So You Want To Be A Fashion Intern...

Finding The Perfect Internship

Currently, I am a second semester Junior in college. Though, many students decide to enter a study abroad program during their junior year; I canceled my semester in Paris in favor of entering the life of an unpaid intern. During my junior year, I was able to intern at a fashion PR firm working with brands such as Re/Done and Beaufille, at Elle magazine I was a fashion features intern, and currently, at Cosmopolitan magazine, I am working as a Beauty Intern. 

How to nail the internship?:

The short answer is to network and make sure you're qualified. For example, if your dream is to intern with a publication as a features intern you should work on writing consistently about a variety of topics. Before applying you will have a portfolio of writing to submit that is diverse. Along, with building skill experience it is important to research the brand you want to work for. Google is free, and your best resource in order to familiarize yourself with that brand. It is crucial to have a well-rounded understanding of its history. Believe it or not, interviews can be pretty awkward if prior knowledge and familiarity with the brand don't already exist. Along with skill refinement, nailing competitive internships can seem to be impossible during the application process. Since it can feel difficult to nail those internships it is beneficial to utilize campus resources such as job fairs, alumni networks, and career advisors. 

How do I Even Find an Internship?

Finding internships is significantly easier now that there are a variety of databases and LinkedIn. If you are really interested in fashion or beauty College Fashionista offers networking opportunities and alums of the program search for interns through their Facebook page. I found my first internship through the CF Facebook group. Another great resource is Internship.com after years of using handshake a popular networking site for colleges I noticed that even though I was qualified and sometimes overqualified I could apply to 500 jobs and would never hear back from one, the data seemed off and when I asked friends who had dream resumes they had similar complaints. It was clear that handshake was not a reliable job posting site. To this day I am a huge advocate for using handshake to find available positions but to apply directly through a company and not through handshake you will have a higher success rate.  Internships.com, even though the name seems a little sketch, is a database owned by Chegg which is best known for selling textbooks. Though all of these resources are beneficial the most valuable resource is utilizing your alumni network and college's career services department and events. Many of these networking events hosted by your college or alumni allow you to talk in person and show your strengths one one one. Without my college's networking event I would have never gotten my internship at Elle magazine. 

No isn't the worst answer...

Before starting my internship at Elle I applied twice to be a features intern before finally getting the offer. I also applied three times to intern at Cosmo before I finally received an internship offer. Elle and Cosmo were both internship goals of mine before entering college, but when I originally applied I was beyond unqualified. After spending a year developing my blog, I applied to Elle as a regular features intern, but the features director thought I would be a better fit for the fashion features team, and she forwarded my resume and blog to the team and the rest is history. Once there, I was able to experience the pitch process, help with research, and transcribe celebrity interviews. After my internship at Elle, I had my heart set on a magazine PR internship, but the morning of my interview I had an allergic reaction and decided redness and all to still show up to my interview. Though I was set on making my interview it's safe to say I didn't do my best. Even though I didn't nail the job,  I later got an email about the possibility of interning at Cosmo and because I didn't get the PR internship I was able to take it.

Types of Fashion Internships:

There are a variety of jobs within the fashion industry that do not fall under the umbrella of design. So if you have a passion for fashion but not a needle and thread these are some great internship options. Many of these internships are great for individuals interested in working under the media umbrella:

Fashion Features/Editorial Intern: As a features intern you are responsible for pitching articles, conducting research, and transcribing interviews. It's a great experience if you are interested in working for a publication or in journalism. 

Beauty Intern: This isn't specifically fashion but it falls under a similar umbrella. Being a beauty intern allows you to see products before they launch and know what products are actually worth the Sephora splurge. As a beauty intern, you're responsible for opening all packages, maintaining the beauty closet, and doing a variety of tasks for editors. Though beauty internships are not editorial some will offer opportunities to write.

Fashion PR: If you love scrolling through Instagram, looking at campaigns, or staying up to date with fashion news this is a great internship for you. As a PR intern, the responsibilities are vast from working with samples, maintaining inventory, collecting brand news clippings, and writing press pitches and media alerts. Public Relations and fashion PR have been impacted by social media so some PR internships are more social media focused vs traditional PR. This is also a great option if you are someone who loves to stay busy time moves quickly when you're on the PR side of the industry especially during fashion month. There also are two types of fashion pr: In house vs Firm. In house PR is a PR team for a specific brand or label, for example, LVMH has an in house team so those individuals do public relations exclusively for LVMH and LVMH brands. While interning for an agency or firm you get experience dealing with a diverse portfolio of clients with a variety of brand ideas and brand identities.  

Fashion Buying Internship: I personally don't have experience with buying internships mainly because I am only interested in working in media-related jobs. As a buying intern, you will have to assist the buying team and most likely do some administrative work. 

Is Interning Worth it?

Though it is a sacrifice, it is worth it and done for school credit. All of my internships counted as a class so instead of going to class I got to learn things that were actually beneficial to my career vs wasting time taking classes unrelated to my field. If you are already paying tuition then replacing courses with internships doesn't have to change the amount of time and money you would have spent working or studying. Every internship has been an amazing experience and I am extremely thankful for each one. 

As Usual Thanks For Keeping Up With Kat