HOW TO LAND AN INTERNSHIP/BE A GOOD INTERN

*This is a guest blog post by my intern Loanne Ng

Hello, Loanne here! I started interning with Mariann this summer. I’m so grateful to have the opportunity to intern with such an amazing person, so I was super excited when she asked me to write a blog post for her. Keep reading for advise on how to be a great intern and land an internship!

1.  Get Experience: My first job was scooping gelato and an Italian restaurant. A ten-minute walk from my college freshman dorm, the restaurant was a mediocre dining experience with a red awning and homemade gelato. My job consisted of giving people samples of flavors, cleaning out chunks of dried up ice cream out of the casing (super glam right?), and answering “What’s the difference between gelato and ice cream?” three times a day. My uniform—a white collared shirt and black slacks—would have the smell of stale pasta and stains splattered everywhere. My second job was working retail in a shoe store during my sophomore year of college. I would stand on my feet for nine hours, pasting a smile on my face and asking if customers would buy inserts to shoes so I could make my sales goals. Even though I spent my days at the restaurant wondering how this would ever lead me to a job in fashion, it eventually did. My job there led me to my retail job, which led to my study abroad, which led to me studying in New York City, which led to internships and eventually interning with Mariann.

3.   Be willing to do things you don’t want to do: At my last internship, balancing eight coffees at once and delivering garment bags across NYC was 80% of my job. Although it sucked, my supervisors noticed how willingly I would do it with a good attitude. They started giving me more meaningful projects and knew that I would go beyond to get things done. Internships are a great way to learn and get experience in the industry, but there will be times it’s not all glamorous and amazing and that’s okay. It’s all about the attitude and how willing you are.
4.   Network: Interning with Mariann means I get to attend events that I never would have the opportunity to go to otherwise. I try to take this time to talk to people at the events because you never know who you’ll meet. Look at the people you know and see if they might know anyone in the industry. If they don’t, tell the people you talk to or meet that you’re looking for an internship. You never know who they know–you’d be surprised at how small the world is!
5. Don’t Give up! Senior year of high school I went around the mall with my resume to try and get a retail job for the summer. I went to at least eight stores and I never heard back from any of them, with my resume probably at the bottom of the trash before I walked out of the door. This summer I interviewed for seven places before I got one. My father always said that every no is one step closer to a yes, and it couldn’t be more true. Don’t quit because someone didn’t think you were good enough, because you are to someone else.

And that’s it! If you asked me last year, I would have never thought I’d be writing a post for a blogger. I still have so much to learn and I’m so thankful I had the opportunities that I’ve had so far. Getting an internship isn’t easy and takes a lot of patience and hardwork; the time and effort you put into your internship will pay off in ways you can’t imagine! Don’t compare yourself to other people because everyone’s journey is different. Hope I was able to help you guys out!

xx,

Loanne