My Perfect Fashion Internship Hunt...

I always knew that I wanted a career with the following aspects: 1.) Travel 2.) Make a difference 3.) Not an office/cubicle behind the computer job but an interacting with people.  Although I am destined to be a teacher and have played school since I can remember (I had a fab classroom with the best kids J ) I knew I wanted to take a different path and try something I knew I could love. 

After changing my major from political science (I’m sorry but I like politics but reading it 24/7 my ADD self couldn’t fathom) to Communications, Public Relations concentration I knew that switch was perfect for me.  However, I still didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do with PR.  My summer going into my Junior year of college I interned at ClassWish, a non-profit organization.  I did everything from their social media to contacting outlets to publicize ClassWish.  It was really awesome and I truly learned so much.  However, as much as I love working for non-profit organizations and places that make a difference, I guess you can say a more glamorous of life was calling my name.  That was when all of a sudden it all hit me.  FASHION. I must work in the world that entices me everyday and captures all my attention.  It was the best epiphany I could ever have!

That is when my search for the perfect internship in the crazy world of fashion began.  I started looking at EVERY and I mean EVERY fashion job website I could find.  I followed big fashion brands on Twitter and fashion job twitters as well.  I looked at all the different types of jobs I can do with my studies and fashion.  There was working for a large brand, small designer, PR agencies, boutiques, brand and more.  I applied to so many different places and had Skype interviews on top of Skype interviews.  My friends would make fun of me because I would actually enjoy applying to all these different places and finding new and exciting companies and jobs to apply to.

I spend so much time trying to find the perfect internship and I can whole-heartedly say every ounce of it paid off.  After completing my summer at my internship I couldn’t have been more lucky to have worked there! (More on that later…)

SO.. I have put together a list of ten things to know/remember when applying for internships in the craaazay world of fashion.

1.)  PRCourture: This website was my sanctuary!!! The book is my bible and Crosby Noricks
      is the Fashion PR goddess.  I would continuously look at her site to see new places to apply to and get the inspiration and courage to land a dream internship.  Her book helped me so much and is a concrete guidebook to everything you need to know about getting into the fashion world and more specifically the fashion PR world.  When I was coming home to go to NYC for all my interviews I was so nervous on what to wear.  Either a pant suit outfit to look professional or a more fashionable outfit to show my style.  I knew it depended on the company but I really didn’t know which to pick.  I tweeted Crosby and she answered within minutes with the perfect (and was so appropriate) answer.  I thank her for all her help and inspiration in this career field.  VISIT HER SITE AT : www.prcouture.com 

2.)  Search, Search and Search some more:  Don’t ever think you applied to enough places because who knows… your dream internship can just be one click further.  Continuously look up new places to apply and keep track of all the places you have applied to.

3.)  Banging resume and cover letter: THIS IS KEY.  Make each letter personalized to the company you are applying to.  Find out information about that company and put that into your cover letter.  If the place you are applying to is very professional make your cover letter match that.  If the place you are to is creative and more laid-back, show that side of you in the cover letter as well.  Put all your related experience on your resume and lastly make sure it is pin-point perfect with grammar and spelling.

4.)  Know the different fields:  As I said before there are so many different fields in the fashion world.  Since I am not in the design aspect a lot of where I have interest is in the background area.  There are “background areas” in all the different fields of fashion PR.  You can work in a PR agency where the agency represents several different designers, you can work for a large brand like Louis Vuitton or Versache, you can work for a small in-house brand or even for a boutique.  There is also editorial to work for, like Galmour and Vogue and there are so many different fields in that area as well.  You can work for a stylist, fashion show or just on fashion events.  The possibilities are endless. Apply to al the different fields because you may never know what field you like best.  I still don’t know and I am going to try them all out until I know!

5.)  Know your stuff:  Try to grasp your hands on everything fashion.  Know designers, know blogs, know different events, know how to pronounce designersand fashion terms EVERYTHING.  You want to sound as knowledgeable and aware as you can.  When on your interview and you are asked what blogs do you follow or what are some outlets our brand can be publicized on, having the previous knowledge to answer these questions with impressive answers is well, impressive.

6.)  Look at the logistics:  Since most fashion interships are unpaid, let’s face it, you probably can’t be working 7 days a week, unless of course you want to.  Find out all the logisitics first before you make any decisions you will regret in the long run.  Figure out how far the office is from your mode of transportation, how many days you have to work, how many hours etc;

7.)  Prepare for the questions you will be asked and KNOW the place your are being interviewed: Besides landing the interview, this is THE most important thing.  Always always always, do research on the place you are interviewing with.  If you know who you are being interviewed by, look up that person’s profile or Linkedin.  It is so impressive to be like, “Oh when you worked ____ how was it,” or “What does exactly your position of _____ entail?”  Know the companies’ goals and mission and make that aware.  Also be prepared for the questions you may be asked and always have questions ready to ask them.  This goes back to number five.  If you have a vast knowledge of the fashion world it will be so beneficial to showcase that during your interview.  When they ask you do you know this media outsource you can adamantly say YES and give even more details.

8.)  Visit in person:  Skype is great for people like me who are away at school and can’t come in for the first interview.  Odds are however you are going to have a follow-up interview.  It is so imperative that you go into the office for this interview.  Not only will you get a feel of what the work environment is like, it truly is different when you meet someone in person.  I know that I would rather talk to people to show them I meant for the job then them just read my resume.  You get to know a person A LOT better when interacting with them in person.  This interaction can be the thing that gets you remembered and have the one-up over the other people applying.

9.)  Follow-Ups:  Written thank yous  on cute (and of course stylish) stationary or cards shows the prospective employer that you took the interview seriously and are very interested in the position

10.)        It will all work out:  I know this all is seems so stressful and can be defeating at times, but I promise you, you will get an interview and it will all work out just the way it should in the end!

Thanks for reading guys! I hope that helped! I really am so passionate about this field so please let me know if you need any advice!  Can’t wait to tell you all about my internship this summer!

Happy hunting and good luck--- YOU GOT THIS

XX L