Secrets of an EA: My Whirlwind Day Of Filling In For My Boss

Happy Friday, Edsters!

So, here I am, typing this blog post, which means – are you ready for it? – that I managed to make it through one whole day filling in for our Editorial Assistant. Not only was I successful in my endeavor to not destroy the magazine singlehandedly (and I was filling in the day before a big-huge-major event, so it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility), but also she wrote me to let her know that her boss said I did a fantastic job.

Getting to step into the shoes of an EA for one day was such an educational experience for me. Of course, I wasn’t slammed with all of her duties. I doubt my experience was even a microcosm of what she has to deal with every day. I do think I got a taste of what the job entails. Check out what my day as an EA looked like and what I learned!

3 Ways To Make Yourself Useful On A Slow Day

Happy Friday, Edsters!

One great thing about Fridays is that no matter how hectic the week is (and the past few have been very, very hectic. Stopping and smelling the roses does not seem to play a major role in the lives of magazine editors), Fridays are a little more relaxed. A special brand of quietness sweeps across the office; sunlight seems to stream more meaningfully through the windows.

And no one wants to do a damn thing, people leave early, and the interns get bored.

This Friday, I wasn’t exactly complaining. I like contributing as much as the next person, but after three weeks in a row that I could swear were all closing weeks, it wasn’t exactly killing me to scrunch down in my cubicle with a few old issues of the Mag and a coffee expensed to the Mag’s account.

It was killing one of our other interns, though. She must have swung by my desk fifteen times trying to brainstorm projects for herself. Though I would have been one thousand percent content to just breathe for the first time all week and read my magazine, after I’d finished my cup of coffee and felt less cranky, I gained a little respect for her initiative.

But how do you make yourself useful when there’s really, really nothing to do?

How To Deal With Jerks On The Job

Happy Friday, Edsters! Are you humming Katy Perry’s Friday-themed jam, or are you still stuck on Rebecca Black?

A few days ago at work, one of the editors asked me to do her the favor of tracking down a DVD of a documentary that premiered recently on a local channel. That sounded easy enough, and I set to work looking up PR contacts, making phone calls, sending emails, the usual. For some reason, the network didn’t have a copy of the DVD, so they put me in touch with the producer, who wound up taking a real attitude with me. In a condescending voice, he told me, “Well, I would need to know more about why your editor wants that tape. I mean, I produced it. As much as I appreciate good press, I would want to know what it’s for.”

I replied, “Okay, sir, I know you may not understand how internationally-acclaimed magazines work, so let me break it down for you: when an editor says jump, I jump, and if you care at all about your craft, you jump with me, and that aside, this is like a three-inch jump, more of a hop really, and I’m sure that it wouldn’t kill you to slap a postage stamp on a DVD case and ship it right over, so would you please just be compliant so I can tell my editor I’ve gotten this done before my lunch break?”

I’m kidding, obviously. I didn’t say that. However, he wound up speaking to me so rudely that I may as well have (and wish I had).

How to Avoid Running in Heels: My Tips For Surviving The Most Menial Intern Duties

Every morning when I dash from the subway into work, often stumbling as I change from flip-flops to stilettos, I have a little “oh, my God, do I really get to work here?” moment. The gleaming, idyllic lobby; the perfectly groomed, coiffed, and outfitted women (occasionally, I’ll see a man or two. Occasionally.) towering over me in pair upon pair of fantastic heels… It’s all very glamorous.

And some days, the work I do even feels glamorous. Other days, I’m stuck filing papers, or sent traipsing around the city in the rain or in 90-degree heat on missions I can best describe as menial. It’s not that I mind changing the toner in the printer or heading out for a Starbucks run – I know I’m making myself useful and helping The Mag run, in my own little way.

But sometimes, when I’m calling to see why an editor’s magazine subscription didn’t arrive the previous month, or moving a bookshelf in aforementioned stilettos with two other interns, or delivering packages well after my work day allegedly ends in unfamiliar parts of the city, I can’t help but think, is this really in my job description?

6 Brilliant Ways To Be The Best Intern Researcher

Ciao, fellow Edsters!

It wasn’t long before I tired of explaining to my non-Edster friends that the majority of what I do at work is research (as opposed to fetching coffee), so I crafted a little ditty to spice up my unchanging, uninteresting response: “Researching, researching, yeah! Dossiers, dossiers, yeah! Fun, fun, fun, fun.”

Okay, so that wasn’t a fully original composition.

Anyway, everyone seems to take pity on me for spending a big chunk of my internship on Lexis Nexis and Google.

Look, I’ll level with you. I secretly love doing research. I know that makes me a huge geek, but putting together profiles on celebrities we’re interviewing and filling binders with articles by our competitors on a certain subject – well, it just feels like I’m doing something useful, and I can’t say that I feel useful all the time at the office. On Monday, for example, most of my day consisted of reading the July issue and making some phone calls. Not exactly the kind of work that begets satisfying results.

How To Make An Awesome Second Impression

Hey fellow Edsters!

So, thankfully, my forgiving and fantastic managers seem to have put the Cupcake Incident of Summer 2011 behind them, and my ensuing time at The Mag has gone fairly smoothly since. I feel like I’ve tackled a million projects since I last wrote, and walked twice as many steps in stilettos. (How many weeks did it take me to actually start packing a pair of flip-flops in my purse? Three?)

Since I’m not quite sure where to start, I thought I’d shed some light on the dynamic at my office by outlining my experience interacting with my fellow interns, my managers and the higher-up editors. Spoiler: my review is generally glowing.

What NOT To Do On Your First Day

Hey fellow Edsters!

This entry marks the closure of one of the most exciting and overwhelming weeks of my life. I am speaking, of course, of my first week interning for The Mag. Cue the Hallelujahs.

I wish my first week hadn’t gotten off to such a rocky start, but at least now I can share my humiliating mishaps with you smarter, savvier Edsters, so you can learn from them. (I know I have already!)

After a night of tossing, turning, painting my nails twice, and changing my mind about my outfit more times than I’m willing to admit, I wound up getting almost no sleep. That wound up being a huge problem: I proceeded to oversleep and miss my alarm, and was woken up by my well-meaning but clueless mother about ten minutes before I had to catch the train that takes me from my New Jersey hometown to the city. I wound up showing up half an hour late.