Fashion/Lifestyle Publishing and Age

[thefrancofille]

Too Old to start a Career in Magazines?

Just curious: most people who are interning at mags are doing so for college credit. Well, what if I'm out of school and interested in a career change? I'm sure the powers that be can appreciate that, but I would be competing with younger girls. Is it realistic to think I could START a career at a magazine in my mid-late 20s? Or is it too late?

 

[educo]

Interning is possible for anyone, but remember interning is not going to be as exciting for you as someone else who just got out of school with little to no experience. Often, interns don't get projects that involve a lot of thought or time. Usually, interns get the stuff nobody else wants to do. If you're going for a magazine, be prepared to run errands, make copies. I've never interned at a magazine (i graduated in fashion design), but the magazine world is hard to climb. But they all start as interns, so be prepared to work full time for NO money. Many magazines (as well as design houses) ask that. You might run a risk of getting bored and frustrated because you've been in the career wheel for a while, but in essence, you're starting all over again. Be sure to use your other skills to set yourself apart from the younger interns and start building up contacts! They will help you when you're ready to move up. Good luck!

 

[thefrancofille]

Thanks for the encouragement!

 

[BerlinRocks]

why don't you try on a sabbatical year???
Take a sabbatical year, intern for a while and you'll see...
don't quit your job... because if then you regret...
I don't know where you live and if this kind of things is possible, though...

 

[tigerrouge]

Or you could try a slightly alternative route to get to the same end - start out in newspapers instead, where you don't have to be an intern, you can be a 'junior reporter' or any number of jobs, and still get paid a wage for your work. Experience working with copy, features, photoshoots, deadlines, budgets and running departments - all these are transferable skills. Once you've got that sort of experience, you can get a job at a magazine without having to start at the bottom.

 

[Dustcakeboy]

^ Agree. I know this is the route I'd take if I were you.

 

[thefrancofille]

Thanks,

I just contacted a local up and coming print mag about writing fashion, art, film etc stories. They want some writing samples. If I can get some articles printed, then I can get some experience that way.

 

[Dustcakeboy]

Good luck,

 

[kimair]

i've wondered the same thing francofile...
i'm a bit older than you but i never had a clue about doing this when i was in school...
if i want a job at a magazine, it seems interning is the first place to start...
but i'm wondering if it's worth it at my age, or if there is a better way to go about it...

 

[theleatherette]

I think you can start at any age. It may even be a plus that you are older and have work experience. At least they will know that you are serious and that you have a brain because you have worked before. Just be ready for along road ahead. All the best.

 

[saronno]

I also think that it's never too late to start. I wound up making a huge career change and found myself interning at 24. There was one other intern in my group who was 26. The others had just graduated college and we (the 26 year old and I) had to answer to assistants who were younger than us. But you just make the best of it. I was fortunate enough to only have to intern for about two months before an assistant quit and they were looking to hire from the intern pool. This wasn't for publishing, it was for fashion PR. However, I wasn't hired from that pool, which wound up being an amazing thing since I managed to parlay my experience into freelancing work at a few magazines. Which then lead to a full time job. The other older intern also wound up not getting the assistant position but she was hired later on, in a higher position.

 

[thefrancofille]

I agree Saronno. I did an internship this summer (for what I'm studying now, not what I want to get into) and I realized just how VALUABLE internships are. Most of the top places in whatever fiend--fashion, beauty, etc--will accept free help (duh!). I don't know why I didn't know that before? And these internships are like mini auditions especially if it's at a company you want to work for. Internship=work experience I just wish I had taken advantage of them sooner. . .

 

[saronno]

^Keep in mind that some of the fashion assistants at magazines are not as young as you think. Some are fresh out of school but there are others who are in their mid-20s to late-20s.

PM me if you want to know a little more about what I did.

 

[kimair]

how about mid to late 30's?

 

[Dustcakeboy]

^ Those too. My sister mentioned a few ladies around that age when she as at Zac Posen.

 

[pinksatin]

Oh good. I know I didn't ask the original question but I've had the same feelings too Francofille. I haven't been in the workforce but by the time I actually graduate from undergrad I'll be 26! I started school in a completely different direction than where I'm going now in addition to taking some LOAs. It's like I'm starting school all over @ 22 while my friends are entering the fields I want to be in and will soon have paying positions if they don't already. I guess just keep in mind that it will turn out ok and your different experiences will set you apart. Whether it's been a different career or different major that made it take longer, I think we'll have learned things that we wouldn't have if we got on this fashion mag boat right away. Does that make sense? But I understand your frustration. I wish this program I started wasn't a 4 year one!

 

[thefrancofille]

^Keep in mind that some of the fashion assistants at magazines are not as young as you think. Some are fresh out of school but there are others who are in their mid-20s to late-20s.

PM me if you want to know a little more about what I did.

Sending you a pm.

 

[prosperk]

There is nothing to stop you if you decide to go for it. I drifted into publishing via motorcycle magazines at the age of 28, broadened my scope as a freelance and was picked up by one of the international editions of Vogue at 36 after the Editor-in-Chief saw an article I had written for The Big Issue, the London homeless magazine. I got about as high in fashion magazines as a heterosexual man can without going over to the dark side. Drop me a PM too, if you like.

PK

 

[thesiren]

if you want to get into writing, write. if you want to style, style. the point is DO SOMETHING.

you have to have something to show people, even if it is not published work. the effort tells a lot and lets someone know your direction on things. it's on this which they'll judge whether you're right for the company or not.

emailing with, "i'm interested in fashion" is not enough these days.

EVERYONE is interested in fashion, and you have to make yourself stand out in a better capacity.

 

[DJCNOR]

What about 57?

I went back to school in textile design at 50. It was a one year program in NYC that started 10 days before 9/11, so we had just about the worst market anyone ever had to come out into, but I was able to freelance my way into a full time job eventually. So then, I went and added another handicap to my situation. I emigrated to a rather backwater and (so folks tell me) provincial town in England. Given my age and my location and my being an immigrant, is there any chance at all for me?