This past summer I was able to intern at New York Moves Magazine. When I first saw the job post online…sparkles came to my eyes. I could see my very own Devil Wears Prada timeline come to life in front of me. Me, starring as Andy Sachs, going from a “fashion don’t” to glamour in New York City. But I am no Andy and I am CERTAINLY no Anne Hathaway. So here was MY experience of the summer I worked at a magazine. Â
Since I live in central Jersey over the summer, my first hurdle to jump was how to get to work. My dad commutes to the city for work and he takes the bus to the port authority, so naturally I did as well. In the morning I would shower and do my makeup, dress up in my business casual outfit for the day, grab a small breakfast, and head out. The bus ride was usually 45min-1hr so a quick power nap was the move for this sleepy girl. Finally, in the city I walk all the way down 42nd street to The Chrysler Building. From spending a whole summer doing this one walk I learned that walking up say 44th, instead of straight through Times Square, made me feel like I was closer to being a real New Yorker. I watched some people hustle their way through crowds to get to work and some stand in the middle of the sidewalk figuring out which way to go.Â
I would arrive at work at 10am and set up my stuff at the back table by the huge window. We had an hour or so to get lunch and let me tell you…I finally understood why my dad made a point of telling us he was packing lunch to take to work. $15 dollars for lunch seems “normal” but it is not sustainable for the long run, and certainly not for a college student. Since I was only going to the city twice a week I decided to explore different restaurants around midtown. I tried sushi from Grand Central, $1.50 pizza, Joe the Juice, and a few good hole in the wall spots.Â
In terms of what I was actually doing, some days were more fun than others. Most of my job was to research potential honorees for the gala events they hosted a few times a year. I would find the candidates’ contact details and send out a pitch asking if they would like to be a part of our event. Then, I would keep in contact with them or their assistant to set up an editorial and a photoshoot. Another part of what I did was the same logistically, but instead of C-Suite executives, I would reach out to the managers of actors and actresses for the talent portion of the magazine. This was mostly handled by a full time employee Bill, who fun fact also went to UB, but being kept in the loop with all the emails and info helped me learn so much about how to properly communicate with talent. I would also create 3-4 ideas for social media posts every week. This task was where I learned that while I like marketing and I like Instagram… I hate canva.Â
This was significant because originally I signed on to be a social media / marketing intern. This experience showed me that things can be fun and rewarding, but may not necessarily be for you. It helped me learn that I prefer being at the events and with people, rather than working in the background. I also learned that I work best when I go into the office as compared to working from home. Some days I would over commit myself to what work I could get done and I would have to remind myself that it is okay to stop working after 9 pm. At times I was definitely stressed about what my boss wanted me to do and whether I would be able to complete it in time. I would debate if this was even worth continuing because of the ratio of work to what I got paid (barely). On my first day of work I even cried when I got home because of how tiring existing in the real world is. I was rediscovering everything my parents said that was hard is indeed hard. Getting up early and working all day…hard, coming home to sleep and then getting up and doing it again…hard, telling your boss you cannot do the work you signed up for last week…hard. But that is what being young is for isn’t it? Learning what is hard and how to deal with it.Â
So it was not amazing 24/7, BOO HOO, nothing is! Through this experience I gained some really good contacts and connections to mentors who could help me if I choose a different path. I got a good mentor who has even more connections to the celebrity world, the business world, and who just has more life experience than me. Yeah, the free stuff I got was cool and yeah I am getting some money, but the most valuable part of all of it was just feeling like a real grown up for the first time.