Last week I never got around to posting about interning because I actually didn't do any interning last week- instead I did some training!
I now am an official employee at Mina!
Of course I'm super excited that my original internship lead to another internship which lead to a job, and I feel so at rest right now because I'm actually MAKING MONEY (!!!!!!!!!!!!) besides babysitting and barista-ing, which means at the end of the week I'll have enough money to put back into my savings instead of having to save every penny (....literally) for the subway and train.
I'm still interning 1-2 times a week for Julie in Brooklyn which I absolutely love every minute of!
I really bitch a lot on this blog but Julie is amazing and I'm learning so much working with her. Its funny because sometimes I talk about the unpleasantries of my other internship and she probably thinks I talk smack about working with her too, but I LOVE JULIE. I think her stuff is amazing, I love her commitment to her small business and her point of view and her fun fashion perspective and her beautiful face and fun apartment and her own personal style. I mostly love her because of our mutual love for circle skirts, sparkly nail polish and Jefferey Campbell 99 tie in glitter.
So for now, this is the last post I'll do as an intern!
I can't say for sure, but I don't really think I want to be involved in another internship unless it's paid or too valuable to pass up...like a design internship at Balenciaga or something...
Here's a list of everything I've learned, from Alexander McQueen to Zac Posen:
1) Dress appropriately. Don't choose one sense of style for your internship, explore them all. Interns are supposed to be young and new and fresh-faced, don't fall into the same outfits, don't even wear a pencil skirt. But PLEASE don't wear cutoffs or flip-flops either. I never saw that girl come back.
2) Don't talk about your personal life. It's really hard to keep to yourself sometimes the exciting thing you're doing that night or the drama with your 5-year-on-again-off-again boyfriend.
If the creepy Italian guy who thinks you're 24 asks you where you went drinking last night, tell him you watched a movie with your mom.
3) Be eager to learn, but think about everything you offer to do for your internship. Unless they're paying you, you should arrive on time and leave on time. If they make you run errands until 8:00, they're taking advantage of the situation.
4) Get something out of it! A job, a stipend, free lunch, connections, travel expenses, free macaroons, references, an experience, school credit, free Manolos or another internship!
5) NEVER BURN ANY BRIDGES! Every industry is smaller than you think. I do the social networking and featured under their facebook's "people you should know" column are Patricia Field and Carolina Herrera. Even if you don't want to use your supervisor as a reference, you want to be able to reference her if you ever attend a job interview with one of those "mutual friends"
6) Don't tweet about it...I learned it the hard way.
(I'm pretty sure I'm already breaking my own rules by blogging about it. Also inappropriate. BAD EXAMPLE!)
7) Don't text.
8) Make yourself valuable to them- I got this job because I set up their online store, I social network for them, I help with window displays, I sewed things, I called customers, I ran errands, I made recommendations and expressed my opinion.
Also express your knowledge and passion for the industry without seeming like a know-it-all or a crazy.
9) Make friends! Make people like you!
10) Admit when you make a small mistake, try to cover it up if you made a big one. YOU ARE EXPENDABLE.
11) Feel like you belong there. You can't be too young or too ugly or too fat or too unfashionable, and if you were then just look for another internship.
12) They'll probably correct you a lot, maybe even nag you or yell at you, but don't take it personally. If you're giving it you all then you're doing fine, they just want to either help you to become the ideal employee or they're just really needy.
While I'm here, I'll promote our Etsy store!
If you're interested in anything, you can buy it online by entering LAUNCH15 for 15% off, or come to the store and I'll cut you a deal.
Also check out Julie Mollo!
She's making adorable bow bra tops for $40 and cute bow flare shorts for $40 that she sells at Artists and Fleas, hopefully I can snap some pics soon.
Ahh! So many good things are to come!
$ INCLUDING A PAYCHECK $
