first person


StartingOut


Alex Bee wonders where to draw the line over accepting unpaid internships after leaving university


A


lthough we don’t think you have enough experience for this role, we’d be happy to offer


you an internship.’ It’s a sentence most journalism


graduates see frequently as they target publications with accurate aim and attempt to spear entry-level roles on the nib of their pens. OK, fair enough, at least the offer of an internship is not an outright rejection. They like you and think your work is good – just not quite good enough to actually pay you. While work experience is a tried and tested way to get a foot in the door, where do you draw the line? How long should you continue to show up on that doorstep with a smile on your face but nothing in your pockets? The first magazine I went to for work experience was Simply Knitting. At the age of 16, I was literally ecstatic to be in a room where they were making an actual magazine. The best day was when I helped on a photo shoot. It involved shooting balls of wool against a fireplace but I was so pleased just to be there and freaked out completely when the magazine came out and I saw the picture (Yes. Picture, singular). In my first year at university, I had


a week of work experience at the local newspaper. The bad news was that I pretty much hated every second; the good news was I knew I didn’t want to work on a local newspaper after writing about a woman being taken to court over her noisy cockerel (this was a front page piece). In the same term break, I spent a week with the copywriting team at a global creative


20 | theJournalist


agency in Manchester, which appealed to me much more. The copywriters were so succinct, and the words they chose seemed to fit together perfectly. It was like poetry to me. My next placement spanned two


weeks over the Christmas break of the second year. While all my friends snuggled up in front of the telly with their families, I trekked out to the dodgy end of London and stayed in the only guest house I could afford to help out with the fashion team at Reveal magazine. I loved swinging in and out of the revolving doors of their glamorous central London office and knew that was where I wanted to be.


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ack at university, I was the fashion editor of the university paper which kept me quite busy – not


forgetting all that pesky work I had to do to get a degree. I also worked part time in a bar so didn’t have the time (or money) to do any more internships until the summer break. I’d sent a few emails but hadn’t heard much. When I saw one of my favourite fashion brands advertising for social media interns, I immediately constructed a long, gushing email about how much I would love the role. I worked one day a week at the brand, scheduling posts and writing for their blog while waitressing the rest of the time. It was exhausting but I loved the team and the brand. During that summer, I heard from


two magazines I’d approached months before: Tatler and Harper’s Bazaar. I arranged to work for a month at Bazaar in October and scheduled Tatler in


“ ”


for the Easter break of my final year. Harper’s Bazaar was incredible. Not only did I get to experience what it was like to work at a monthly high fashion magazine, but also they let me help on a cover shoot. Thinking about it still gives me goose bumps. While waiting to work at Tatler, I got an email about a last minute placement at Vogue. After a quick interview, I began a two week stint at the magazine I had held up in veneration since I was 12. It was magical. My times at Vogue and Tatler were when everything finally came together and I knew magazines were where I wanted to be.


My times at Vogue and Tatler were when everything finally came together and I knew magazines were where I wanted to be


N


ow, I have graduated and am applying for jobs. Although I can’t wait to get into a routine and


would be excited to have a permanent desk, I am still only finding unpaid roles. With every email or phone call I


make, I send over my portfolio of cuttings and mention my blog. I tailor each letter to the job and have edited my CV (probably) thousands of times. While I had told myself that I would no longer accept unpaid placements after I graduated and that the whole point of spending my term breaks working was so I could go straight into a permanent position after university, it might be time to reconsider. Writing is what I love to do and, if I am lucky enough to end up doing what I love for a living, I will be in the minority. I just hope it’s worth the wait.


@alexbee_


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