All About Internships and Work Experience Placements

[Cicciolina]

As with all choices there are going to be associated risks and you have to think for yourself if it's going to be worth it for you.

eg.
If you stay with the current magazine: (these are all hypothetical of course and not necessarily hard and fast rules)
Pros:
- You know what you're doing, it's comfortable
- Because of your familiarity maybe you'll be given more responsibility
- Great experience, it's more cutting edge fashion
- Perhaps somewhere down the line you'll be offered a job if there's an opening or when you finish studying
Cons:
- You could be limiting yourself
- You may not be offered a job/nothing will come out of it

Moving to the new magazine:
Pros:
- It's paid
- The editor already seems quite keen on you
- New arena, more exposure, wider range of experience
Cons:
- You may hate it and regret it and want to go back
- You may feel that you're better off in something more cutting edge and less commercial and mainstream

etc etc etc
I think in the end this is the sort of decision which you can only make for yourself and you might already know - just go for your gut feeling! Whichever choice you make there's always going to be the 'what if' factor but if where you're heading is still great, then it makes it all the worthwhile (not sure if this makes sense, sorry I tend to ramble). I hope this helps somewhat! Not sure if it's your place in this situation, but maybe you can even talk to whoever looks after you at the current magazine to see what they can do for you in the future if you stay with them - what sort of possibilities they have, or something like that

 

[perisacooper]

Thanks Ciciolina. I really appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions. And yes, I'd prolly talk to my in-charge and from there, hopefully, I'll make up my mind.

 

[diorable]

Cicciolina, thank you so much! I hope that your advice will help others too :]!

 

[pout306]

Not sure if this question has been asked but here goes...
I have been looking to obtain a fashion internship in NYC for Summer 2008. I have already contacted many places, and have even received replies and interviews. I applied to magazines, contemporary brands and designer brands. I understand that working for each will most likely give different forms of experience, but which is the best? Working with a smaller name will probably allow me to do more hands on stuff, but do you think when it really boils down to it, it's about how big the name is on your resume? Also, I know this is probably more up to the individual and their interests, but would you say it's better to work for a magazine or for a designer/brand

 

[pinksatin]

pout- Good job on contacting and booking interviews already. I want to intern in NYC also for the summer but I haven't contacted anyone yet. Did you respond to listings or just go straight ahead? Do you live in NYC? (I don't). Have you interned before? Just want to know more info since you seem really on top of it and I haven't even seen listing posted yet for summer 08. And I think design house vs. magazine will probably depend on what you want to do. For me I think a magazine would be better but if I don't get that I'd just try for PR intern at some design house or something.

 

[BetteT]

Not sure if this question has been asked but here goes...
I have been looking to obtain a fashion internship in NYC for Summer 2008. I have already contacted many places, and have even received replies and interviews. I applied to magazines, contemporary brands and designer brands. I understand that working for each will most likely give different forms of experience, but which is the best? Working with a smaller name will probably allow me to do more hands on stuff, but do you think when it really boils down to it, it's about how big the name is on your resume? Also, I know this is probably more up to the individual and their interests, but would you say it's better to work for a magazine or for a designer/brand

pinksatin is right ... it really depends on what your goal is.

My thoughts ... interning is usually doing all the grunt work ... whatever they need done that does not take any training ... like running errands, filing, keeping something organized, answering phones, stuffing envelopes, even sweepping up. So don't expect to learn much about any particular real job where you intern. But what you can get out it is contacts (make sure you impress everyone with your hard work, reliability and good attitude) and if you are observant, you will start to learn how the business is structured so it may give you some idea about where you want to take your career.

So I think there are plusses and minuses on both sides ... a small comany might let you learn more about all the inner workings but a big company will look great on your resume.

There's a method of deciding called the Ben Frankklin list ... that is where you get a sheet of paper and placce a verical line down the middle and then list the positives on on side and the negatives on the other. You do one for each opportunity that you have and compare them. Then if there is still not a clear winner, then you give each comment a weight ... like 1 to 3 points, depending on how important each is to you. That will usually yeild a winner.

A difficult choice, at best. But then your entire career will be full of these sort of choices so you must learn to get the facts and then just decide ... right or wrong. You even learn from your mistakes.

 

[Cicciolina]

Oh wow pout306 I didn't realise that they were already doing summer interviews, I thought most places were still doing spring, so congratulations! I agree with both BetteT and pinksatin, there's no hard and fast rules and all companies are different so you have to weigh out the pros and cons of each one on their own.

 

[pout306]

Oh wow pout306 I didn't realise that they were already doing summer interviews, I thought most places were still doing spring, so congratulations! I agree with both BetteT and pinksatin, there's no hard and fast rules and all companies are different so you have to weigh out the pros and cons of each one on their own.

Most arent actually.. I was just a little eager and some considered me even though its quite early..I guess Im trying to beat the rush

 

[Cicciolina]

Oh that's great, I was just surprised as I organise my winter ones not too long ago before most people had (though admittedly winter isn't as competitive) so I didn't realise that it was possible for summer to start. Hopefully diorable is reading this Whereabouts have you got interviews pout306? I can't do any summer ones unfortunately, only winter (so need to think about next year, kidding! Well sort of).

 

[pout306]

So far I have had one phone interview with a certain popular and influential publication..but nothing has been finalized..although it went really well I do not want to count my chickens before they hatch because you never know
I have also arranged other interviews for more contemporary labels.

 

[diorable]

Oh that's great, I was just surprised as I organise my winter ones not too long ago before most people had (though admittedly winter isn't as competitive) so I didn't realise that it was possible for summer to start. Hopefully diorable is reading this Whereabouts have you got interviews pout306? I can't do any summer ones unfortunately, only winter (so need to think about next year, kidding! Well sort of).

Just noticed this :], maybe I will try sending a few emails soon just to see if I can get any responses. Thanks!

 

[StellaMare]

If I want to intern at a fashion magazine, but not through school, how do I apply? Do twice-annually published magazines usually take interns?

I'm in high school and I have a decent (growing) resume in fashion writing. I'm really eager to get more contacts, but ultimately I just want to write and explore this area (fashion writing) which I am completely in love with.
Ideally I'd like to find a place at a smaller publication in London, something like 10 Magazine or Lula.. where creativity is key.

 

[Cicciolina]

Oh Lula will be so much fun!

Just try emailing them I think. You'll never know until you try, and even if they don't take on interns for a formal internship program, you can always ask if you can come in and help out for some experience and see where you go from there.

I'm not sure about Stockholm or Europe in general, but I know for many places which offer internships in the US, they specifically state that it's for college credit only is so that they're not using you for completely free labour - that the intern is getting something out of it as well. If you can't get college credit somehow, you still might be able to get the internship if you have your university acknowledge the internship and just sort of 'okay' it so you can do it.

 

[StellaMare]

Ciccolina: That's great advice, except I'm not in University: I'm in high school. Do you think I could get an internship, while still in high school, if my school allows it?

 

[SnejanaIsMyMuse]

What magazines are good for internship opportunities?

I'm a senior in high school and in college I want to study art and photography and if possible fashion.Once that's done I would like to maybe intern at a magazine, nothing major is needed , but what fashion magazines would be good opportunities? Are specific qualifications needed, or could I take a basic Arts degree and use it to get an internship?

 

[fashionistasista]

any magazine you are interested in is a good start! You will be more willing to do work there and be interested in what you are doing... most magazines offer some type of internnship, but it is usually only to uni students (in the US, so ive heard) so just shoot off an email explaining who you are and what you would like to do and hopefully you will get a reply and an opportunity! good luck!

F

 

[seiji]

Hi everybody!
Bettet was very kind to help me on this thread:http://www.thefashionspot.com/forums/f90/need-help-lot-questions-business-fashion-career-62354.html
but i want to have more precise infos especially about my upcomping career. Well as i said on my first thread because at the moment i know almost nobody in the fashion industry i think that trying to get a job during this summer will be a great experience. For the moment i am a student in the equivalent of a student in third year of business and i have a lot of work. I speak fluently French, Japanese (with some mistakes) and i cope with english and a bit with spanish. Well, i keep an eye on japanese fashion because i have the opportunity to travel there twice a year and i read some japs fashion magazines. The problem is that i don't know what kind of job i can do (interpretor?) and which companies i should contact. My dream would be to work for Yohji or cdg but i heard it was very hard. Should i find a work in France or in Japan?
Another problem rises. I think about opening my own label one day but i have no knowledge about fashion drawing etc.. Maybe my summer holiday is an opportunity to start an intensive course in fashion...because later i will have a full year to do an internship. (called stage in France i think it s the same thing) I don't know what i should do and it is very annoying.

 

[diorable]

Does anyone have contact information for Nylon that they could PM me? I've a regular reader of the magazine and would love to try to intern for them, but I can't find any contact information...thanks!

 

[weirdolove]

so i'm going to start making a resume for myself, and i was wondering what i should put on there if i don't have any work experience in the fashion industry?

 

[dellinger]

Weirdolove, I'd say the best thing to do is put down any experience you have that you feel could be relevant to a job in the industry, although it doesn't have to be fashion related. For example, if you have any sort of office experience--filing, answering phones, keeping records, etc.--then you have relevant skills for almost any job. If you tailor those tasks to fit a position in the fashion industry, I'd say you'd have a better chance of securing a job.

Sorry if that's confusing, I'm quite tired.