Before starting my freshmen year of college, I remember touring my campus and meeting with a professor in my current major to talk about the the program and what it entails. The topic of the internship I was required to have the summer after my junior year was brought up during this conversation. She told me a few different examples, but I distinctly remember her mentioning the opportunity to intern at Kleinfeld Bridal in New York. While I was not seriously looking at internships yet, hearing that this opportunity was possible made me excited about being a fashion merchandising major. I grew up watching Say Yes to the Dress as most girls my age have and became even more interested in fashion through that series as well as similar ones. I never imagined that one day I would be one those few lucky people who would intern at such a prestigious bridal boutique.
Let's flashback to last December: I was a junior at college during this time, so applying for internships was heavily on my mind. I applied to literally anywhere and everywhere that peaked my interest in the slightest. I think I applied to about 50+ companies. Something I found very frustrating about this process is the waiting game you have to play. Some companies won't respond back to you for weeks and then others just never give you an answer at all. By January, I did have a few interviews lined up, including Kleinfeld. The couple of interviews I did before Kleinfeld were both phone and web based interviews. For Kleinfeld, I did have to fly to New York and do a face-to-face interview. Luckily, I scheduled it the first weekend of school starting so I wouldn't have too much going on class wise.
My Interview was very relaxed and easy to be honest.The conversation I had with Joan Roberts, the Director of Sales and creator of the internship program at Kleinfeld, was mostly about what the internship would entail and how I, as a future intern, would fit what the company needed. She also wanted to make sure I was prepared to move up here to the city and supported by my family. I wasn't nervous in the interview and walked out feeling really good about it.
I had a few weeks before I found out whether or not I got the internship at Kleinfeld or not. During that time I continued interviewing and applying to other companies. I would suggest doing this so that you can keep your options open. A couple days before I was supposed to hear back, I received an email from Joan accepting and welcoming me in to the Kleinfeld internship! It was such a weight off of my shoulders to not only have internship for the summer, but also have one that I really wanted and was excited about.
My biggest piece of advice is to apply to a lot places, but also be really strategic about it. You don't want to overwhelm yourself too much by applying to too many places at once. Also you do want to think about what you are truly interested in and even the location of the internship. I have always said I wanted to live in New York in the future, and having my internship there is the perfect way to test the waters and see if I would actually enjoy living in such a big and busy city. Another piece of advice is to not give up on yourself and get too frustrated. Everyone is going through the same struggle of applying to internships. You will get accepted somewhere and even if it isn't your dream one, you will still learn something from it and grow from it.
That's all for this blog post! Till next time!
