Hey Edsters!
It’s hard to believe that in just five short days I’ll be home in New York! I’m sneaking in every gelato I can before I leave. I’ve been spending my last few days in Italy thinking about how much I’ve learned during my time at the mag last summer, and how I want to be an even better intern this summer. Here are the three biggest things I’ve learned:
1) When in doubt, yes is the answer. This summer, you are Jim Carrey in Yes Man. Does your editor need someone to box prize packs for contest winners? Transcribe the millionth interview of the day? Make an intricate timeline of Miley/Liam’s relationship? You’re going to do it, and you’re going to do it with gusto. The simple truth of the intern world is that, sometimes, you’re going to need to do things that aren’t as fun as interviewing celebs or going to press events. I know one of the reasons I definitely stood out in my intern class was because I took on jobs the other interns in my department were reluctant to, and I was just as enthusiastic about those tasks as I was about getting bylines. Your editor will probably return the favor when she knows there’s a project you’d be super excited about.
2) Always ask questions! I remember I was super scared to ask my supervisor anything because I didn’t want her to think her intern was an airhead. But once I started learning code and had no idea what was going on, I realized I’d have to ask questions in order to do my job. They’ll be happy that you want to do things right the first time. And if you’re interested in anything in the brand, ask, ask, ask! I told one of my team members that I wanted to work on a project with her, but she put another intern on the project because that intern asked and then sent an email to reaffirm her interest. I can’t stress enough that it’s better to ask an editor if you want to be part of a project than to sit by and watch it all happen without you!
3) Figure out where you're needed. It took me a few weeks to realize that my intern class had sent so many requests to our photo editor to resize and optimize pictures that it would be impossible for her to have all of our photos ready for our deadline. Once I learned Photoshop, I was able to work more sufficiently and productively! I know that there’s a need for a video editor for our site, so I want to fine-tune my Final Cut Pro skills this summer!
What have you learned from your internships so far? What do you want to learn? Let me know!
Until next time,
Web Intern
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