Ah, springtime. London has a sun and sky again! Fields get greener, flowers blossom, bird chirp and… IT IS INTERNSHIP SEASON. Seriously, if you’re not dashing between the job centre for some interview advice, the library to finalise your cover letter, and Saddler’s to eat your feelings in the form of a peri peri chicken burger, you’re probably either ambitionless, an organisation-freak or you’re born with a silver spoon in your mouth.
Even after the stress of finding the right placement – when CV and cover letter are printed out and placed in neat folders, an interview for the dream position has been landed and the 7 o’clock alarm is set for the next morning – girls will be afflicted by their usual existential dilemma. They will still be standing in front of their closets, shouting “WHAT THE HELL DO I WEAR?!?”
Truthfully, I’m just as worried about the correlation between my outfit and my future career as the rest of you, but I did intern at Ralph Lauren’s New York headquarters in high school, so I could have a couple of tips worth following. Here are my thoughts:
- There is no “one size fits all” interview outfit I wish there was an easy formula (e.g. e=mc2, or a2 + b2 = c2, or pizza + garlic & herb dip = heaven) or uniform that would lead to each and every one of us receiving job offers, but I guess that’s where the hard part comes in. What’s really important is keeping your chosen company and industry in mind: it definitely wouldn’t be acceptable to wear jeans to an interview at an international investment banking firm, but it might be OK to wear them at a small media agency or at Google. You need to find a balance between being overdressed and underdressed, but as a general, I’d say you can’t go wrong with a smart dress and a blazer.
- If you can’t walk in heels, don’t wear themThere are like a million “studies” published in Glamour and Cosmopolitan every month, under such headlines as “How to get ahead in the workplace – all it takes is a shoe!” (c’mon, guys, Christian Louboutin is basically a magician genius god, but is he ACTUALLY going to get me a raise?!). They all talk about how wearing high heels makes you appear more important, domineering, la di da. Maybe this is true, but surely your powerful façade will shatter immediately when you twist your ankle coming up the stairs. If you really don’t feel comfortable in heels (and I know a lot of women don’t! LET ME WEAR MY NIKES TO WORK DAMMIT) a well-made ballet flat works just as well.
- Be yourself!In my daily life I walk the fine line between “queen of exaggeration” and “pathological liar,” but I swear to the supreme being of your choice that the story I am about to tell you is true. Before my first day at my aforementioned Ralph Lauren internship, I was so nervous about working at such a legendary, well-respected brand that I thought the right thing to do would be to wear all Ralph Lauren, all the time. I wore a seersucker blazer, a pink oxford shirt, white jeans and gold Sperry Top-Sider boat shoes – bless my 17-year-old heart. I thought I was doing OK until, during my lunch break, one of the senior designers pulled me aside and said, with a wink: “You don’t look comfortable in that outfit. Tomorrow, why don’t you wear something a little more you?” I was all at once grateful and relieved (but still, a bit ashamed that I hadn’t managed to pull off the preppy look – I thought I was versatile!!!). The next day, I wore my trademark Doc Martens – TO RALPH LAUREN HEADQUARTERS!!!! – and nobody said a thing. The moral of the story is, don’t be afraid to show your personality! Some eclectic jewelry or footwear can be a great conversation starter.
Have you ever had a super cool, brag-worthy internship? Got any interview tips? Share in the comments!