Building Strong Relationships With Your Editors: A User's Guide

My editor once told me it's not what you know—it's what you know and who you know. As you probably have already gathered, it's darn near impossible to make it in this tiny industry without knowing someone. Therefore, it's been really important to me to establish good relationships with my editors and to meet with editors whose positions interest me—at TeenMag.com and at Teen Mag's parent company—this summer. 

When I was at school last summer, I emailed my editors at TeenMag.com as often as I could. I asked my editor if I could stay on staff as a contributing writer, and she said yes! I pitched articles and blog posts as often as my school schedule would allow, and I told my other editors anytime I was up to anything exciting. Granted, I don't think anyone really cared when I told them about a cappella concerts I covered for my school newspaper, but it was really important to me that everyone knew I was doing everything I could to become a better writer when I couldn't be at Teen Mag. It was more difficult to contribute when I was studying abroad, but I always would send a quick message about things in my new life that pertained to Teen Mag, like when Justin Bieber came to town and fangirls waited for him outside his hotel—which was on my street. (Some things are universal.) 

How to Network with Your Contacts

Image Courtesy of the University of South Australia via Flickr

Hello there, Edsters,

Because I work besides my editors, I feel that it’s too weird to request an informational interview. For anyone who doesn’t know (I had to Wikipedia the term the first time I heard it), an informational interview is something that every intern should have.

Typically you’ll meet with a higher-up that has a job that you’re interested in, and you’ll ask them any questions you might have about what they do and how they got there.

It’s a great way to evaluate how you are doing in comparison, and what you should do once you’re finished with your internship.

Networking For Extreme Introverts

We’ve all heard it a million times: This industry is about networking. Oh, your friend talked to her mom who talked to her coworker who talked to her cousin who works at Condé Nast to score you that huge interview? Well, of course, that’s how everybody gets in.

Except what happens when you’re looking to break into magazines and the only industry connection you’ve got is a great-aunt’s friend who works in the art department of a local Alaskan lifestyle magazine?

For the longest time, I thought that all the connections I needed were a resume, a cover letter, and access to Ed’s website. That was all I had when I scored my first internship the summer after my freshman year, and that was all I had when I got two big, sparkly fashion internships as a sophomore and a junior. One of my fashion mag co-workers and I would joke about how our friends reacted after we got the job. The most common response tended to be: ‘How did you get this? Who do you know?!’ And then we’d quip wittily: ‘Uh, he’s this great guy, Ed. You should really meet him...’

But, as is normal when I make fun of things I don’t understand, I was quickly forced to eat my words.