Where Have I Been?!

Bebe Zeva is AWESOME.

Like I said in my last post, I've been crazy busy lately in my job / fall internship search. After being unemployed since April (at my own will, of course!), I've managed to keep myself busy by interning at Life & Style Weekly, obsessing over Bebe Zeva's latest looks, and checking Ed2010 and freefashioninternships.com for new postings every. five. minutes.

Seriously. That's actually the main reason behind my absence in the blogosphere -- my addictive Type A tendencies. Although I have tons of free time, and I just can't seem to focus. At least three times a day, I'll log on to Blogger, with an awesome idea for a post, but I won't be able to complete it, or in some cases, even start it. And why not? Because I'm obsessive.

You see, after signing the lease for my amazing but ridiculously expensive apartment, I realized how much I hated my job. So, I quit. And although I felt far less suicidal in the following months, it suddenly dawned on me that I no longer have any means to support myself, except of course for my wealthy parents and my boyfriend who works in Sak's Fifth Avenue's corporate office. But as we already know, I hate relying on other people. So, I started my job hunt.

Even these SIMS got a job easier than I did!

With no retail experience, I knew full well that it would be pretty hard to land something at a clothing store. But honestly, I wasn't asking for anything too glamorous -- just a part-time gig at Express, is all. Even this, though, proved difficult.

And that's just the job. You should know by now that's I'm really big on internships. I mean, demanding bosses, competitive peers, unappreciative clients, and no pay -- how does it possibly get better than that?! Really, all kidding aside, internships are great experience, and I've been lucky enough not to get hit with any bad experiences along the way. In fact, all of my internships have been absolutely incredible!

Hint: I haven't been writing about it -- I've been busing living it.

As I've mentioned far too many times, I'm currently interning at Life & Style Weekly. I absolutely love it, but unfortunately the commute is killer. (An hour and a half by bus to Englewood Cliffs, NJ) And, of course, the fact that I want to vary my experience beyond editorial. So, as good internships fill up quickly, I began searching for the perfect Fall internship immediately after landing my position at Life & Style back in June.

This was just the back story of why I've been gone. I promise, my next post will focus on the results of my job & internship search!

A Note About Fashion Internships, including my own experience at Life & Style Weekly

A recent issue of Life & Style

Let me start off by saying I am SO sorry for being so MIA!! I know its no excuse, but I've been super busy with my internship in the Fashion Department of Life & Style Weekly and, as a result of quitting my job at Starbucks back in April and moving to a super expensive apartment, job-hunting.

Oh, and please don't think I forgot that I promised to give all the juicy details bout my time at Life & Style Weekly! I definitely didn't forget, but I did realize that saying too much would be wayyy to unprofessional for my taste.... And, of course, that there's really nothing to tell. Nothing bad, anyway.

As we've learned from my friend at Teen Vogue , fashion internships are not glamorous. Its definitely not unusual for an intern in the fashion / magazine industry to work 3-5 days a week, be constantly mistreated, and not get paid.

Its actually pretty funny, because I'm one of the only people I know who is actually willing to do all that, while keeping a genuine smile on my face. I'm definitely NOT afraid of hard work, and I'm determined to do anything possible to assure I achieve my ever-changing career goal[s]. (Right now, I either want to be Editor-in-Chief of Marie Claire, or a Senior Accessories Buyer at Saks Fifth Avenue!)

A friend of mine interned at Teen Vogue, and HATED it!

So, in an effort to be realistic and to not get disappointed, I went into Life & Style Weekly with very low expectations. Not that this is  bad reflection on the company- I was just trying to protect my morale. And, I'm thrilled to say, Life & Style Weekly has 100% proved me wrong!!

Its been a month and a half since I began, and I literally LOVE every second! Life & Style Weekly is  celebrity-driven magazine, which focuses on bringing the beauty and fashion trends of celebrities to their readers. I've always loved celebrity culture far more than I should have - check out this video of me meeting Ashley Tisdale at age 15 - so naturally, a magazine that revolves around it is a perfect fit! But, somehow, it gets more amazing than that...

As I mentioned above, I'm interning in the fashion department. At the magazine, there are tons of departments, including art, news, PR, beauty, fashion, etc. After meeting a few other interns, I've found out something pretty crazy- they're all just general editorial interns!! Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I think its really cool that I get to work specifically for the fashion department, rather than completing any administrative tasks that other departments just happen to have left over.

My favorite thing about interning at  Life & Style Weekly is that its an incredibly hands-on internship! As I mentioned before, I don't mind going out on constant coffee runs, but absolutely nothing compares to the amazing experience I'm getting!

This is what most fashion internships are like... I just got lucky!

So, whats my typical day like? Well, the majority of my day is research. Whenever a celebrity steps out at an event or movie premiere, and the editors like the outfit they're wearing, they'll send the picture to me so I can find all the details of their look, including what they're wearing, who designed it, and what it costs, as well as details about the event. Now, this may sound boring, but I actually really enjoy it! And, I've found that I'm pretty good at navigating my way around the internet, which is an awesome skill to have.

When there isn't something specific that I'm looking for, I'll make good use of my time by brainstorming trends I've seen lately. After I get the green light from the editors to go ahead with the trend, I'll find photos of celebrities wearing the look, and all the details about where they were, what they're wearing, and when they wore it. I can't count the number of times where an entire spread will be based on the ideas that I develop, which ultimately becomes the captions!!

Katy Perry changes her look A LOT- trust me, I know!

Some of the more notable things I've done have been finding the details on Kate Bosworth's summer boots (trust me, she has A LOT!), compiling photos of Katy Perry's most memorable costumes, and finding the temperatures of 50+ appearances of an A-list star (seriously).

All in all, I'm having a great summer, and I'm gaining amazing experience at Life & Style Weekly! I'm almost sad to see it end...

P.S. Look out for a post in the next few days about my NEW JOB and FALL INTERNSHIP!! (Or, you could just follow me on Twitter to avoid the wait!)

My New Internship + What I Went Through To Get It

It should come as no surprise that when I graduate, I want to work at a magazine and pursue a job in fashion journalism. It should also be incredibly, incredibly obvious that I am an extreme over-acheiver.... [My first year in college, I had a full time job, 20 hour / week internship, and was taking 21.5 credits in school.]

Now, after quitting my BEYOND shitty job at Starbucks, I've been able to put things in perspective. Here's a breakdown:

1. School & Grades
2. Fashion / Beauty / Editorial Internship
3. Unrelated job

With that in mind, I passed all of my exams with flying colors, applied like crazy for the perfect summer internship, and took a break from the working world. After 3 long months of applying everywhere I could think of, I began to realize that it would be almost impossible to intern at a magazine right now.

Hearst and Conde Nast own almost every major fashion magazine, and they require school credit, which I can't earn until next spring. Now, I could always lie, but let's just say that doesn't always seem to work. [I had a friend who lied about earning credit and got an internship with Teen Vogue, only to have them find out and treat her even worse than before! So, after seeing my friend put in 25+ hours a week for no pay, credit, or letter of recommendation, I'm far past the idea of lying as opposed to simply waiting a semester.]

Anyways, after racking my brain and panicking about not having a summer internship, I got an email from an editor at Life & Style Weekly, owned by Bauer Publishing. She said that my resume was forwarded to her by HR and asked of I was interested in an internship with the Fashion Department. Of course, I said yes. She told me that I would receive more info from her the following week. I didn't.

Now here's where I differ from most people. To quote my Facebook and Tumblr biographies:

"but i know what i want.
and i know how to get it.
and nothing and no one will ever stop me.
i never give up.
and i believe that anything is possible.
♥"

When I didn't hear from her, I worried that I wouldn't get it, or that they had given it to someone else. Most people would have stopped there and simply moved on and forgotten about it, but instead, I sent her an email. She assured me that an answer was coming.

The following week began, and still no email. I worried, and I sent her another email. She told me that I would hear the next day. I didn't, and I emailed her. She responded and asked if I was available for an interview the next morning. I said yes!

The interview was relatively short. She sounded like she was in a major hurry, and quickly spewed out questions, like:

1. Are you OK doing occasional administrative tasks?
2. Are you available to come in two days a week?
3. Will you be able to continue for two months, until mid-August?
4. Are you OK with not getting paid?

Now, for those who aren't too experienced in the world of fashion internships, they are VERY demanding! As an intern, you're expected to work crazy hours and devote 3-5 days a week, commit 3+ months, do countless unimportant admin tasks, and above all, almost never get paid. So, needless to say, these expectations were incredibly low.

The conversation was short, and she said I would hear the following day. By this point, I was well aware that I shouldn't hold her words to be exact. I didn't hear the next day, but I heard the day after that. And...... I GOT THE INTERNSHIP!!!!

So, the moral[s] of the story?

1. In the wonderful world of fashion, absolutely NEVER expect that as an intern, you are only thing on a potential employers mind!
2. As a job hunter, absolutely always follow up. If I didn't, I wouldn't have gotten this amazing internship.
3. Do not, under ANY circumstances, lie to a potential employer. You might get away with it, but if you're caught, you're screwed. Just look at the little anecdote about my friend at Teen Vogue- she will NEVER be able to work at any Conde Nast publication again!! [Glamour, Lucky, Marie Claire, Vogue, W, WWD, Teen Vogue, etc.]

As for my experience at Life & Style, I actually began on June 13th. I didn't want to blog about it until I knew it would work out, and then it kind of slipped my mind... Its going great so far, and you can definitely expect some posts about what its really like interning at a major magazine!!