This summer I had the amazing experience of interning at Revelist.com, a super cool, super badass site for millennial women that publishes articles on a variety of topics. I was a lifestyle intern, which meant that I would cover stories related to food, beauty, and style, to name a few. I also ended up doing a few articles on viral videos and the occasional celeb post. My internship was located right on 5th avenue in New York City (I know right!!!!!!!!) and while I have had my work published online in various places before, this was my FIRST EVER INTERNSHIP. And it was just the other day that I declared myself as a Health Science major and thought I was going to med school (haha, funny!). I learned a lot of things from the experience that I really want to tell you about in case you would like an editorial internship, or you would like to go down the same career path as me!
1. Your basic knowledge of organization will save you.
Sometimes you’ll have a really busy day where you get multiple assignments, and as I said in my post on things to not do at your internship, you need to make sure that you don’t leave the office without completing all of the assignments for the day. It’s not like a classroom assignment where if you don’t finish you can just come back another day and pick back up where you left off; things are really fast paced and you need to get today’s headlines out today. This is where some organization comes in. On days when I had multiple articles to finish and multiple other things to do, I created a to-do list in the exact order that I wanted to do them (in order of importance and time-relevance, of course). This helped me keep my focus so that I could carry out all my tasks properly.
2. Do things right the first time.
Don’t rush to finish an assignment because then you might have to go back and fix whatever mistakes you overlooked. This didn’t happen to me but it’s always something you should remember no matter what type of job you do. Plus, keeping this in mind will also remind you to go back and review your work before you submit it to your boss. I have found that when reviewing my work, better ways to say some things came to mind and it ultimately made my articles way better. You should also use this chance to watch out for any grammatical errors.
3. As an intern, you need to be a go-getter.
There’s no room to be lazy! Plus, you’ll need all the practice you can get, so don’t try to dodge a pitch your editor sends your way. My first time being assigned a celeb post, I was a little worried because I actually don’t pay much attention to celebrities at all and even though the Kardashians are always making headlines, I still never knew anything about their lives, so I thought this assignment would be a little challenging for me. But it ended up being just fine because I researched what I needed to know and I made note of any improvements I could make for the future. It’s okay to take on things that are a teeny bit out of your comfort zone!
4. There was no coffee-fetching, or personal errands to run.
I know a lot of people think of coffee-fetching when they think of an editorial internship in New York City, but mine wasn’t like that at all. I was treated like any other employee and never made any personal errands. I know those horror stories are insane, but just know that not every experience is going to be like that.
5. You can’t be shy to reach out to people outside the office.
I did a bit of emailing to photographers and PR reps for inquiries, and I know it sounds terrifying but they’re people just like me and you, so it’s not as scary as you might think it is. In the future you might be reaching out to people for actual interviews and maybe even meetups so you definitely have to learn to shed some of your shyness in this field.
6. Having an internship while you’re still in college is a great idea.
I know many people decide to have an internship after graduating from college and I know some people think that that’s exactly how it should be, but getting an internship as a current college student really showed me how different things can be when you’re doing assignments in a classroom setting vs. doing them at a real platform (more on that later). I got some great experience and I definitely think that my approach to articles and headlines has changed a bit, so it’ll definitely give me an upperhand when I start classes again, and I’d be more than happy to help out any classmates too!
7. I want to work in lifestyle after graduation.
At first I thought lifestyle was about healthy eating and tips for improving your life, but then I realized that in the media industry, ‘lifestyle’ covers much more — beauty, style, food, dating, etc. This was an important thing for me to know because in the future I may have been looking for ‘beauty writer’ positions and not having much luck, whereas I should’ve been searching for ‘lifestyle writer’ positions. It seems to me that companies usually use the term lifestyle when seeking a new member for that specific team. It was definitely a lot of fun to work on this team and I can definitely see myself on lifestyle in the future!
8. I don’t just want to write.
I also want to be in front of the camera in the future and go out and travel to write articles. One of my co-workers was particularly inspiring and me realize that in the future I want to do fun (and even crazy) stuff in front of a camera for millions to see and know my face. Live it up, right?
9. If I had to pick just one category to write about, I have no idea what I’d pick.
Like I said, I want to be on the lifestyle team in the future, but I don’t know if I’d want to focus specifically on just beauty, style, or food — I just can’t choose because I love them all! Some of my style posts have been really popular, so that’s encouraging, but hopefully I’ll end up working somewhere where I don’t have to commit to just one category.
10. Commuting to the city is TIRING.
An hour and a half each way can be very…ugh, especially when the train is really crowded. I learned that bringing a book (and not relying on the fleeting wifi to use your phone) is a great way to pass the time. I also picked up on some safety tips that I may do an upcoming blog post on. While I don’t have to live in the city to work in the city, it just may make things a bit easier for me.
11. Writing at an internship is VERY different from writing for a class assignment.
So I touched on this before, but yes, it’s VERY different. I’m not saying you should b.s. class assignments because they’re just for class, but at an internship there’s no professor to slap you on the wrist when you forget to fact check and say, “fact check next time.” No, failure to do this could cost you your job, and you’re making the platform look bad when you forget to do something like this, or completely overlook it. Writers are responsible for fact checking!! Also, in class you may have a week to do an assignment, but in the industry your editor may ask you to have a story ready in an hour.
12. I love being able to insert my personality into my writing.
This is probably one of the biggest things that pushed me to become a journalism major and want to write for magazines. I simply love being sassy on paper, and I write the way I would speak to a friend. You can’t exactly do that in a bunch of other fields, but I love being witty and devising clever puns that I get to share with millions of people. When I look for a job in the future, I’ll definitely look for one that allows me to do exactly that!
So that was what my experience was like as an intern this summer (for the first time ever!!!!!!!) I really feel like I’m doing extremely well for myself (more on this in my NYC Conference post) and I truly feel that I’ve found my calling.
How was your summer and if you’ve had an internship before, what was your experience like?
