All About Internships and Work Experience Placements

[BetteT]

You know ... the HR department can tell you if they are looking for interns, probably and what the process is ... when they are looking for interns. I'd ask them that. But it would be hard to impress them with a phone call in most cases.

Generally, in corporate America ... the HR department doesn't help you a bit to get a job. All they do is push paper... make sure that all your paper work is in order, check references, verify emplyment and scholastic information and try to eliminate as many applicants as possible ... since so many people usually apply for any given position. Because they must narrow down the field of applicants down drastically, they actually are working against you ... in most cases.

You have to be perfect on paper (grades, experience, references, etc.) ... in order to get the HR dept. to keep you in the running. Creativity, responsibilty, teamwork, adaptabilty and hard work don't count at this point. Sad but true.

The secret to being noticed in a big company ...no matter what company you want to work for or intern for ... is to get to the managers who actually need the staff and impress them. Sometimes that means doing a lot of homework ... calling someone you know at the company and getting the scoop,or talking to the receptionist if she's friendly asking some questions and getting the names of the managers who need interns/staff so you direct correspondence and calls to them directly. If they are interested, they will sometimes pass it on to HR and ask them to send you back to them after the app is processed. Then HR will give the app some special attention since a manager is already interested.

A job hunting tip ... and it applies to internships, too.

[nerdphanie]

I have a pretty killer resume, but not geared towards fashion. I'm a senior at stanford and will be off to law school come fall. I'd love to work at a fashion magazine this summer. Would a magazine be interested in someone like me? I am very passionate about fashion and I do keep a fashion blog and I post here and on another board fairly frequently, so I'm involved in the online community. Does any of this matter? Would my education help me get an internship in fashion?

[Spotlight]

I have a question for the person that posted the link wwd.com, you said there is a section for interships....where is it? LOL.

[diorable]

Originally Posted by Spotlight

I have a question for the person that posted the link wwd.com, you said there is a section for interships....where is it? LOL.

Isn't it part of Conde Nast now? I think now that it's part of Conde Nast...you have to apply through them now.

By the way, thank you everyone for the internship insight! I recently received an amazing internship offer from a fashion designer, and a couple others want me to work for them for a short while since I'm too young to work on the 'serious' stuff, but they want me to gain some insight into the design process.

[jeffrey0806]

Originally Posted by nerdphanie

I have a pretty killer resume, but not geared towards fashion. I'm a senior at stanford and will be off to law school come fall. I'd love to work at a fashion magazine this summer. Would a magazine be interested in someone like me? I am very passionate about fashion and I do keep a fashion blog and I post here and on another board fairly frequently, so I'm involved in the online community. Does any of this matter? Would my education help me get an internship in fashion?

i think it was on conde nast website, which runs vogue, w, wwd, details, gq, etc or maybe it was on a board, but i read that sometimes they hire or give chances to people based on their impressive education or smartness as opposed to their fashion experience. so you may still have a chance.
http://www.condenastcareers.com/internprogram.cfm

[emiika]

Hi would someone be able to tell me what the difference between an internship, work placement, and work experience placement is in the UK (London specifically)??

Thanks so much, i'd really appreciate it!

[BetteT]

this is what I know ... but it's in the US ... so it is possible that it's different in the UK ....

I believe that work placement is the act of placing (finding the job, assisting them in applications, etc.) someone in an actual paid job. Work experience placement is essentially the same thing, but it's usually for unpaid work.

An internship is about the same as work experience (the job itself) but it's for learning purposes and almost always means non paid . Internships are often in conjuction with a class (sometimes called "Work Experience") in school and the intern is graded on his/her perfomance at work.

[eurofashionjunki]

What exactly does an person who has a 3 months work experience with a publishing house do? Would it be rude to ask the company in advance so I could prepare myself?

[it-boy's nature]

Originally Posted by *Princesse*

I'm very interested in fashion (haha would I be here if I wasn't!) and I want to learn more about working in the industry - particularly at a fashion magazine, but really, anything petaining to fashion. Does anyone know of internship opportunities that a high school student like I am could have?

power to the high school students(like myself) i'm sure Princesse can identify with the fact that younger people with just as much ambition and drive get zero to no opportunites!!!!!

for instance, at my high school i saw a flyer for a 10 day journalism program at princeton university. i qualify 100%( 3.0 gpa or higher,intrest in jounalism ect.) the program is affilated with people mag and the new york times(not to mention connections to my dream shcool NYU) but i'm a grade short...although there's alway's next year, i am really let down!!!!!!


sooooooooooo NOT FAIR!!!!!

[fashnblylatelaur]

Wondering if anyone can help me...

I'm a US student currently studying abroad in London and majoring in fashion design/merchandising and journalism (double major). I am currently a junior, or third year.

I am looking to apply for an internship at Condé Nast over the summer and was wondering if anyone had any tips or advice?

Thus far, I've been advised to not only send in my application via their website, but to also send my resume and cover letter directly to HR.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

[nerdphanie]

Gah I want to apply for the conde nast internship but I don't graduate until mid to late June

[fashionistasista]

sorry no tips or tricks to advise or anything....

i want to apply also.. and basically they have hearts of steel!! haha

I am from australia, but my parents have recently moved to the US. i thought it would be a good chance for me to spend time with them and get experience at american conde nast (such a brilliant opportunity!)..

it must be crazy competitive - ive been employed at a conde nast sister company, as well as some experience at respected titles such as harpers and vogue (not american Hb or V though) and i havent heard anything back!! so dissapointed.. i think emailing your resume to HR would be a good idea though so they have it in hard copy and its much harder to forget!

good luck with it all!

[Addicted2dior]

I'm going to apply for an internship at a fashion magazine. In the process they require me to send 4 story ideas (max 100 words) for the magazine. Now, my questions are, what type of story do they want? Are they really looking at the story or they just want to know how you write and make sure you're not a complete imbecile since they only require 100 words or less?

[BetteT]

It's not really clear, but I think that they may not want you to actually "write" a story ... because in fashion magazines, the term "story" refers to a fashion photography layout ... you know, like all the ones we see posted here with the amazing photos.

If you already understand it as this ... then you won't need to read any further. But if you don't understand what a fashion story is, here's the idea:

A "fashion story" is a group of pictures showing clothes along a theme ... things like like a "color story" (clothes that all have one similar color in them), or a story like "Winter Wonderland" featuring something like outer wear for the winter time, or a southwest theme (which was very popular when bohemian was big), or perhaps something fun like "Spring Break", showing the newest in swimwear and casual stuff for the beach. It's the theme or concept that makes all the images flow together and make sense as a group. You should take your inspiration for stories from current and upcoming fashions and find a creative way to show them off.

If that is what they are talking about, then I think that they do want to see how you get your ideas across, so good writing is important. But ... they also want to see if you undrstand how to put a story together, what sort of creative ideas you have and if you are up on the type of fashion that they feature in their magazine. Each magazine has a style and a certain demographic and I think that they would like to see that you understand what theirs is all about, as well.

[Addicted2dior]

Here's what it says on the magazine's website:

Fashion Internship

3. The pace in the fashion department can be frantic at times. Please describe an on-the-job situation where you
demonstrated your organizational ability, and one where you demonstrated creative problem-solving skills.
4. Suggest four story ideas for the magazine, including two for the fashion section, in 100 words each or less.

Bette, do you still think that's what they want?