My internship experience!

Why hello there!

This is a little post that I have been reading on other people's blogs for ages and never thought I would ever get the opportunity to write one myself! My fashion internship experience! 

When researching into internships and work experiences I read all the comments about being prepared to do anything and to get practising making cups of teas. I can confirm to you now that I didn't have to make any cups of teas in the whole two weeks that I was there (I did however have to order a dominos but you can read about that in a second!). I thought I would write about my experience in a little diary form as I am not allowed to share very many of the photographs that I have taken just yet for copyright reasons!

Day One

I started my work experience on Monday 27th April 2015 and was super excited. I was interning at 'You and Your Wedding magazine' in London. This was sort of a big deal to me as this magazine and company 'immediate media' are known for being very important magazines. I know for a fact my auntie studied their magazine religiously when planning her wedding. I spoke to a couple of the ladies and instantly was made to feel very welcome. On the first day they threw me straight into the deep end by helping preparing for the photo shoot which would be happening the next day. I remember thinking 'It's my first day and I am already getting ready for a photoshoot'. It was a quite boring job of putting dresses into bags and making sure that all of the accessories fitted in the suitcase. Boring for some, but for a willing intern who loves jewellery it was rather fun! 

Day Two

Today was the first photoshoot of the week. It started with me in a bad mood getting lost on the train and then having to call for a taxi on my own for the first time (shoutout to all of you who are able to do this in style, my calling was more like shouting for your mother when your lost in a supermarket, picture that if you will!). When I arrived it was half 9 and the first job of the day was to arrange and organise lunch. What a fabulous job! Seeing as it was a Tuesday, and seeing as I am a student, we of course had to order a dominos. I still can't get over the fact it cost £90! I can assure you that pizza had never tasted so good! 

The photoshoot itself was much different to what I had expected. In my mind there was going to be lots of people running round and the aroma of hairspray in the air. In reality it was one model and photographer with a hairdresser and makeup artist. I was assisting the senior fashion assistant and stylist. In the beginning I felt like I was getting in the way rather and I felt extremely bad, however in the end I got into a little routine of grabbing the dress from the model once she had done and handing her the next one. This worked quite well as it meant I was doing something productive which helped them out whilst standing to the side. Later on in the day I was even brave enough to suggest a couple of the accessories to use which made me feel important! (The shoot I was working on was the September/October cover shoot. I will post images when it comes out!) It was a bitter sweet moment when the photoshoot ended. A good thing that came out of the shoot were the fresh flowers used for photographic purposes. They were going to throw them away so I decided to take some home for my mum! She was over the moon with them! 

Day Three

This day was much more chilled out and relaxed than the previous two days. I spent the majority of the day in my temporary home away from home, the fashion cupboard. When I was reading different blogs previously they spoke about the fashion cupboard being a horrible, boring place with no life. I loved it. Being in my own little space with little jobs to do was pretty much heaven to me, (Weird I know!). I put Radio 1 on loud and started to send back the dresses and accessories from the photoshoot the day before. In the afternoon I started preparing for the next days photoshoot. (Two photoshoots in a week, crazy I know!).

Day Four

Today was another photoshoot day but this time at the office. This photoshoot was completely different to the previous one I had been on. Two real bridesmaids had come in and were going to be dressed and modelled with a couple of the dresses that we thought they would like. Although it was at the office it was just as busy as the day before. I felt a lot in the way and this was the only day that I really felt like a 'fashion intern'. I was told to do a lot of the carrying, steaming and general cleaning which I had expected to do which wasn't as fun as watching the photographs take place. But regardless I enjoyed myself and knew that I needed to treasure the moment because I was lucky to even be there. 

Day Five

Today was another busy day of returning items from the fashion cupboard to the businesses and PR companies that had sent them to be used in the photoshoots. I really enjoyed packaging up the products and sending them off to the mailroom. (I always did like to wrap up presents!). I was then given a really great opportunity to work on an article for the website which will be going live in a couple of weeks. This was something else that I have enjoyed doing and something that made me want to get back into the swing of things for my blog. 

Day Six

I started the day again in the fashion cupboard. We had lots more returns to make so I again spent all of the day down there. Radio One was in full swing and my packaging up of products had definitely improved. Another new job that I was asked to do was to package up all of the jewellery and take them back up to the office to photocopy them on the scanner. I found that this was a really annoying job to do. I had to basically take every item out of the bag and scan it so the companies would know what we had sent back to them. Such a simple task made difficult by over the top earrings and thousands of boxes and bags! It did make everything easier when sending them back though!

Day Seven

Again today I spent most of my time sending back products in the fashion cupboard. I had a little break and worked on some more bits for the website. As it was only me and one other lady there in the morning we worked on lots of bits and I published my first article for them. I was of course proud as punch! Hopefully that is the start of things to come! I wrote another article and got some pictures together which also went live on the day. I spent the rest of the afternoon going through some final bits that needed to be sent back. 

Day Eight

Thursday marked the day before my final day of work experience. Again I was continuing to send back last minute dresses and jewellery. We boxed together some bits which were urgent to be returned. I still can't get over how expensive bits can be. I am never sure whether people would actually spend thousands on a little bracelet! In the afternoon we had a little party for one of the ladies who's birthday it was. 

Day Nine

So my final day had come and I probably spent it doing the most I had done the whole two weeks. Talk about saving the best till last! I worked on a couple of articles for the website and also sent back some dresses. One of the best things was searching for shoes and bags that I loved that went really well together. I could definitely get used to researching shoes and bags for a living! There was a little party again in the office for the company so there were bubbles and cupcakes going around! I tried to be good and stuck to just the one! Just as I was about to leave I was given a little goody bag from the wonderful lady that I was helping. I really wasn't expecting anything at all! (If you would like to see what I got let me know!). 

In conclusion I found my very first internship to be both challenging and fun. Going into a completely new environment was really intimidating, but I managed to overcome my nerves and did it. The transport was also tough, but again I did it and am super proud of myself. I have learnt a lot of new skills as well. Writing for the website has shown me the different tenses that you have to write in when working on a website that lots will read. I also learnt how to do returns and how to organise a fashion cupboard. Being on a photoshoot gave me such an insight to behind the scenes of a magazines cover, and although I wasn't there for the photography I enjoyed seeing how they put the pictures together by using a white board. 

If you are thinking about doing an internship I strongly encourage that you do! I have a couple more lined up for the summer and after the past two weeks, I am so excited to complete them! All the more experience the better! 

If you need any help or have any questions don't hesitate to comment or tweet me (@bellamomentox)

Lots of love,