Her Campus Ohio U: What is your major?
Cameron Quinn: Strategic Communications with a minor in RFPD
HCOU: What is your position at your internship and how did you get there?
CQ: Accessories Intern. Every time there is a new group of interns, one person is chosen to be the “market intern,” which is basically the assistant to the editor. In my case, I am the market intern for the accessories editor. There are only three full-time girls, including myself. I came in with a positive attitude every day and was very willing to get the job done efficiently. I always offer to do more and am always willing to do certain things such as run errands, pick up lunch, and help with extra tasks. I think the editor saw these things and it made her feel confident that I would be a reliable market intern.
HCOU: Have you always been interested in working at a magazine?
CQ: Working for a magazine has always been my dream job. Lauren Conrad has been a role model of mine since I can remember. Even though reality television is ridiculous and strictly for entertainment, I watched Lauren from when she was a young teenager to when she was a young adult. Seeing her progress from an intern to a fashion designer was amazing to witness. When she interned for Teen Vogue, even though The Hills tweaked just about everything, her internship looked like a dream to me. I told myself, “This is exactly what I want to do.”
HCOU: How did you hear about (and earn) this opportunity with Cosmo?
CQ: There are a ton of different websites for internship opportunities in NYC. I have to credit a friend, Maria, who basically led me every step of the way to Cosmo. She previously interned for a short period of time at Cosmo’s beauty department and told me every little thing I needed to know over a cup of coffee. She helped me with my cover letter and my resume and also informed me of interview questions that I should be aware of. I literally refreshed websites every day since the day I had coffee with Maria to see if there was an ad posted for Cosmo. Before Cosmo, I applied for Marie Claire. However, I was late to the punch, because they had already found their interns and took down the ad the very next day. I met with Maria in March, and I applied for Cosmo in July. I interviewed over the phone about a week after I applied, and I received the internship exactly 6 days later.
HCOU: Describe a typical day at the office.
CQ: Every morning I log on to my email and, usually, there are about 10 new emails from certain PR companies or designers asking for their samples back or asking to schedule a messenger so we can pick up a sample from them. It’s kind of a difficult process to explain, but typically every day we are prepping for a shoot coming up for the next issue. With that, we must contact certain designers to ask them if we can “pull” (borrow) specific things for the shoot. For example, I will email Jimmy Choo and ask to pull satin shoes for a shoot and send all of the details regarding the shoot. Usually the response includes a “yes” and an attachment of the Jimmy Choo shoes that would be best. After this, I schedule a messenger (or send an intern on a run) to pick up the shoes. This is something I have to do all day long and with multiple different brands. It gets confusing so we put all of the information into an excel spreadsheet. You learn to be VERY organized as an intern. I have about three different notebooks and two different planners that I keep close at all times. While I mostly do scheduling and track things down as the market intern, I also do check ins and check outs, which consist of taking pictures of what we are getting into the accessories closet and uploading to the computer into a file of monthly check ins. On average, during a shoot, we get about 20+ check ins a day.
HCOU: What do you believe is the biggest perk of this internship?
CQ: I am very fortune to have so much responsibility. I believe the biggest perk of this internship is not only the experience I’m receiving as I learn new things every day, but also the connections I am making. Just recently, the interns were invited to a fashion show during fashion week. I never thought I’d be able to experience fashion week, but I’m very grateful that I could. Seeing designers and fashion directors work so hard every day is really rewarding. I get to see what a day of work looks like for all of these hardworking people and its really helping to shape my future, as well as show me what I want to work for. If it weren’t for this internship, I would be so clueless as to what I would want for my future and what it takes to get where I hope to be someday.
HCOU: In what ways is working with Cosmo as glamorous as people think?
CQ: Every internship and every job has its ups and downs. Cosmo is all around fabulous and so is any other fashion-related magazine because you get to see merchandise worth so much come in and out of the closets. I never thought I’d be holding Manolo Blahnik–Carrie Bradshaw would be proud– shoes in my hands or checking them into our system so casually, but I do it every day. I also get to see the behind the scenes of shoots and it’s so awesome! Just knowing I helped set up a shoot and helped a model into her outfit or something so little to me is so big! I get to look at the upcoming issue knowing I helped with it. That to me is glamorous. I see Cosmo and Seventeen on newsstands and I just smile thinking I know exactly how that got there, and that’s something not everyone has the opportunity to experience.
HCOU: In the midst of this internship, could you see yourself working for a magazine for the rest of your career?
CQ: Absolutely! I would LOVE to work for a fashion publication. It’s glam and it’s rewarding. It’s literally like living a dream every day, in my opinion. Just like some people think being a teacher or a professor is the best thing to happen to them, working for a fashion magazine would be the best thing to happen to me.