Make Fashion Internships Successful: 5 Tips To Keep In Mind

Internships are among the important aspects of any profession. In order to gain first-hand experience of the professional world, internships are often made an integral element of the academic curriculum. Fashion schools pay special regard to internships considering the peculiar nature of the industry for which they train students. But, it is one thing getting an internship, and another thing being successful at it.

Students do not take internships seriously. They are often under the impression that all they need is the eventual certificate and a mention on their resume and everything will work out on its own. Such an attitude will come to haunt you in the future because you might not have gained what you could have gained had you been serious. So, the question is what makes internships successful. If you are a student of fashion and want to score a good internship experience, then you must pay attention to what I have to say.

Here are 5 tips that will help you make your internship a good one.

1. Know the place and its people
   One of the fundamentals is to know what you are going to deal with. You must have surely read about the organization before applying for the internship. Now, once you have been accepted, you should read more. Read about its profile, its achievements in greater detail, and focus on the profiles of its employees. If you know the people, you know the organization. Also, this knowledge will arm you to network easily. It will also help you to assimilate and collaborate with people easily. Since you know who does what and how, you will be better at making decisions.
2. Take initiatives
   Enthusiasm and curiosity are great tools. They reflect that the candidate is serious and willing to engage and contribute. You will be most definitely assigned a department and a set of tasks to complete; however, you should try to take up newer ones if given an opportunity. Ask your mentor whether there is anything else you can do. If they have extra work to offer, take it unless you are overworked. When you take initiative, it helps in shaping the impression that you are a sincere and hard-working intern and haven’t come to the organization solely for the certificate and the name. Your mentor might notice caliber in you and even recommend you for full-time positions in the future.
3. Ask questions
   You are an intern, not a slave. Many organizations refuse to draw the line, but you should. Of course, you have come there to learn and should be thankful for the same. But, you are not a mute spectator. If you don’t understand anything, ask for clarification. If somebody has been harassing you, ask for help. Often, interns do not ask the relevant questions and end up not doing their tasks right. They think that asking questions means disregard for authority, which is not really the case. If you have been assigned a good mentor, he should appreciate the fact that you are willing to have a frank exchange and are serious about how things get done.
4. Networking is key
   An internship is a fertile ground for making and strengthening professional relationships. However, you must project an engaging and social self to be able to do that. The entire fashion industry works heavily on networks. On your every internship, you will come across people who know all kinds of people in the industry and beyond, and they might end up being resourceful one day or another. Therefore, do not hole yourself up in your small cabin and socialize. Participate in office events such as parties, birthday celebrations, dine-out, etc and show your interest in their lives. Connect with them on necessary social media platforms and engage with them over there as well.
5. Feedback is valuable
   To show that you are serious about your work, you must ask for feedback. Generally, interns should seek task-wise feedback, but you may want to go for weekly feedback depending on the nature of the work. Discuss it out with your mentor, understand what he likes or dislikes about your task, communicate your reservations if any, and implement the suggestions.

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