01.22.10
How to get work experience in magazines
One thing I noticed when I decided to get work experience in magazines was the sheer lack of information telling you how. As someone who had zero contacts I had to secure an internship the old-fashioned way – emailing dozens of magazines and crossing my fingers that at least a couple would say yes.
Through many hours of googling I was able to put together bits and pieces of information – how to contact magazines, who to contact and what to expect when you get there – but it was far from easy. So here’s the stuff I wish I’d known before I applied for my internships. (If you’re interested you can read about my five weeks at more!, Shortlist and Time Out here.)
N.B. This is what I did. It worked for me, but it’s by no means the only way to secure an internship.
N.N.B This information applies to magazines only. I didn’t try applying to newspapers as it’s rare they take on anyone who a) isn’t a graduate or b) on a Journalism course.
Some things you should know before you start…
- You’ll need to start applying at least a year in advance. Don’t send any now and expect to get a placement at Heat or GQ. It just won’t happen.
- The more flexible you are with your dates, the better chance you’ll have of getting a placement.
- Virtually all magazines will ask you to intern at their London office, so make sure you have somewhere to stay or can afford to commute.
- You definitely won’t get paid. If you’re very lucky you’ll get expenses. So start saving! Working for free feels so much worse when you don’t have any savings to fall back on. I learnt that the hard way.
- It’s unlikely that magazines will take on anyone under 18 due to Health & Safety gubbins.
Still reading? Excellent. Here are the next steps…
1. Start making a list of the magazines you wouldn’t mind interning for. I applied for eight.
2. For each of your chosen magazines, find out who the best person to contact will be. Check out the Job Vacancies page that most magazine websites have and you’ll usually find a small section detailing how to apply for work experience.
No such page? Then buy a copy of the magazine and check the staff list (usually on the last page) and find the Editorial Assistant – they’ll be the best person to contact.
3. Write your application. This should be a short and sweet email explaining that you’d like to intern at their publication. A few tips:
- Don’t forget to state your availability dates.
- I attached my CV to every email I sent. To be honest, I’m not sure that it made a difference but it certainly didn’t hurt my chances.
- Treat it like a job application. So use a formal tone and perform a spellcheck before hitting send. And please make sure you’ve spelt the recipient’s name correctly. It’s just polite.
- If the magazine asks you to attach two pieces of your writing, then attach two pieces of your writing. Following basic instruction, innit.
4. Send your emails! Now wait between 20 minutes and a few weeks for a response.
5. Got an acceptance? Yay! Send an email confirming your place! Then perform a celebratory dance around your laptop and tell your ENTIRE family.
6. Take out a subscription to the magazine(s) you’ll be interning at. Get to know the writing tone and style, and what type of articles they feature. Understanding this puts you in a good position to pitch features once you get there.
When you get there…
Fantastic experience as they are, magazine internships aren’t especially glamorous. They’re pretty hard work – and unpaid work at that. By doing a placement you’re losing out on paid employment, so your internship will be costing you money.
Keeping this in mind, the best tip I can give you is make the most out of your time there. So don’t sit there twiddling your thumbs – ASK FOR WORK. If you don’t understand something, then for heaven’s sake PLEASE ask someone who does so you don’t cock it up.
And if you’re going to grumble about being exploited, then sod off NOW. Five year olds in an Indian sweatshop are exploited. You are working for free. There is a difference. You’ll be gaining so much out of a magazine internship, and staff are incredibly grateful for the extra help. I may not have been paid for my two weeks at Time Out but I did have work published, a lovely thank you card and amazing references.
I hope I haven’t succeeded in putting you off, because internships are an invaluable way of learning about the magazine industry. And the feeling of seeing your work in an actual magazine is pretty amazing.
01.08.10
60 fun things: December update
December has certainly been the busiest month by far for me, yet I didn’t do ONE thing on my list. Not one. I would feel bad, but I did so many other random and fun things. Things like…
…Drinking from a cocktail so big you could row in it
Thanks to the outrageously creative folks at Bompas & Parr, Domestic Slut Jane and I got to drink berry cocktails at 2pm on a Thursday afternoon whilst wearing plastic aprons. Great fun. The subsequent tipsy tumbling down Oxford Circus was not.
Jane chillaxing with a cocktail...
…Going late night shopping in Broadway Market
After sobering up at Gail’s from said berry cocktail (thanks to plenty of tea and coconut cake) we went to Broadway Market for Christmas shopping. Unfortunately none of the stalls were around, but there was an amazing bookshop that sold Babar and gave us hot cider.
…Visiting Bourne & Hollingsworth (finally!) for the Domestic Sluttery Christmas party
Even though the venue wasn’t as fabulous as I’d expected and a few Domestic Sluts couldn’t make it, the party was probably my favourite evening in December (bar Christmas Eve).
01.02.10
My New Year’s resolutions
I’m not going to do anything drastic like resolve to lose weight, invent some life-changing invention or have neat hair. No, just a few little things that I’ve been meaning to do for some time. Here are the ways I’m going to “better myself” (ugh) in 2010:
1. Take more pictures. An Uncle of mine once told me that you can never spend too much money on camera film and getting pictures developed and, eight years later, I’m inclined to agree – it’s not like you’ll ever get that time back. So I’ll be taking snaps at pretty much every event I go to. Even if they are really fucking stupid, like this one:
2. Keep track of every book I read. No specific reason for this one really, but my friend Dan Worth did it and I liked the idea.
3. Don’t be a book snob. I avoided the Twilight Saga – even though friends told me they were unputdownable – because I thought myself above teen fiction. As it happened, I virtually inhaled the four books in three days. Granted, Stephenie Meyer isn’t the best writer but she created a world that had me hooked from page one. And I don’t want to miss out on any more amazing fiction because of a snobby attitude.
4. Stop feeling bad when buying things other than travel cards and milk. This is a hangover from my Summer of providing free labour at various magazines. Every pound was budgeted and there was no room for fripperies like magazines, eyeliner and Lush bath bombs (don’t feel too bad – I lived at home, so never went hungry or anything). Even though now I’m working, I mull over virtually every purchase – from a new dress to spinach hummus. It’s rather irritating to say the least.
5. Think about boys less. Self-explanatory really.
6. Listen to something other than Soul music. Starting with Bon Iver.
12.22.09
2009: How was it for you?
I think for everyone there’s one theme that recurs throughout the year. For me that would be Twitter. An astonishing amount of the stuff that’s happened this year in my life – people I’ve met, things I’ve done and achieved – wouldn’t have happened had I not joined Twitter in January. And I certainly didn’t expect it to have such an impact on my life.
Though nothing major has happened this year (no pregnancies, marriage proposals, divorces or deaths) it didn’t go “to plan”. This time last year I expected I’d be at University. Instead I’m interning (and loving it), writing for a fantastic blog and have more plans for world domination in the pipeline. You’ll hear about them soon enough, don’t you worry.
Things of significance that happened to me in 2009 (in chronological order, naturally) and probably won’t mean much to anyone else:
I developed an obsession with all things Motown. Blame this.
I joined Twitter.
I went speed-dating. Here’s a tip: Don’t.
I got my photo taken by Mario for his Someone Once Told Me project.
I started writing for Domestic Sluttery. I’m especially pleased about this one.
I finished my 13 month internship at studentbeans.com.
I got a place to study English Literature at QMUL.
I started my blog. Lucky you.
I discovered karaoke at Lucky Voice. Go, it’ll change your life.
I joined Qype and went to a bunch of really fun events with friendly people (including last month’s infamous Bordello event)
I started going to London Blogger’s Meetup and The Sway. Still haven’t mastered this ’social interaction’ thing though.
I went on my first ever date (at least my first that wasn’t with someone I went to school with).
I interned at Time Out, Shortlist and more! magazine for five weeks in the Summer.
Time Out let me scribble stuff for their Student Guide. That’s kind of a life’s dream fulfilled.
I deferred my place to study English Literature at QMUL.
I began an internship at Webjam.
I met Mayer Hawthorne! Extra-special thanks to my Twitter Fairy Godmothers.
I turned 21! I’ve been reassured that it’s all uphill from here 
Le Cool asked me to write for them! Please don’t tell them I’m a nerd with zero social skills, ta.
I won a return ticket to Paris, thanks to this blog post.
===
Whilst it’s always nice to see what’s been achieved at the end of the year, I’ve always been more excited to speculate on what will happen in the year to come. So many exciting and unexpected things have happened in 2009, and I can’t wait to see if 2010 will be the same.
Will I break a bone? Get a new job? Finally take up my place at Queen Mary’s? Fall in love? Grow taller? Move house? See? The possibilities are endless!
Happy New Year x
12.09.09
Things that make Alex stabby
I’m a pretty cheery person most of the time, and not really given to anger (this is mainly because I’m a fan of bottling-up messy emotions, but let’s not get into that right now). However, there are a couple of things that are really bugging me that I’d like to scribble about, otherwise I’ll end up mumbling to myself like a crazy lady when I’m buying milk or something.
1. Being asked “where I’m from originally”
This has been bothering me for some time. Thing is, I actually like it when people ask about my racial background. It shows that they are interested in me and that’s always nice. What does bother me, and has been doing so for months, usually goes something like this:
Random person: “So, where are you from?”
Me: “London.”
Random person: “No, I mean where are you from originally?”
I’m not stupid, I understood your question. I just didn’t provide the answer you were expecting.
If I was BORN in London, then I can’t be FROM anywhere else. ‘Tis not possible you see. What you want to know is why I’m brown. That’s fine – ASK THAT. Just don’t ask an ill-worded question and expect a completely different answer. I won’t reward your politically correct efforts.
2. Sexually suggestive billboards
Particularly about stuff that isn’t explicitly sexy. Particularly the Flake “succumb to the crumb” adverts I see plastered all over London. Oral sex and sweeties – because 22%-cocoa-solids-Cadbury can’t call itself real chocolate, so it’s a sweetie – shouldn’t be seen in the same context. It’s just wrong.
Want to vent about something? Feel free to do so in the comments. It’s great fun.
12.04.09
Macaroons & Mona Lisa: My dream day in Paris
Disclaimer: This is an entry to a competition for Le Nouveau Paris. But seeing as I’ve been obsessed with Paris for several years, this post was bound to happen sooner or later…
Every year I make plans to visit Paris. Around Spring I email friends and family members, work out schedules, check ticket websites and fantasise in spending a weekend in one of the world’s most beautiful cities. And it never happens. Something always comes up and so I still have yet to skip (because everyone in Gay Paree skips, right?) around this amazing city.
Honestly, I’d be happy to spend an entire Summer’s day under the Eiffel Tower eating and drinking. But if I had €1000 to spend?
Well, once I’d stop throwing the banknotes in the air and rolling around in them on my hotel room bed (always wanted to do that) I’d make a list. And this is what that list would include:
- Macaroons! Trying a Laduree macaroon is on my list of fun things to do in London, but why not visit the source of ganache-y goodness in Paris? I might even buy a few for family and friends.
- Mona Lisa! The chance to see one of the world’s most famous pieces of art, UP CLOSE, would be amazing. Then I’d hop to The Louvre gallery’s gift shop and buy enough postcards to satisfy the stationery fetishist in me.
- Fancy-schmancy hotels! This might make me sound like a total girl, but I still watch Sex & The City. The Parisian hotel in the last ever episode (where Carrie completely freaks out when she sees the Eiffel Tower from her hotel room – don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about) is utterly divine. I’d like a night in there please. With room service, natch.
- SHOPPING! Yeah, I can’t not visit the fashion capital of the universe and not go shopping. That’d be like going to Scotland and not buy a haggis. Or something.
I think that just about uses up my budget, but I feel like I’m missing something. What would be your dream day in Paris?
11.30.09
60 fun things: November update
Way back in October I blogged about the 60 fun things I want to do over the next year. It averages out at five new and “enriching” experiences per month – here’s how far I got in November:
14. Go to a costume party
Last weekend I went to Domestic Slut Gemma’s Mad Men themed party. There was Julie London on the decks, retro cocktails with names like ‘Old-Fashioned’ and everyone partied like it was 1962. I wore a swishy dress, but couldn’t quite master the beehive.
15. Buy fancy underwear without blushing at the till
On my birthday I went to a Qype event held at Bordello, a gorgeous shop that can be reliably described as selling the fanciest of underwear and more. Much more. Seeing as I didn’t buy anything (and blushed furiously – you all know the story by now) I’ll only give myself a half point. But when my budget does allow for £300 corsets to be bought, I’m fully going back. I’ll just be sure not to loiter at the till…
18. Get to know Shoreditch
I’ve been to Shoreditch several times in the past month for the aforementioned Bordello event, a birthday party and Halloween. I still think it’s overpriced, snooty (not lah-di-dah Kensington snooty, but hipster snooty – not sure which is worse) and pretty grubby. Call me precious, but I don’t want my Saturday night to involve stepping over puddles of vomit.
There are some people who never seem to leave Shoreditch. If you are one of those people, please explain the appeal of it to me. I just don’t geddit.
26. Go shopping for vinyls
Again, I’ll give myself a half point for this. I asked music-y friends for advice on where to go and set aside a Saturday afternoon for grubbing about in record stores. But then I spent my vinyls money on a pair of boots.
Absolutely no regrets there.
45. Try a macaroon from Laduree
Sian shared her birthday gift of Laduree macaroons with everyone at her party (partly because she’s lovely, partly because she’s allergic to raspberries). They were delicious, but I expected nothing less.
52. Buy a brownie from Paul A. Young’s
Any excuse to visit that shop in Camden Passage, really. It just smells so good in there. That said their brownies aren’t as mind-blowingly good as Lantana’s. Which leads me nicely to…
55. Find the perfect chocolate brownies
£2 spent at Lantana Cafe will get you the most amazing, grin-with-the-sheer-yumminess-of-them brownies in London. They are so delicious that they make me smile. An inanimate object, by virtue of being fucking delicious, makes me happy. Craziness.
Fancy making your own? These Cheesecake Brownies are every bit as sexy as they sound.
11.20.09
My 21st birthday in numbers
My 21st birthday wasn’t the debauched night that is expected (I’m saving bad behaviour for me and Jane’s joint birthday party next week) but it was still a lot of fun. Very random and unlike any day I’ve ever had, but great fun. It consisted of…
1 ride on a scary rollercoaster in Hyde Park.
15 minutes of tentative ice-skating.
1 round on the carousel. My horse was called Ashley:
1 plastic cup of Mulled Wine (my first – it was delish).
2 celebrity sightings – that blonde from Hollyoaks and the mixed-race lady from Holby City.
2 hours stroking corsets, trying on hats and blushing over “erotica” (Me: “What’s this?” Sian: “That’s a cock ring, Alex”) in posh knickers shop Bordello, Shoreditch.
17 birthday greetings posted on my Facebook wall.
31 happy birthday messages on Twitter
1 impromptu trip to Vinopolis for girly drinks
…And many, many white wines.
11.18.09
Is this what being a grown up feels like?
Tomorrow I’m 21.
Though the idea of celebrating your birthday has always seemed a little odd to me (and self-indulgent – yes, I was raised in church) I like the idea of “reflecting”. Particularly on the stuff I’ve done and the stuff I thought I’ve had done. I’m well aware that I’m young and have a lot to learn, but it does seem that there are an awful lot of gaps in my “life experience”. See:
I don’t understand the Middle East Conflict.
I haven’t been in a long-term relationship.
My hair is still always a little bit messy.
I still do that incredibly nerdy thing of pushing my glasses up at the bridge.
I haven’t lost my “puppy fat”.
I don’t think I’m going to get any taller than 5ft 3 
I haven’t been to university yet. At least not for any longer than two semesters.
I have yet to visit Paris. Or Venice. Or Rome. Or Barcelona.
Hmm. Maybe when I’m 22 I’ll be a proper grown up?
11.04.09
How I got to meet Mayer Hawthorne
**DISCLAIMER** My head’s still a little muddled after all the excitement so this blog post won’t be my best work. Expect fangirlishness aplenty, pictures in place of text and overuse of exclamation marks.
My growing obsession admiration for Mayer Hawthorne has been well-documented in my blog, Posterous and Twitter feed. I’ve loved – nay, ADORED – his music since the first time I heard Just Ain’t Gonna Work Out and have waxed lyrical about the following since:
1. His geeky specs. I’m a sucker for a guy with thick-framed glasses.
2. His voice – he sings like his larynx has been dipped in caramel and hot fudge sauce. Reminds me of an ice cream sundae (but most desserts don’t make my knees wobbly).
3. His general awesomeness – he played all the instruments when recording his debut album A Strange Arrangement. Which is just awesome.
Also, he’s really cute.
So you can imagine my excitement when I heard that the man himself would be playing at the Queen of Hoxton in Whoreditch. I marked the date on my Google Calendar and everything. See:
You’d think, with the sophistication of my reminder techniques, I’d get hold of a ticket before they’d sold out. I didn’t. And I nearly cried. But thanks to the power of Twitter (and my Fairy Godmothers – you know who you are) my name made it’s way on to the guestlist for the show last Thursday.
*SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE*
So, after whole hours of stressing about what to wear (I wore my pink Lipsy dress, if you’re interested) and wondering how I’d approach him without blurting “LET ME BEAR YOUR CHILDREN”, I finally resolved to speak to him when I saw him. I mean, if critics are anything to go by Mayer Hawthorne is going to be big soon. I might not have the chance to approach him again without being batted aside by fifteen bodyguards.
Believe it or not, the perfect opportunity arose after the show (he sounds uh-MAZING live). Stu, incidentally the one who introduced me to Mayer Hawthorne, waited patiently with me until the club cleared. Then there he was. In t-shirt and trainers, packing up the keyboard on stage. I’d love to say that I played it cool but according to Stu I was “blinking like a psycho”. Humph. When my hands stopped trembling I strolled over to say hello (and didn’t trip in my massive platforms – WIN) and introduced myself – we’ve talked a few times on Twitter, dont’cha know.
And this is where I can’t write anything without sounding like a dopey fangirl (“Like, OMG he touched my FACE”). We chatted a little about London, vinyls, his show and I managed to avoid dribbling which is always a bonus. He was incredibly charming. Disarmingly so, in fact – I certainly wasn’t prepared for it – and recognised me off Twitter. He even signed a vinyl for Stu’s friend:
Thanks to Stu for the pic!
And he posed for a picture with me! Ignore my silly closed eyes and look at how cute he is instead! Look, that’s his hand! ON ME!
"Alex + Mayer 4EVA!!!!1!"
I’ve heard that you shouldn’t meet the people that you look up to because they’ll always disappoint. But Mayer Hawthorne didn’t. He was polite, charming and friendly. I love that he packed up his own equipment after the show (as opposed to snorting lines of coke off a supermodel’s thigh, or something). I love that he’s quite clearly all about the music. And I can’t wait until he’s back in the UK to perform again.
