Surviving Internship Pressure

I'm at the halfway point of my time at TeenMag.com! Though I'm positive I'll be staying on as a Contributing Writer while I'm at college, I know it's not going to be the same as being in the office every day. This time around, there's no guarantee that I'll have the opportunity to go back to TeenMag.com. Eek! 

Unfortunately, it seems like EVERYONE—from the competitive intern I work with to my friends and parents—are under the impression that I'll definitely be offered a position at TeenMag.com when I graduate next year. I would absolutely love to work at TeenMag.com, but as we in the magazine industry know, there's no guarantee there will be a spot on staff for me next summer. 

I've been meeting with alumni from my school in the magazine industry, attending Ed2010 events (maybe I met some of you there!), asking editors from other departments to coffee, and pitching stories to TeenMag.com as often as I can. I feel like I've been taking all of the opportunities I can while at Teen Mag, and have complete faith that when it's time for me to apply for a job, something will fall into place. I know that my family and friends want the best for me, but it's making me crazy that every family dinner conversation somehow revolves around earning a position at Teen Mag.

How To Survive Your First Informational Interview

Hey Whippersnappers, 

I requested my first informational interview, and I survived! Here's how I made it happen: 

I was on my Twitter account a few weeks ago and saw one of my followers was an editor from a fashion magazine. Score! A quick Google search told me that she was an alumni of my university, and I sent her an email to see if I could pick her brain with some questions. She responded right away, and we met on my lunch hour the next day! Here are some tips for scoring—and surviving— the informational interview:

My First Cool Assignment

Wanna hear about my adventures so far? (Of course you do, or you would X out of this blog and keep stalking The Sartorialist's latest shots).

The first happened early last week. As a HUGE foodie, I've made it a personal goal to be the Food Editor's go-to-intern/BFF. While stopping in at her cubicle in the morning to ask if she needed help with anything, I got more than I expected: an invite to taste-test fried clams and oysters that night for the upcoming Summer Fun issue we're running. OF COURSE I dropped all my plans (whatever, friends, you'll be around tomorrow!) for the chance to eat fried seafood on The Mag's budget and pick the brain of one of the editors. We hit three places, and I did not pace myself at all, but it was so much fun that I would have eaten myself into a coma if I had to.

Lessons Learned:
• In food writing (and taste-testing, duh) always pace yourself. Don't touch that bread basket no matter how good it looks, and eat half of what you think you want.
• Checking in with editors when you've got down time leads to free food/great opportunities that you definitely would not get if you just sit at your desk twiddling your thumbs.
• Don't hassle them, but I've figured out that a lot of times, the editors are so busy they forget that we're there unless we remind them!