This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Bristol chapter.
Rachel Hosie is a third year modern languages student at Bristol University, and author of the award-winning blog Handbags and Cupcakes. Over the last few years, Rachel has accumulated an impressive 15 internships at various high profile companies and publications including Tatler, ITV News, Sky News, and Cosmopolitan Magazine, in addition to other work experience.
Her blog ‘Handbags And Cupcakes’ was voted ‘Highly Commended Best Lifestyle Blog’ in the Cosmo Blog Awards 2013, and was a finalist in ‘Retail And Fashion’, ‘Food And Drink’, and ‘Young Person’s Blog Award’ categories in the National UK Blog Awards this year! Currently interning at the BBC in Brussels on her year abroad, Rachel kindly took the time to answer our questions and share her tips about internship and career success:
Is there anyone who changed your professional life for the better?
There have definitely been a few. I did my first ever work placement in the social media department of an online company called Tamar, and it may have been there that my professional ambition really kicked, so I have to thank the CEO, Tanya Goodin for that. Similarly, I hope my current internship at BBC News is going to help my professional life, so I have to thank my current boss, Simon Wilson, for offering me the placement. Having done my fair share of work placements, I’m really thankful to the people I’ve worked with – sometimes only for a week – who have kept in touch. It’s really encouraging to have their support.
What was the best advice you were ever given?
The more you put in, the more you get out. My dad used to tell me that ALL THE TIME as a child, but it’s really stuck with me and I think it’s true. The harder you work, the more you’ll get out of something.
Is there any advice you would give to students on getting internships?
This is a tricky one to answer briefly – I wrote a whole blog post on it! Mainly, I’d just say get applying. People always ask me how I got all my internships and are then a bit disappointed with my answer: I just applied. Simple as that. However, I would say it gets easier once you have a few in the bag already. It’s that eternal paradox of not being able to get any work experience because you don’t have any experience. There’s always something you can do though – take journalism for example: can’t get any professional placements? Well no-one’s going to stop you getting involved with the student paper.
Another little thing: try to find a name of someone to write to, it’s much more personal. I don’t think there’s any harm applying to the top, biggest companies, but don’t dismiss smaller, local companies – it’s likely you’ll learn the most and be able to get really involved there.
What are your top tips for blogging success?
Well I’m still trying to figure this out myself but I suppose I’d say…
1. Don’t try and copy other blogs. There are millions of fashion and food blogs out there, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for more. It takes a while to find your voice and I think it’s great to be inspired by other bloggers, but don’t try to be them.
2. Let your content speak for itself. Think quality not quantity. It’s easy to feel pressure to blog every few days, but if you haven’t really got anything to say, don’t blog just for the sake of it.
3. However, if you can, I think it’s good to post regularly, even if that’s just once a week.
4. Experiment with photography. As blogs aren’t constrained by column inches there’s room for lots of pictures, and people really expect lots these days – of course it depends what you’re blogging about but a massive column of text can be off-putting to readers. Good pictures can instantly give a blog a more professional feel.
5. Get active on social media. Twitter is a great place to start but make sure you don’t use it purely to promote your blog – see it rather as an extension and a way to build your brand. By injecting personality into your tweets, you’ll build a following who may then become blog readers too.
6. Get interactive in the blogosphere. Read other blogs, follow other bloggers and comment on posts you like. Don’t spam everyone with links but making online blogger friends often results in guest posts and encouraging overlap of blog readers, thus widening your audience.
Where would you like to be in 5 years time?
Doing something I love. I’m starting to learn that – much to my dismay – you simply can’t plan everything when it comes to your career. It seems there’s a lot of luck and opportunity involved. I’d love to be living in an interesting city where there’s lots going on, hopefully starting to climb the ranks in one way or another. I’ll know I’m on my way when I’m eating a Pret sandwich wearing a pencil skirt. (Isn’t that every ambitious female student’s dream?)
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