Why Are Internships So Important?

I am sure internships are crucial in all industries, here I will just be speaking mostly about the fashion industry today.

1) Educating:

After you graduate college, you're probably ready to jump into your career. In all honesty, most colleges don't completely prepare you for the fashion industry.

Yes, school is very important, but internships teach you valuable skills that you do not learn in college. Interning is very hands on and it teaches things that a textbook could not teach you.

Example: I went to school for advertising. When I had my first internship in PR, I literally had no idea what I was doing. I had no idea how much research and excel sheets go into public relations. Interning is a chance put your education to test. A chance to show what you learned in school.

2) Finding what field you want to work in:

There are many different avenues to the fashion industry. There is styling, PR, advertising, HR, design, etc. Interning is a great way to test the waters and find what is best for you.

3) Connections:

One of the biggest advantages of doing an internship is to grow your network. This industry is extremely competitive to get into. You need to know people. While you're interning, have a voice. Talk to the people around you. You never know who could help you in the future.

3) Everybody starts at the bottom:

Heck even Kanye and Virgil Abloh started out as interns for Fendi. You cannot just jump in the industry expecting to get an account executive position. Literally everybody starts at the bottom. Absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. Have fun and embrace being an interning. This is a great opportunity to make mistakes and ask as many questions as you can.

4) Don't be embarrassed

Do not be embarrassed to intern. It is an amazing acomplishment. I know that many times people may look down on you because you're the "little intern". The people above you all started where you are.

5) Do not get taken advantage of:

Make sure the company you are interning for is reputable and respectful. SO MANY companies take advantage of young professionals just for free work, and they have no idea because they are naive.

If you are working for free, PLEASE make sure you are getting school credit for it. If you are doing it for the experience and networking opportunities, then make sure you are LEARNING for them.

Please learn from me and my bad experience:

I went to Paris for an internship so excited and so naive. I was not getting paid or school credit. I was doing it for my resume, connections, and to learn. I was being treated very poorly, not one person in the office would talk to me, and I did not learn anything. I made the very intelligent decision to end the internship and fly home.

Make sure BOTH parties are benefitting from your internship.