Fashion internships left me broke and homeless – but I can't give up
At the age of 27, after jobs ranging from administration to IT, I decided to go into a career I'd always dreamt of. I obtained a scholarship from a top global fashion company to do my Master's degree in fashion marketing and moved to London. I knew it would be competitive, so I used all my savings and sold my iPhone and did anything I could to take up additional courses at the best fashion universities in London. Alongside this I began interning to get amazing experience on my CV.
Eighteen months later – with more than 12 internships at top fashion media publications (one top title kept me on for six months); work experience in head offices; and joining communities to go out with independent stylists around London to learn the trade – I found I could not gain employment.
I applied and applied and was (and still am) gaining many interviews – and many companies follow me on LinkedIn. I found that advertised positions were often filled by an internal employee, or job vacancies turned into internships at interview. Running out of cash fast, I juggled working in a shop and eventually ended up homeless in London, riding around on busses overnight alone for a month with my Oyster card, still trying to intern and get an opportunity somewhere.
I have now returned home to Blackpool, where I persistently apply for entry-level or any-level roles. My Pursuit of Happiness has led to homelessness, the loss of all my savings, studying and working relentlessly for no pay; all this in the hope that eventually someone may offer me an opportunity somewhere. Is it an impossible trail?
I have been forced to sign on to Jobseekers Allowance now, which is devastating. Every second week I am sent to career adviser after career adviser who say "I just don't know what to do with you and you deserve so much better".
I have worked far too hard to give up. But I need to know: can you ever get past these recruitment teams that keep rejecting me? Is it all just contact based? And, do I just dumb down my CV and pretend I went travelling for two years and try to get a job in Asda, as my Jobcentre advisers keep telling me?
Jeremy says
There's a terrible truth about certain industries – and I believe the fashion industry is one. They feel the need to be seen to be cool in everything they do: in the style of their offices, the places where they choose to be seen eating and drinking, the way they dress, the publications on display in reception, their social media activities, their favoured holiday destinations – and those they choose to employ.
So I suspect that the most depressing fact about your sad and depressing story is that – whatever your experience, your qualifications and your abilities – you simply aren't seen to be "interesting" enough to stand out from the crowd. And, of course, the more you've had to retire from the centre of things, the more depressed and desperate you've understandably become, the less of a catch you'll seem to be. I bet if you were the goddaughter of a B-List celebrity, you'd be snapped up immediately.
Please don't think I'm condoning this superficial attitude – it's just that facing up to it might provide you with a glimmer of hope. Your letter to me suggests that you write well. I think you should write a piece about what you've experienced over the past few years. Make it as witty and observant as you know how. Avoid any trace of self-pity: this is not a call for help but rather the highly entertaining musings of an intelligent girl who's having a so-far unrequited love-affair with the fashion industry. Feel free to be controversial – but not if it betrays disillusionment. Then get it published, either in print or online. You might even want to turn it into the beginnings of a series of blogs.
Doing it will give you a sense of purpose and a little bit of new confidence. And when you next apply for a job, you'll do so with a difference: you'll be the one with the blog. You might even be thought to be cool.
Readers say
• Don't wait for vacancies to come up. Look for the companies you want to join; put together a tailor-made resume for each one detailing what you have to offer it in particular so that next time something does open up there you're a contender right from the start. gumnutgirl
• I think it depends what you want to achieve in the industry. Do you want to write about fashion? If so, we live in an age where you have a global audience at your fingertips with the internet. The one thing most people lack is an audience, but you mention that you already have links and followers. Slidewinder
• Sorry to be harsh, but it may also be time to re-evaluate whether you have what a very competitive marketplace is looking for. A CV with a lot of internships starts to look like a CV of a person who is OK at interview but isn't good enough to be retained for a permanent post. Internships should be about "try before you buy" – companies have tried but have not bought: you need to find out why. Burzmali Miserl
• Internships are slave labour! Unfortunately the only option left for you is to take a job to keep you going and in your spare time try to build your own fashion business, whether it be in journalism, design, or whatever. The establishment has made it impossible for ordinary people to pursue dreams. Catonaboat
Should I go back to a job I quit because of a lack of management support?
I resigned a year ago from a good position in sales. I was unhappy and constantly fighting to get work done. I felt I had no support from management and so decided it was time to care about me more than the job or the money.
As it turns out I haven't found another job since, and the company has now asked me to consider returning.
Do I go back? I'm told not much has changed. I have no income besides family support and I'm a single mum. Do I return just so that I have employment – or wait until I find something better?
Jeremy says
I think you should take up this offer and return to your old company – but on one critical condition. You must do so with obvious and open-minded enthusiasm. If you seem to return resentfully; if you give the slightest hint that this is a last resort option on your part and that only the absence of anything else has forced you into it; if you seem to be doing the very least you can get away with you will hate every moment and so will the company.
I'm not suggesting you should go overboard with gratitude; just that you behave as you would if starting with a new company. Which, in a sense, you will be.
Readers say
• As a rule of thumb it's easier to find employment when you are already in a job, so go back and keep looking elsewhere until you receive a firm offer another employer. Good luck. Freddy1957
• Having a bad job is the pits but no job is worse. Could you ask them about going part-time so you have space for interviews elsewhere? fourbiscuitsplease
• Looks like you have the upper hand in negotiations. Use that to get some concessions, take the job, and keep hunting for another. AgentC
Do you need advice on a work issue? For Jeremy's and readers' help, send a brief email to dear.jeremy@theguardian.com. Please note that he is unable to answer questions of a legal nature or reply personally.
