All About Internships and Work Experience Placements

[BetteT]

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

 

[nyc_art_style]

i started applying for summer internships last month for the summer. so far i have applied to 15 jobs. it's been about 2 -3 weeks since i sent out my last application. however, i haven't heard back from anyone yet. is that normal?

 

[pinksatin]

i think so. I applied to at least as many as that so far and only set up interviews with 3. Still waiting to hear back from two (gave up on the third ). I plan to keep applying to more and trying to set up interviews until I land something. Even though internships don't usually pay anything, it seems like a lot of companies are tightening their belts and just scaling down in general and being more careful. At least that's what I'm hearing. Honestly I think it's kinda silly and they should be more eager to take on more free laborers but that's just me. Maybe because I'm one of those ready and willing free laborers.

Also, the hiring people may receive hundreds of responses to listings if that's how you're approaching your search. Say they find 10 good candidates in the first 100. They won't have time to keep reading, they will just delete the rest of the inbox, and see those first 10 to save time. So maybe your resume is awesome and you have good experience, if you are email #357 and they already filled the openings by email #117, you might just be deleted, even if you may be sadly a better candidate than the person who was hired. People are just so busy they have to be efficient and probably don't read more resumes than necessary. At least that's one of my theories for why I don't hear back from so many. Makes me feel better anyway.

I would say really, just keep applying, try to make contacts and contact companies you're genuinely interested in instead of just responding to listings. I'm trying to do that more myself too. Also, people I've spoken to who have positions they like said the ones they got, they were just really aggressive and persistent (but not in a rude or stalkerish way of course).

Anyway, good luck, just don't give up. Oh yeah, also, I'm sure you've had enough foresight to have done this already, but even if you are a good writer, have parents, roommates, teachers, whoever look over your materials before you send them to see if there's anything that could be better that you just didn't see since you've see it so much, you know? I mean what if there was something silly like an omitted word or something? Wouldn't it be horrible if that was why you didn't get calls back? I'm sure that's not the case but you don't want to have that feeling like you're been talking to everyone at the party with food in your teeth you know? Also, some places may take a longer than 2-3 weeks to contact you. Don't lose hope.! I think your situation is totally normal.

 

[LukeGeorge]

So I got it all sorted this week, I got an internship at Graduate Fashion Week in London for 3 weeks!

I'm so excited, this is gonna be my first one. I've been told It's gonna be hard work which I've heard in the past, load of running around/waiting etc... As It's via the PR company that handles GFW I've also been told I'll be doing things like manning the press office desk, seating the press at the fashion shows etc..

All sounds very interesting!

 

[Mchunu]

can someone give me any information about possible fashion photography interns? or photography interns in general? i would appreciate it

 

[Mods_MS17]

this is a very weird question but can you do work experiences/internships in like foreign countries likw whilst on a holiday or something?? It's just that over here there isn't much opportunities within the fashion world.

 

[gius]

i would like to know too.

i just know if you are being paid, you need at least a working visa

 

[dior_couture1245]

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.

As a working intern for Rodarte, I'd be happy to give you an intern's perspective to these questions!

What I wanted out of the internship position was...I know this sounds selfish...having the experience on a resume. I knew that going into this job, I'd be doing nothing but, as Bette puts it, "grunt work." Seriously, everyday it's paperwork, packing, shipping, orders, making phone calls, cleaning, etc. What experience I have gained is accomplishing tasks, thinking ahead, being efficient and thorough, etc. I've made more phone calls to FedEx, UPS, DHL, etc. in the last few weeks than most people ever make in a lifetime. I've processed orders. I've filled out applications. I've orchestrated the shipping of items from one place to another. I've taken inventory...you name it. I will be able to take all of this experience and knowledge, and at the next internship I have, after school maybe, I'll be ahead of the game...and who knows where that will lead me.

So, knowing these things, I applied for the position because I wanted to just be a fly on the wall. I wanted to just be a part of a business that I admired. And, like I said before, working at a high profile label says a lot on a resume.

And overall, I've really enjoyed the experience. It's certainly a thankless job, but working for fashion designers that I love seems to make up for that...sometimes.

 

[Cicciolina]

this is a very weird question but can you do work experiences/internships in like foreign countries likw whilst on a holiday or something?? It's just that over here there isn't much opportunities within the fashion world.

Yes you can, but you might want to double check with visas and all that stuff, just in case.

Also for internships, they'd want you at least a month (at least in the US). Work experience maybe a week - I know a few people who have done them for a week, but they were more for special circumstances (like they had a blog which had lots of hits, or they had good contacts!) Overseas isn't like Australia (I'm assuming you're from Sydney, Australia, based on your location?) where many companies do work experience for just one week. Or at least not to my knowledge.

But anyway, you're in Sydney, there's quite a few opportunities if you know where to look! Definitely the most in Australia I'd say

 

[Cicciolina]

Part of interning is also to put it bluntly, show what you're made of, put your money where your mouth is, so to speak.

Think of all the millions of people out there who sit there and are like "You know what, I'd love to be Karl Lagerfeld/Anna Wintour/Andy in Devil Wears Prada". Interning sets yourself apart from these people - it shows that you are dedicated, driven, passionate and obsessed enough with fashion/working in the fashion industry enough to pretty much do admin work/slave labour/etc for minimal pay (or most of the time, for free).

On the brighter side, it does teach you to pay attention to detail, to be careful and to realise that every single element is necessary in producing a certain, required, and optimum result. Oh and to show that fashion isn't just glamour The people who think that fashion is all about swanning around in the latest outfit that Marc Jacobs Fed-exed to you will drop off like flies, so in that way, you can think that interning is like some preliminary audition process.