Making The Most Out Of Your Fashion Internship
It was eight months ago that I walked into the StyleCaster offices and was introduced to the boss, at which point I promptly messed up his simple name, which I may add, I had already Googled before. This brings me to my first point of making the most of your internship experience: research the company beforehand! Knowing a little bit about the company and how it works will help you learn how to approach your internship, learn more about the culture of the company, and an essential head start to your experience. Also, calm your nerves beforehand, so you dont stumble out of the boss office like I did.
If youre reading this now, you obviously know that a fashion internship is essential to a future career in fashion, but what you may not realize is why the internship is important, or that it takes more than just getting an internship for it to have any value at all. Learning how to make the most of your internship definitely sets you apart from the rest of your peers, and reading this right now has already put you ahead of the game!
Set Your Own Goals Before you start your internship, write down a list of goals for yourself where you expect yourself to be at the end of your experience, what you hope to learn, who you hope to meet. It will help motivate you during your stay and ensure that your internship will be quite valuable.
Dress For The Part Research the company beforehand, and although a dress code is not going to be listed on their website, you will get a feel for the company culture. Even if you dont find anything out, a cute blazer paired with dress pants and bold accessories is always a safe bet!
Ditch the Negative Attitude Stay positive. Not only is a negative attitude unattractive to your supervisors and co-interns, but it also holds you back from giving the best that you can offer and gaining the most out of your experience.
Be Serious, But Dont Leave Your Personality at Home An internship is the bridge between college and real-life work experience, which means that although you have to buckle down, you dont have to be a robot! Take your tasks seriously, and always remain professional, but dont forget to be friendly and offer your company the fresh, young, personalities they are looking for in their interns.
Understand The Reason for Each Task A lot of your experience will include completing menial tasks that you may think have no purpose, but once you realize the reason for each task, youll realize how it adds to the company on the whole rather than just trying to finish it as soon as you can. Trust me, the chores will be easier once you understand their purpose!
Always Give the Best Youve Got An internship is no time to be slacking. You only have so much time to prove your worth, so dont mess it up! Your internship is a place for you to learn and network, but if you arent giving it all that you can, then you definitely wont be getting as much out of it as you potentially would.
Take Initiative & Go Beyond What Is Expected Of You Its easy to become comfortable with the tasks youre assigned as an intern to fulfill them, and then go home. But wheres the excitement in that?? You play the biggest part in making your internship experience a valuable one, and you have to constantly motivate yourself to outdo what is expected of you and get noticed! Which leads us to
Speak Your Mind Being an intern usually requires “knowing your place” within the company, which almost indicates staying quiet and not involving yourself in some matters, but I did say almost. Of course there are boundaries when you are an intern, but when you think there is something that could be changed, or you think that you are not being challenged enough, say something! Chances are, you input will be appreciated and its a win-win situation for you and the company.
Ask Questions! Dont forget that you are at your internship to LEARN. Ask for the purpose behind some tasks, decisions that are made, how you can accomplish your tasks more efficiently, how those tasks should be accomplished, anything at all! Your supervisor will appreciate your genuine interest and you will have gained valuable knowledge of the business.
Dont Be Afraid To Talk To Your Supervisor Your supervisor is there for a reason, to supervise, not to intimidate or scare you! Supervisors are put in place to help interns, so do get to know them! Just dont make their lives more difficult than need be remember that you are a team.
Get To Know Other Members of the Company Just because you are interning in a specific department doesnt mean you should close yourself off from the rest of the company members. Get to know the other workers during your free time, and youd be surprised how much you horizons will expand and how much of a better grasp of the fashion world you will get.
