I can’t decide between a part-time internship at my dream publication or a full-time reporter position at a start-up website. The internship will be really hands on and I will get to work closely with a really great senior editor (with lots of connections!). It’s also part-time so I can freelance and get a part-time job. The full-time job has a cool job description and the salary is typically entry level with benefits, but it’s a international start-up that literally no one has heard of.
My heart is leaning towards the internship. What should I do?
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Take the internship, only because...
… you said you wouldn’t be hurting financially if you did. Yes, we’re in very shaky times with the economy being what it is, but when an opportunity presents itself, you should go with it. The way the mag industry is, who knows when something like this will come up again? *Again, I say this only if you’re sure you can still manage financially.*
Life is too short to waste doing something you don’t like-go for what you love especially while you’re young and don’t have major responsibilities (I assume). I used to work in newspapers but my heart was with magazines; an editor at a major mag with whom I spoke about breaking in advised me to just get out of newspapers because nothing would happen if I stayed in that industry. At the time that sounded really crazy, because she was essentially telling me to quit my full-time job w/ benefits and a good salary and dive headfirst into the unknown. This was earlier in the year, and now I’m doing what I love.
It’s all about risk-taking and knowing what you’re capable of doing without driving yourself into a financial hole. In my case, being a native NYer, my family is all here and rent isn’t an issue, which made my decision easier to make.
Just evaluate your personal situation and go with your gut.
TAKE THE JOB! So many
TAKE THE JOB! So many big-name magazines just use and abuse their interns. Don’t be blinded by the name. I know somebody who interned directly under Bonnie F. for a year. And this was a great, hardworking girl. Did Bonnie offer her a job? Nope! There were no jobs to be had and no jobs to be made. Even after interning at these big name places, I’d say around 85% of these interns go on to work for lesser name magazines, and it looks like you have that opportunity already. Take the job!
Wow, so many mixed feelings!
Framboise,
Can I speak to you off the board? Only if you want to. My email is angel1c_devil@yahoo.com.
Well, my title at the internship would be assistant to X editor, which is the primary reason why I am so tempted to go for this. The editor is REALLY well known in the industry. It’s also only for a couple of months and I am freelancing for a few sites and pubs, so I can kind of afford it.
I’ve actually been an EA at a lesser-known mag website before and I got laid off. I’ve experienced first hand what a difference big names make.
I’m still confused, though!
hold the phone
Yes, the economy is bad, and yes, jobs are hard to come by, but if your dream is to work at this one magazine, and they’re offering you an internship, I’d think you were nutty to turn it down, ESPECIALLY since you can work part-time for pay elsewhere.
I know a girl who took an internship with Glamour post-grad, and everyone said she was crazy. Guess what? She’s an assistant editor there now.
I’m not sure what the backgrounds are of the people who previously answered your post, but I know when I look at resumes for EA jobs (which is, most likely, still what you’d have to come in as if you want to work at a print mag), I’d rather see an internship, even a post-grad one, with a huge mag than a full-time job with an unknown site. That’s just me, though…
I personally did a post-grad
I personally did a post-grad internship with one of my dream magazines, and nothing opened up while I was there. A year later, nothing else has; even though they’ve shuffled some people internally and I’ve kept in touch professionally and socially with a lot of people there, it ended up turning into nothing. Additionally, while I was there, I revisited another huge mag I had interned at the year before since it was owned by the same company, and literally, in the few months I had been out of touch, everyone I knew there had left. Your friend at Glamour got really, really lucky, but undergrad is the time to rack up big-name internships, not now—I think it’s too much of a crapshoot, generally.
The one other question I would pose to the OP that might make a difference is, How far along are you in your career? Have you already held an EA position somewhere or are you still looking for your first job? Because personally, when I look at resumes, I don’t want to see someone who is going backwards. If a girl goes from a full-time paid position to a part-time unpaid internship, I would worry that she had trouble hacking it at work.
I totally agree. I
I totally agree. I wouldn’t think twice about taking this internship. You have the rest of your life to work and veer onto the safe path. Who knows if you’ll ever have this opportunity again.
If this girl who took the
If this girl who took the post-grad internship with Glamour and is now an assistant editor, I’m going to go ahead and assume this internship was a few years ago, when jobs were a little easier to come by and not everything was an unpaid internship. Most EA jobs have been replaced by either freelance EA’s or unpaid interns. The fact that she was able to come by a paid job with benefits right now is amazing. I understand that the industry is difficult to break into and maybe that “huge name” magazine matters to some, but this economy is not one to be saying “yes, i’ll work for free!” If this was a few years ago, I’d say do the internship, you’ll get a job in no time after. But right now, definitely not.
mag job market
We all know this economy is one of the worst we’ve had in a while, but getting a job in magazines now isn’t much harder than when that Glamour ed got her job (maybe two years ago?). It’s definitely not easier now, but remember: With EA jobs that become freelance EA and intern jobs, there are associate jobs that become full-time EA jobs. I know it’s hard to see that when you’re looking for that first gig, but it all trickles down from the top.
And also keep in mind: It’s been taking people with 3+ national mag internships months to find that first EA job for a few years now. That’s not new to this economy.
Anyway, the original poster said she can work part-time. It’s not like she’d be interning for free 7 days a week. And true, she can’t go in expecting to get hired in 3 months. Or even 6. But she’ll be the first one up for any job that opens up AND she’ll hear about jobs that may not get posted through her well-connected sr. editor boss. She should check if they have full-time EA spots and find out how long their EAs have been there to gauge whether there’s a shot of them opening up while she’s there.
Obviously, if she can’t afford to do it, she shouldn’t do it, but if my dream mag said they’d hire me at any level, I’d take it.
Take the job
If the editor at your dream mag really likes you, keep in touch with her! Think of it as, you’re not closing that door, you’re just making the choice to walk though it at a later date on your own terms. Everyone will understand if you take a paid job with benefits over a part-time internship, and it sounds like you’ll get to learn a lot of great things at either position—online experience is huge right now, and if you have freelancing connections you can keep your reputation going in print as well, which will be great for you in the future. I know how tempting it is to throw every practical consideration out the window to take a job at your dream magazine, but if you’re really that perfect for the pub, it won’t be your last shot at a job there. Don’t worry about the name recognition thing, especially in the online realm, just make sure you develop your own skills and you’ll get what you need out of it.
Job.
Ditto to most of the advice here. Also, don’t be put off by the start-up’s current lack of name recognition. Just because it’s unknown now doesn’t mean it’ll stay that way. In a few months you could find yourself with a really buzzed-about website on your resume. Things grow a lot faster online than in print.
JOB.
You must, must, MUST take the job. For obvious reasons.
Take it from me…I’m on my 6th internship, and unfortunately, internships don’t always lead to job openings (clearly) or the wonderful opportunities that you may think.
I say go for the opportunity
I say go for the opportunity that will put you on the path to your career goals. If you are young, time is on your side.
I’m not sure if this is
I’m not sure if this is the answer you want to hear, or if anyone else will agree with me, but take the job! Times are rough right now (stock market crash, anyone?) and the fact that you have the option to take a full-time job is amazing.
However, I don’t know your financial situation, so if you’re able to take a part-time internship and can make it work with a part-time job on the side, that can possibly work. BUT, benefits are so important….one emergency trip to the doctor isn’t exactly cheap….and benefits don’t come with part-time internships or even part-time jobs.
I’m going to have to say take the job, a salary and benefits are pretty important, especially right now! Good luck!
I agree, take the job!! I
I agree, take the job!! I mean, it’s paying a salary and providing benefits … believe it or not, that’s pretty rare nowadays. I know it’s so tough turning down something that sounds great, but seriously seriously, TAKE THE JOB.