All About Internships and Work Experience Placements

[VM_Wannabe]

Originally Posted by snowqueen

Ok im not sure if this is the rite place to ask but ill ask any ways. This year in my school we do work experience. I live here in the uk. Well any ways i really want to do myn in something fashion oriantated, b ut im not sure were to ask etc. does any one have the address or details of any companies etc. that would be worth a try asking. Hope this makes sense lol

thanx

tia maria xXx

Hi The best place to start out working with fashion during your school years is through retail. Its so hard and very popular for people to want to get into head office to do work experience. I would try contacting your local shopping centre, noting down stores that you would be interested in working for ie Next, H&M etc. Not many allow work experience pupils etc as there is so much paper work and other things to sort out just for a weeks placement. However, its still worth a try so ask to speak to the store manager for more info.

For my school work experience I worked at ladies fashion store Warehouse, in the same year i landed my first job as a christmas temp at Republic then got a part time job as a saturday girl at Warehouse again. Im now hoping to get into vm and im on a work experience placement with House of Fraser. My advice to you would pick your first work experience wisely as mine helped me with where i am today =) good luck xx

[Anditgoeson]

Hey Everyone, any help,contacts and links would be MASSIVLY appreciated.. cos i'm desperate,

Does anyone know how i could possibly get any work experience involving fashion (obviously) .. in the UK !! hopefully london or the Southern areas.

As long as it is fashion related, whether it's magazine,design,buying,etc... i just want as much knowledge.

I know you can't go to Vogue or Elle or any other large magazine... but if you know any one!! Please let me know


Remember I'm desperate.

[BetteT]

I merged your thread with the ongoing one. (We ask our members to do a search of thread titles, before starting new threads.) If you take some time and read thorugh this thread, you'll see that this question has been asked before and there are a few suggestions.

Also, you might be interested in information in these threads:

I need Contact Info for Publicists / Designers / Showrooms / Magazines / Stores / etc

Fashion Career Building Activities if you are Still in High School

[Nixon058]

I am not sure if this is the correct place to ask these questions but- I have an interview for an internship coming up next month with a fashion magazine, and a couple other designers. This is such a typical question but i have no clue what to wear... any recommendations? Also, what kind of questions should i expect to be asked?

[BetteT]

Originally Posted by Nixon058

This is such a typical question but i have no clue what to wear... any recommendations?

There's a thread about what to wear: What to Wear to an Interview for a Job or an Internship in the Fashion Industry? and another one for on the job:What To Wear On The Job As a Fashion Intern?


Regarding questions ... it's pretty much the same as a job interview, I would think. Maybe some things like:

Tell us about yourself and you background.
Have you interned or worked before? Explain your duties.
What classed are you taking now?
What about your schedule ... can you work the days/hours we need?
Why do you want to intern here?
What do you expect to learn / gain from working here?
How do you feel about doing (whatever they think up ... answering phone, inputing data, running errands, cleaning and organzizing the closet, getting coffee,)?
What are your goals in fashion?
Where do you see yourself in 5 (or 10) years?
What are your strengths?
What are you weaknesses (or what do you think you can improve)?
What do you bring to the table ... how can you contribute?
How do you work with others ... do you like to work alone or as a team member.
Would you say that you are a self starter?
Do you like to take direction?
Do you like or need close supervision?

There are no wrong or right answers .. they are just trying to get a feel for your personality and how you work to see if it's a match for what they may need or have in mind. For example, they might want a self starter who can just work on her own, finding work without having a boss hang over her every move. Or ... they might be looking for someone who follows directions precisely and will not do anything without asking first. Different bosses like different types of employees ... so just be yourself and keep it positive ... even your "weaknesses" can be explained as a "challenge" that you recognize and are working on.

[from: sophia]

I am not sure if this is the right place to put this but I am really interested in interning for
*Gareth Pugh
*Rich Owens
*Ann Demeulemeester
*Maison Martin Margiela
and I wanted to know if any one had contact for them that is design or job based because I dont think that pr is the right place to go. I know that Marc Jacobs has a section on his website that lists exactly who to send a portfolio for a design internship. Something along the lines of that would be great. I know that this is a long shot to ask but why not.
p.s. I know I posted it in the other thread but I was not sure which one would be the best. Mods feel free to delete.

[J'adore_Coco]

Good luck to everyone!

Currently I'm looking for an internship in TO for the summer, its frustrating but eventually you will find an internship!
Best of luck again to you all!!

[Mathewthew]

I've heard Martin Margiela have the studio in Paris....because I'm going to apply for my internship too. I believe school is one of the important way to help u find the internship. As my frd told me they always looking which school are you studying and the school may have contact too, like today I've finanlly find the lady who work on this. And there have some company already find her for students.....
So good luck everybody!!~

[ChristianThomas]

You could also check out fashion united for job/intern positions for different countries.. the site is a bit less active for some countries, but you never know.

[gius]

What do people here look for exactly when looking for internships?
Do you want connections?
Work experience? Adding something to your resume..
Learning new things..

I am wondering because I got a job without experience. I told them the only experience I had was at school and that I could use the machinery needed for the job, and they hired me the same day I was interviewed
...and this is a paid job

Maybe it's wise to look first at people hiring and if that doesn't work, then do it for free to work your way up. Thoughts?

[BetteT]

gius, I would say all of the above. Plus, it's required in a lot of college courses ... so it's for college credit, more often than not.

Internships are more common in creative jobs ... where you need to promote yourself and your ideas ... and impress people enough to hire you or, at least, give you a good reference. And they happen in the most competitive fields ... where there a thousands of people are standing in line ... the "glamour" jobs like working for a fashion magazine, working in a designers ateltier, working in PR. Thing is ... most interns don't get to learn a lot ... but they do get to work very hard at the grunt work but get a glimpse at the world they hope to work in, and, if they are lucky, make a few connections.

In they type of job you mentioned sounds like you just needed technical skills, which can be learned at school, so it wasn't necessary that you have "work experience" or connections.


It would be good to hear if working interns or former interns actually wanted those things and whether or not they get what they wanted out of the experience.

[Cicciolina]

I agree with BetteT

The internships which are unpaid are as she said, highly competitive. Basically, if they were to make it paid, there would be someone willing to do the job for less - hence, they end up being free.

Also with this sort of economic situation going on (the big 'R' word) more and more entry level jobs are being replaced by internships. Which is sad

One of the big features about internships is to gain experience, or to expose yourself to an industry. It can be very rewarding - many people out there think that say, fashion PR is all about going to parties, events, dressing up, trying on sample stock so they get a huge wake-up call when they see the grunt work, so often the people who want it for the wrong reasons turn to something else, leaving the people who truly want it still doing it.

It's always rewarding too to hear that someone has been hired after an internship
Like Taylor Tomasi (one of the editors at Teen Vogue) - she started as an intern at W Magazine before being hired, then going to work at Teen Vogue.

And connections was mentioned - Alexander Wang interned at Teen Vogue, Vogue and Marc Jacobs, and I'm sure he got connections out of that. He could show the Teen Vogue editors his designs, and also befriended the Traina sisters.

[gius]

thank you guys

i have interned here with a textile designer but didn't get the connections i wanted.. and also didn't get experience dealing with real clients. i suppose it wasn't the season. i did learn a few new skills and she had some interesting books that were lent to me. still useful to me now.. other than that....

the reason i was asking is i'd like to work as pattern maker/designer
it would be a creative job
i only have the garment i have created and a book of all the patterns i can do

improbable there is a waiting list for this job..
since the fashion companies are not so big here
but i guess having prior experience right in the industry makes you more desirable. i haven't worked for a client before

[MUXU]

^well, if you want to work with a pattern maker, i suggest you go and look for an internship in a design studio/atelier. obviously vancouver is not exactly the best location to find a good internship with designers, let alone making valuable connections. but like our conversations before, if you are wanting to intern for the sake of learning technical skills, might as well go to a tailor.

when i worked briefly at christopher kane, the person "in charge" of me was one of the pattern cutters. it's true that i dont exactly learn a lot of new things but i did get experience from making toiles for them and see how the general aspect and atmosphere is like in a studio. i obviously didnt have a lot of input in whatever we were doing, so i tried to work as hard and do as good of a job as i can. i think the permanent employees there was satisfied with that. i was the only intern there that wasnt doing the internship for school credit or to fill the gap of not finding a job right after college. i was there because i send them an email one night, thinking they will not reply, but they did reply so i thought i might as well grab this chance instead of sitting on my rear end during the holiday.

[gius]

when i asked my question, i suppose i wasn't thinking very well i was imagining a paid position but considering it more, i don't have design experience in a work environment.. only 'production' experience. i guess i can also try it on my own instead of a studio, with my own clients

anyway interning with a designer or a tailor, their processes would be different..but i am considering to do both. i'm now waiting to hear from a designer, they are just finishing off 2009 season and will contact me when design for 2010 starts..
and the tailor i was interested in, i recently heard they don't produce the clothes the way i want to, the method is different.. so i'm looking elsewhere, maybe with an italian tailor or so here i hear there is also a French lady who does it in the southern part. and yes the technical side will be what i'm after when working for a tailor and the design side with the designer