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!
No comments:
Post a Comment