Work Experience – my top tips

I can’t stress to you how important work experience is to your future career, especially if you are wanting to go in to the creative industries. With my Writing Fashion & Culture degree you had to gain work placements with magazines, PR & marketing agencies, buyers etc which I did.

If your lecturers can’t help with getting your placements, you gotta go at it alone. This means copious amount of phone calls, letters and e-mails, be persistant. The magazine industry is a tough one to crack as there’s usually waiting lists. I remember contacting Glamour magazine in 2004 and their waiting list was about 1-2 years! crazy.

My tip is: Try magazine’s that aren’t as popular. Any work experience in the right environment is good experience and in smaller magazines/newspapers you may find you’ll get to do a lot more.

I’ve had some good and bad experiences regards work experience. I’ve completed a whole week of photocopying and coffee runs with the most childish women you can imagine. My favourite was when a certain journalist at a reputable fashion magazine said, “…is someone talking to me, or is it just the wind,” when I tried to ask her a question. But then the local and some national magazines have been fantastic. Many have let me go out on fashion shoots, assisting the stylist or interviewing and writing features.

I’ve completed about six different work placements and every time i’ve attended an interview they have always commented on how much experience i’ve gained and how good it is to have done it. I also advise to try and do as many as possible, you may even be offered a summer placement or one day a week to go and work for them. The quicker and longer you have your foot in the door the more chance you have of being employed there.

Work experience is also a great way to try different area’s and test drive whether you want to really work in that sector- you really have nothing to lose.