Dear Ed,
I am a junior at a prestigious arts and communications
school in Boston.
I have dreamed my whole life of becoming a fashion
editor, but lately I feel that my dreams will never come to fruition.
I have impeccable style, great writing and people
skills, and the drive to work in the business. As I am approaching my senior
year, I feel like I am in the perfect position to participate in an internship
this summer in New York City and I am getting very discouraged. I feel like
my applications are being filled out just to receive little to no feedback,
and I do not know where else to turn to for advice.
I would appreciate any advice you can give me.
Thank you very much,
ALR
Dear ALR,
I know that it can be frustrating. Some questions:
1) Are you writing cover letters specifically tailored
to the magazine you're applying for? They should be individual—why you
want to work at that particular magazine, what you love about it, be specific—cite
articles you like, what draws you to it every month. Write the cover letter
in the style of the magazine, use their tone of voice that they use in their
pages.
2) Are you sending your cover letters and resumes to
specific editors or just generally to human resources or to the magazine without
a contact name? It's crucial that when you apply for an internship, you get
a name of who to apply to. Find out by calling the magazine directly and talking
to a live person. There is always someone on staff who is in charge of hiring
the interns. Sometimes it's the managing editor. Sometimes it's a junior level
editor. Find out who it is and send your information to that person. Find out
the deadline for the internships and then follow up to make sure she received
your stuff a week after the deadline if you haven't heard from her.
Also, a lot of magazines haven't started hiring their
summer interns yet. Some even wait till summer is already here! But there are
plenty of openings, especially for unpaid internships. Watch the message boards
on Ed2010—go to our Ed
on Campus page. We list all the internships as we hear about them.
There are at least three new ones every day. Don't wait to apply. Send your
resume and personalized cover letter THAT DAY.
Good luck!
Ed
