We have already explained many times that interning in fashion is the first and easiest way to start a career in this industry. But what are the fashion internships that will get you a job immediately after?
Gaining experience is fundamental to get a job in fashion, but unfortunately not all the internships turn into a full-time job. This is because of a mix of timing, the wrong company, you didn’t work enough or other. But sometimes is just that no matter how good you are and how hard you work, there are some internships that cannot turn into a full-time job.
There are several factors that affect internships and make some more profitable than others in terms of later job positions. Before starting this post I want to point out that every experience is precious and the more experience you do, the better. You can learn a lot from every job, even the one you think is useless for your career. So if you get an opportunity don’t give it up because it doesn’t represent your ideal job.
Although working in the backstage of a fashion show during fashion week is a unique experience that I recommend to everyone, an internship that lasts only a week, as in this case, is not considered as a months-long internship. Fashion companies will look at the duration of your experiences on your resume because many recruiters believe that candidates must first have internship experiences of about 6 months / 1 year before getting a full-time job. So if you did a 2-weeks or 1-month internship whatever it is writing, PR, showroom assistant, don’t expect to find a full-time job right away if you don’t do more of longer internships first.
Internships are those experiences that help you understand the best career path for you. So if you don’t have clear ideas yet, do as many different experiences as possible to understand what’s right for you. Summer fashion internships are perfect in this case. If you can do an internship in the summer for every year you are at university you will not only have the chance to do a different one every year and understand what is right for you, but this will benefit you a lot as you could get a job directly after graduation.
If instead you already know which career is made for you, look for internships that direct you towards that path. If you want to work in PR, an internship in PR on your resume will have much more importance than one in design (but then again, every experience is precious, so if you did an internship in design before and now you want to move to the PR branch, you can do it anyway, just keep in mind that if among the candidates you are the one who has a design experience and another one who already did a PR internship, he will probably have a better chance of getting the job, but you still apply because you can’t know if that person then goes wrong at the interview or something else happens;)).
There is no specific internship that works more than another. Because it all depends on the job you want to get later. The longer an internship is over time and is already within the department where you would like to get a job, the easier it will be to find a relevant job later.
A generic fashion internship like one in marketing, for example, where you could work on different things such as PR, social and digital strategies, and e-commerce at the same time, can be more useful because being generic you will experience so many things in a single shot. So if you did a marketing internship where you worked on PR, social and digital, you could get a job as Digital Specialist later because you have experience in digital as well. (It is worth noting that every company has its own structure, so even if you find the same Job Title it does not mean that you do the same things: a marketing internship at Gucci is different from the same at H&M. The differences can be found in the Job Description, so read it carefully to see if an internship is more generic than another.)
I am sure that you too are wondering how much the name of the company counts on your resume. Interning at a startup offers many advantages: you get the job faster and easier because there is less competition, you can learn a little of everything being in a smaller team, you are in contact with the founders and therefore you also understand the business strategies, useful to give you a general vision of a company and if you want to start your own business. Startups are fresh and new and you have more chances to assert your opinions, compared to companies where you have a standard and well-established organization chart and hierarchy, where it will be difficult to get to know everyone.
You can work in a large company after you’ve worked at a startup.
Working for an established fashion company puts a stamp on your resume. The company name counts if you want to work in other prestigious companies. Working in an agency or in a company does not compromise your career. If you work in a PR agency, you can still find opportunities within a brand’s PR department, the same thing the other way.
In the end, during the interview, the company will focus on and want to know in detail the activities and the tasks you did during your previous job experience. So if you have to choose between an internship at an established company where you’ll be doing a little or an internship at a smaller company that allows you to take care of many things, it’s better to choose the one where you’ll do and learn more. So you’ll be able to talk about all the things you learned and your experience during your next job interview.
The best internships are not the most paid ones, but those that offer career opportunities later. Therefore, if you have to choose between a well-paid internship but without the possibility of a career in the future or an unpaid internship with the possibility of joining the company later, it is better to make a long-term evaluation and choose the second, if your finances allow.
Whenever you need to look for a fashion internship, always think long term. Look for the experiences that teach you the most, where you can get in touch with more people (remember that your network is the most powerful tool in fashion), work with more departments, have a role whose responsibilities increase over time.
Pay attention to the skills you can get during your internship and make sure they are the ones you need for your future career. If your dream job requires you to have acquired experience in photoshop or certain e-commerce programs then look for internships that allow you to acquire these skills.
