All About Internships and Work Experience Placements

[brianna]

- When you leave an internship - are we meant to give them a 'thank you' gift? I've seen fellow interns give them candy, or just a thank you card. Other interns have told me they don't think we should give them gifts because we are after all working for free. Thoughts?

when i ended my internship, i sent a thank you card. i think it's a good way to end things off; thanking them again and leaving a nice last impression.

 

[knightley]

When I left my last one, I sent a card and a basket of goodies: chocolates, candies, fruits, a sort of snack platter array for them. I sent flowers, as well, to the woman I worked under. I made it all myself, except the flowers, and it cost me a total of about 60? With postage, I was under a 100 and I have a fabulous reference for it.

 

[Cicciolina]

Thanks so much! I think I will give them a thank you card on my last day, and then when I return home (overseas) I'll think of something I can send to them... not sure what though!

 

[C_24]

^I gave out a personal thank you card to every editor I worked with when I left my last magazine internship spot. And discovered they prefer such personal, customized things to gift baskets (esp. at Christmas time, when the Christmas baskets by the fashion companies are coming in in piles- although, don`t get me wrong, gift baskets are a wonderful gesture)

I have two Condé Nast magazines telling me they`re interested in providing a summer spot for me and a phone interview with a huge PR agency in NY on thursday. I just don`t know what to do, because I`d actually prefer the magazine spot, but I don´t want to piss either side off by either post-poning my decision or pressuring them into giving me an interview right now, so I wouldn`t even need to speak to the agency. What to do?

 

[missrouse]

So, had an interview today with an Advertising Agency. I think the interview went fine. I was told to write a letter selling myself to him on why he should hire me. He would like to see how good my writing skills are in addition to my persuasiveness. So, I'm excited about that!

 

[Cicciolina]

C_24 I think I'll definitely be looking into Thank you cards, now I just have to find some nice ones. Can I sign off with my name and email address so they can keep in contact with me, or is that that? Good luck C_24! If the agency offers you the position, you can always thank them for the offer, and tell them you need fo finalise some other things because you make your decision/acceptance.

Good luck missrouse!

 

[pinksatin]

I just sent my resume and an email for a pr internship at yohji yamamoto this morning. And I got to school and just before class the lady called me. I was taken off guard since it was so soon and very excited and nervous so I hope she didn't hear my heart pounding in my voice. She didn't have any specific date in mind, just before the summer to talk so they can choose summer interns, so I offered to go during my spring break (in March) so I don't miss school and stop by the show room to talk. She said she would email me back too, soon but she didn't yet. I'm actually a little confused by whether or not she officially wanted an interview. I was so nervous/excited that she called so soon and I needed to go to class so I didn't memorize everything she said. I think maybe it's informal like she just wants me to stop by if i'm in town but she didn't care what day. But she said keep in touch. I don't know! I'm a little confused because nothing concrete was said but it has to be an interest if she called me at all. So I got super excited but now I'm not sure what it means if anything at all. I think it means keep looking and get more interviews but call them when I'm there.

 

[Cicciolina]

pinksatin it sounds like they just want you to come in for an informal interview, just to see what you're like in person. As bad as it sounds, it is fashion so they do tend to be superficial and want to make sure that you mesh in with the company identity, especially since Yohji Yamamota is quite is quite esoteric, I guess they want to make sure that you're not going to turn up in Juicy Couture sweatpants and wear pink 24/7 You can probably ask her questions then too and find out more about the internship - basically it's to see if you're a good fit. I guess a few weeks before you go you can call her to let her know you'll be in? There's definitely interest if she called!

 

[pinksatin]

Ok thanks C! So I have reason to be excited but no reason to be counting my chickens yet. And I just looked at the Y's and YY and NOIR threads and yeah, their style seems more like re-engineered intellectual fashion than pretty pretty. I will keep that in mind when dressing! And the internship search continues....

 

[Cicciolina]

pinksatin yep I think you've got the right idea! I can empathise though - they're all like "sounds good, let's keep in touch, get back to me later in the year" and you're thinking - wait what does that mean???

Trying to get the guts to make a follow up call... ahhhh!

 

[shirleebee]

That's so exciting, pinksatin! Good luck!
I can relate to that confusing rush of emotions that come when an interview/encounter goes better than expected. Then later you realize you forgot to ask when you can expect to hear from them again.

P.S. Twinkle by Wenlan responded to me for an internship opportunity I applied for awhile ago. They want people NOW, and want an interview ASAP. I'm going to wait to see what happens with Posen first, because at this point, I kind of have my heart set on that opportunity (especially since they did say they wanted me, just not WHEN). I guess I'll call them, even though it's market week. Hmm... :/

 

[Cicciolina]

I'd choose Posen over Twinkle in a heartbeat. Good luck shirleebee!

 

[paperbag]

I was thinking of interning in a modeling company. But what do interns do there exactly? Do they help the casting directors or do they just provide coffee for everyone and file paperwork all day?

 

[knightley]

It depends on what your internship at the agency is.

Agency internships is a lot of administrative work and it's a lot of tedious work until someone trusts you enough. You don't do casting at the agency, at all. You might do booking, which at first would be addressing portfolios and such to potential clients for the girl, but you wouldn't be making calls or choosing which girls for those until you're actually a booker. It's a really weird and long process.

I loved interning at an agency.

 

[paperbag]

It depends on what your internship at the agency is.

So basically there's different subdivisions within the company? I would like to work with models/bookers How long is usually the internship process. I'm thinking of interning for 3mths (is that enough time?)

 

[Cicciolina]

Tried calling for my follow up call three times this afternoon and no one picked up, just an answering machine. So frustrating. And I think leaving a message on the answering machine is a bad idea too, right?

 

[knightley]

So basically there's different subdivisions within the company? I would like to work with models/bookers How long is usually the internship process. I'm thinking of interning for 3mths (is that enough time?)

Mine was rather short and for fashion show bookings. But they were desperate and I proved myself very quickly. It's pretty rare to excel like I did. Not to toot my horn, but I definitely was in the right place at the right time and I pulled all-nighters and went above and beyond to get where I did as an intern.

The typical agency internship is three, six, or a year. During those times, they'll evaluate you constantly to either offer you a position (I was offered a position about a month into it, but I turned it down) or let you go.

You'd probably not interact much with the models unless they came in and it'd be to just buzz them into their booker. The only way to get into booking, really, is to make very friendly with a booker and have him or her bring you on, but it's a super competitive market. Good luck!

 

[brianna]

Tried calling for my follow up call three times this afternoon and no one picked up, just an answering machine. So frustrating. And I think leaving a message on the answering machine is a bad idea too, right?

i think so! because leaving a message is then leaving the calling back to them and if they don't call you back, you might be wanting to call again and they could get annoyed haha. so yes, i'd wait and just call again!

 

[Deleted member 49693]

Tried calling for my follow up call three times this afternoon and no one picked up, just an answering machine. So frustrating. And I think leaving a message on the answering machine is a bad idea too, right?

Is that for Hong Kong companies? I'm soooo frustrated with them! As soon as I get there, I'm going to the University of Hong Kong career centre for help! You should do the same when you get there.

Seriously if I cannot get a decent intern/job, I'm going to do my Masters there because they have contacts with the companies I want and give their students interns with them.

 

[Cicciolina]

I don't go to the University of HK though, are we allowed to just turn up with no affiliation?

Yeah it's for a HK company but their US representative, which is in the same company that I'm interning for now, if that makes sense. So you'd think it'll be easier!!!1