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5 Questions: Alena O'Dell, Assistant Chemistry Wiley-VCH

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Aleksandra Vujic, Assistant Publishing Director, Wiley-VCH

October 11, 2021

Please introduce yourself:

My name is Alena O’Dell, and I work as an Assistant in the Chemistry Journals Department. I was born in the Republic of Belarus and have been living in Germany for 8 years. I have studied Linguistics and Translation in Germany and obtained both a Bachelor and Master of Arts degree from Heidelberg University. During my studies I also worked part time as an assistant at Heidelberg Engineering GmbH, a company which specializes in manufacturing and distributing medical diagnostic equipment. 

What is/was your relationship with Wiley-VCH?

In my short time with the company, I feel very much at home at Wiley-VCH, both literarily and figuratively. My journey with Wiley began a little over a year ago, a day before the office was closed due to the pandemic. That means my only experience with Wiley so far has been literally “at home”. Of course, I also feel at home (figuratively) with Wiley since it is a very international workplace, where all nationalities are welcome.

Why did you choose to work in academic publishing?

Generally, I have been interested in publishing for a quite a long time. During my graduate studies I sought out an elective publishing course, which resulted in one of my translations being published in a university textbook. It was a very exciting experience which made me think that publishing would be an interesting business to work in. When I began to look for jobs after graduation and saw job postings on the Wiley-VCH website, I got very excited and applied right away!

 

What was your most remarkable situation or exciting experience during this time? (For long-time employees, in addition: How has working at Wiley-VCH changed over time?)

The first thing that comes to mind are the three times I have been to Wiley-VCH in Weinheim. I attended two job interviews before I began working at Wiley. Both of those times I was in the office in Weinheim it was very busy and there was a dynamic energy in the air. During the lunch break the canteen was filled with employees. By the time I came to Wiley the third time for my first working day, the office was very different. Most of my colleagues had already begun working from home due to the pandemic so it was eerily quiet.  Quite a contrast from the bustling and exciting business environment on my previous two visits! I look forward to working in that collegial, exciting and invigorating environment in the future.

What are you most looking forward to in this anniversary year?

I am looking forward to contributing to new and exciting projects and events and being able to finally meet my colleagues in person.

Please complete this sentence: 100 Years of Growing Knowledge is….

A remarkable and significant milestone and a model for the next 100 years!

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