, in their exam years I can dial it down a bit and take on less work so as to be more available. Hard to do that in a normal 9-5!
I also use the freelancing aspects to enable me to do a lot of voluntary work which I weave together with paid work and is very satisfying.
However, what I hadn’t really fully realised is that where I am now, at the age of 50 with more time to devote to work now that my children are older, is that indexing doesn’t really have a career progression. As in, there is no way to ‘climb the ladder’ and earn more money. Basically the only way to earn more is to do more of it, it is essentially piecework. Yes there are certain things you can do – for example I now have a stable set of reasonably well-paying clients so I’m not scrabbling around for low-paid jobs which means my income has gone up a bit and I do do more hours. And there are ways to become e.g. a Fellow which adds kudos but not necessarily extra money. However, in order to make significantly more money I would need a different job.
Nic Nicholas, Fellow
The sheer variety of subjects I have indexed. I also didn’t think that I would work on so many academic books. Art history/History are my specialist subjects but I have worked on quite a few architectural and educational books – a few years ago I could not imagine having the confidence or adequate knowledge to compile indexes for these books!
Other than that, I did not have any expectations at all and was quite happy to see how things went for a year or two – best decision I made.
Christine Boylan, Advanced Professional Member
I started out thinking this would be part-time, but it ended up as a full-time occupation. I started indexing before the use of email and I used to enjoy talking on the phone to desk editors, discussing schedules and budgets, but this no longer happens. Jobs are frequently offered on a take-it-or-leave-it basis by people who do not understand the work of an indexer. I didn’t really expect to meet such lovely colleagues in the Society who have come to indexing from varying backgrounds and are so willing to share information and knowledge. I came from an academic background where such cooperation and support were often lacking.
This post is part of our Ask the Indexers series. The previous post asked Can’t a computer do that?
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