The Rules of Interning

Ok, now it just seems as if I'm tooting my own horn but the numbers don't lie- and the numbers are telling me that somebody from RUSSIA has looked at my blog. I am feeling so pleased about my international readership. Obviously if you have just looked at it once and then never again for whatever reason please don't rain on my parade just yet! Anyway, I thought that since my previously soggy, now razor sharp, bloggy has modestly expanded from North London I would do a post on how to secure internships and the way to get the most out of them. I figure that these tips will be helpful for someone applying to any magazine in any part of the world, and there are so many since Vogue/ Glamour/ GQ etc have filtered into almost every country. Or at the very least I would have found them helpful when I was first applying for internships. When you're in school no one talks to you about careers in PR, journalism or fashion- the focus is all on the conventional subjects. Which perhaps explains how I ended up reading Law at university before finally coming to my senses.. I was never aware that I could actually make a career out of something that has always seemed so enjoyable to me. [Whether I do make a career out of it remains to be seen].

1. Don't be a snob. Magazine publishers such as Condé Nast, Hearst and IPC Media own the majority of the best fashion magazines so don't turn down a placement at a lesser known magazine. I started at Red magazine, part of the Hearst family, and it may not be as well known as Harper's Bazaar or Elle but it got me noticed. Sometimes the best thing is to be a big fish in a small pond, working with Red was incredibly invaluable because they are a tight knit team who genuinely care for and look after their interns. They recommended me to the girls at Glamour, and the rest is history! It doesn't matter where you came from, only where you're going.
2. Don't attach a picture of yourself to your CV. Ever. Even if your Mum tells you it's a good idea, because it definitely isn't. The general consensus in the GQ office is that if you think you need a picture in order to get a job, your CV isn't strong enough. And if even you don't think it is who else will be convinced? 
3. Call and speak to a specific person on the fashion team. Speaking directly with an editor or assistant just before sending your application ensures they are expecting it and they read it, while sending emails to a generic email address will only result in your application languishing in the depths of a junk email folder. 
4. Be confident. Try and join in as much in the office as you can. Obviously there are boundaries and you're only the intern but it'll help to make your time there more enjoyable and it's a chance for editors to get to know you properly. Being friendly with the people in the mail/ delivery rooms will also make your life easier- often they know about placements and, more importantly, can help you out if a parcel has mysteriously disappeared in the post..
5. Make friends with the other interns. I know this flies in the face of every competitive bone in your body, but trust me- you'll need them. They might be your competition for the month that you're interning together but beyond that they'll be so much more- your support system, colleagues and friends. The reason fashion is such a closed community is because the friendships and working relationships stretch back to internship days when they were all struggling along together. Just remember: You'll catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. 

These "rules" might sound obvious to some of you, in which case- well done you. But if there are any of you who find these suggestions helpful in any way, I'm happy. I spent a lot of time sending emails to every address under the sun but found that as soon as I became more focussed with my applications it became easier to secure them. The same goes for applying to smaller magazines- I've had my eye on a Vogue placement since I was 17. I tried to skip past allll the other magazines and go straight to the top; needless to say that didn't work out but doing all these other placements has prepared me infinitely for working at Vogue. 

Is your future for sale?

Let's kick off with an exciting discovery I made today: I have a readership that extends BEYOND the UK. Oh yes. This might be hard for you to believe as the only official members of this blog are my friends, who have taken pity on me and are being kind. However, on my weekly snoop of the statistics page I noticed a faint green tinge to America and France.. At least ONE person from the USA and France have at SOME point looked at my blog. Ok, it doesn't seem like a massive achievement- especially given that other blogs have hundreds of followers who openly acknowledge reading them. But, I will give thanks for small mercies and frankly I'm pleased that anyone other than the friends I persuaded to join has even seen it before.

Now that excitement's over with, let's get on with what this blog is actually meant to be about- the struggle to find your footing in the fashion industry. Having read an article today about Oscar De La Renta, Valentino and Missoni [among others] auctioning off unpaid internships literally makes me want to scream into a pillow about the injustice of being an impoverished graduate, rather than someone whose parents are apparently now able to buy them experience and a future. The nature of the business, i.e. being unpaid, is part of the reason the belief that in order to succeed you must be wealthy continues to grow. The presence of the wildly privileged within fashion magazines can sometimes breed contempt between interns and reinforce the sense of entitlement within them that must surely come with obtaining these placements through money.

The injustice in a scheme such as this only serves to make interns ask: How far would I go for the chance at my dream job? Because ultimately, it is only that- a chance. There is no guarantee of a job after an internship, merely a good recommendation, and when you're asked to pick up their dry cleaning or lunch, empty the bins and visit sex shops for them [oh yes, that's happened] you do find yourself wondering if it's all worth it and if you're even allowed to refuse. Like the time the god daughter of a bookings editor came to help out with returns and sent back a broken necklace she had explicitly been told NOT to, she stared blankly at us and we took the blame. Or the time an editor's niece was in the cupboard for a week, went on a cover shoot and given as many Tom Ford and YSL beauty products she could carry when she left. Of course, these placements aren't really about the freebies or the shoots you go on- they are about proving yourself. Something, I am completely convinced, you have to do a lot less of if you're well connected. 

You can find the article here, and I know it's the Daily Mail but for once what they're writing is actually accurate.. 

When one door closes, another one opens

The title of this blog could not be more fitting, my last day at GQ has officially arrived [after extending my stay by two weeks] and my time here also coincided with an interview for a PR assistant job at the luxury menswear label Dunhill. I'm not sure how to feel about this opportunity as of yet. It is an amazing brand and seems a lovely place to work with hugely friendly people but a small part of me can't decide whether my heart's really in it. My dream has always been to work in fashion and the more editorial placements I've done the more I've thought that my goal was to work in fashion magazines rather than fashion PR but having never tried it, and for fear of putting my eggs all in one basket, I've been feeling inclined to go for it. The amount of prep I've done for the interview is definitely more than I've done for any other position, including writing press releases, brushing up on Office programmes and researching the brand fastidiously. 

These thoughts are unbelievably premature since I haven't heard if I've even got the job [which I'm sure can't be great news], but my mind is already weighing up the inevitable pros and cons of taking a paid job in PR or continuing with editorial work which is unpaid but that I love. This is a conundrum that absolutely everybody faces but I've begun to notice it more with the more placements I do. Two girls, one at InStyle and one at Glamour, were faced with the same predicament and the same logic- "I need the money!" And who can blame them really for taking the jobs, but I know they were both thinking the same thing that I am now: Is being out of the fashion game for a year worth the money?

I mentioned, maybe once or twice, in my previous post that I am due to go to Vogue in November which has proven to be yet another snag in this prospective PR job. The position would start immediately and I have been told that I will have to choose between Vogue and Dunhill. At the worst I would be burning my bridges with Vogue, after they have been so accommodating in fitting MY schedule into THEIRS- the only place I have ever worked that has done so- and at the very least, it would be highly unprofessional to leave them in the lurch just two weeks before my start date.. 

My parents have been surprisingly understanding and supportive, conceding that some money at this point would be helpful and that Dunhill would be a great place to work- but also agreeing that, should I be presented with an ultimatum, I should remain loyal to Vogue. 

I graduated three months ago, and with that in mind I can't give up on my ambitions just yet- maybe ask me the same question in three years. I'm hoping I'll have left the days of working unpaid far behind me. 

My mock press release was kindly "marked" by one of the people at work

This has nothing to do with PR or fashion, but I love Boris. 

VOGUEVOGUEVOGUEVOGUE

Greetings! If you couldn't tell from the post title- I AM GOING TO VOGUE, PEOPLE. You heard me right. I finally managed to squirrel my way into the world's most prestigious fashion magazine and it only took me: 2 years, 4 applications, numerous emails and 1 interview. 

I think this is a small price to pay, when I got the email telling me I had officially been accepted [I've learnt the hard way that a verbal agreement is definitely not binding] I wanted to bust some big moves but I was in the office and thought it best not to be so ecstatically happy about going to anther magazine.. Truthfully, I think I will miss GQ when I'm gone. As with most things it has grown on me with time and even though I am absolutely, completely and deliriously excited to be going to Vogue I must admit I am a tiny bit frightened as well. My list of fears about reaching the pinnacle of my interning career [yes, being an intern is a legitimate career] in ascending order are: 

1) Everyone will realise I am clearly wearing imitations of designer clothes I can't afford  

2) I will turn up on my first day and unknowingly commit a huge fashion faux pas, i.e. accidentally having my skirt caught up in my pants

3) I will fall over

4) I will inadvertently blurt out "I love you!" upon meeting Vogue writers/stylists

5) I will be shunned for bringing leftover cheeseburgers to work as a 'snack'

The problem with putting magazines and their stylists on a pedestal is that you will inevitably be disappointed when you meet them because, ultimately, they're only human. One of the hardest things about working in fashion magazines is losing the belief in the effortlessness of a fashion story or feature- you feel like Dorothy did when the curtain's pulled back and you see that the mighty Oz is just a man. Conversely though- you have the kind of first look access to clothes and accessories that the average person would never be able to see, you have a heads up on the latest A/W pieces hitting the shops months in advance and you have the satisfaction of playing a part [no matter how small] in these amazing pieces coming together. 

Reading back on what I've written, the benefits clearly do heavily outweigh the costs- going to Vogue is an absolute dream come true, we're all just people at the end of the day. How hard can it be to bond over a cupboard full of clothes? To mark this most momentous of occasions, an homage to the great and powerful Vogue.

The first Vogue I ever bought

The amazing December 2006 cover

Ok, so this isn't the latest issue but who doesn't love some K- Stew?

Yesterday is but a dream, tomorrow but a vision

Now that I have been at GQ for a couple of weeks I am starting to relax into a routine and feel more at ease around the office. After spending the first two weeks working myself up into a stress about how I didn't know the people and having to sit in an office with some of the most senior members of the magazine rather than with other interns I have finally come to see that it's not so bad. Every cloud has a silver lining; and while sitting with two editors might mean that I can't discreetly fix any mistakes I make or have the radio on, it does mean that I have tried harder. I don't plan on being an intern forever [hopefully] so I'm seeing the positive in the silence. There are serious talks to have and phone-calls to make, and these can't be done with Carly Rae Jepson squawking in the background! With that in mind I'm letting go, temporarily, of the frivolity of Radio 1 and embracing the calm of the editor's office. As for the mistakes, well.. They still happen. Like the other day, when a PR called the office looking for the grooming editor, I was told to put her through and, after spending the first week avoiding answering the phones for fear I would have to transfer calls, I thought I had finally mastered it. I hadn't. After a couple of frustrated attempts at putting the extension number in I found myself panicking. I was halfway through explaining that I couldn't quite work out how to patch her through when I realised I had inadvertently hung up on her.

I have also come to accept that while many of my friends are finding their feet in the professional world, I am still in much the same position as I was at 18, interning during the holidays. This is the reality of working in an unstable industry- and by unstable I mean that while it is exciting and rewarding there are drawbacks that I didn't even know I had to consider. Drawbacks such as: the infrequency of jobs (which are like buses, you spend weeks at home developing a relationship with the cast of Loose Women only to be inundated with jobs all offering you placements at the same time), lusting after clothes/ shoes/ accessories that will never be yours because of the final, and most significant, drawback.. Having no money. The placements I have dedicated almost a year to have hardly even paid expenses let alone a minimum wage salary- which is my main goal at the moment. When I was studying for a degree I didn't think I'd ever utter the words, "all I want is minimum wage!"

But onwards and upwards, this post is all about getting back on the horse. It's easy to become disheartened when you don't hear back from magazines, you meet your fashion idols and they're not nearly as approachable as they appear in print, or placements fall through at the last minute. All of which have happened to me. But all these obstacles have made me try harder to get where I want to be. It sounds clichéd but being told 'no' so many times does toughen you up and make you more determined to succeed. 
So, imbued with fighting spirit recently , I have:

Had two meetings with styling agencies to discuss becoming a freelance assistant
Had talks with an assistant at Grazia about a temporary placement
Applied for a 3 month placement at the Telegraph 
Re-sent my updated CV to Vogue 
Provisionally arranged a 6 month placement at Glamour

Who knows if any of the above will pan out; the most important thing is that I'm exploring lots of different avenues and keeping my options open. In this industry you can't say fairer than that!