Have you ever wondered what other jobs in publishing you might be suited for?
We know many job seekers have a full set of skills waiting to be transferred, but they often don’t know which roles might best suit them.
The SSP Professional Skills Map presents the most frequently reported personal characteristics and interpersonal and technical skills that are (a) essential to success and (b) emerging needs for development.
Scroll down to explore the 2023 map and learn more!
At the top level, we’ve divided the field of scholarly publishing into six broad categories, followed by the most common professional areas reported by survey respondents (the number of respondents is listed after each role). Each role can be expanded to reveal its desirable personal characteristics, essentials for success, and emerging needs. Skills and characteristics at the end of each branch indicate the percentage of respondents who endorsed that item.
Please note: This interactive map is best displayed using your browser’s desktop mode.
How to Use this Map
Each branch of the map can be expanded on multiple levels to reveal further detail. Click the radial circle at the end of a node to expand to the next level. Click it again to collapse the level. Use the + and – symbols in the upper left corner of the map to zoom in and out, and use the crosshairs to recenter the map. Click the double arrow in the upper right corner to jump to the map in your full browser.
How We Created This Map
In late 2019, SSP decided to undertake the ambitious effort of surveying the wider scholarly publishing industry, reaching out to SSP members and others via email and social media about the professional skills needed and desired in their roles. The results of the first yearly survey and map are outlined here.
The 2023 survey received 235 responses and asked publishing professionals at all career levels across the industry to indicate which personal characteristics, transferable/interpersonal skills, and technical/knowledge-based skills are essential to success in their respective positions. Respondents also identified skills they would most like to develop further, highlighting opportunities for training and mentorship in those areas as they advance in their careers.
Once data collection was complete, we parsed the responses by professional role within the organization type and then identified all responses endorsed by any respondent.
Many thanks to everyone who participated in our 2023 survey!
