Nadia Gilani’s work experience placements vary from glossy magazines to local papers including Vogue, Harpers and Queen, Yorkshire Post, Independent on Sunday and Enfield Gazette. Read on to find out how she got the placements and how to get on once you’re there…

Ask anyone about how they got their foot in the door within any field in the creative or media industries and they will most likely mention work experience at some point.

Qualifications are a starting point. But when jobs are scarce and competition is fierce (as it is in this unpredictable line of work), getting a ‘hands on feel’ by working with people already doing what you want to do is the next best step.

Work experience: what is it and why do it?

To understand the merits of work experience, it helps to get inside a prospective employer’s head. Employers look for a portfolio of experience as this shows dedication. It’s great you’ve got a degree/BTEC/HND or whatever, but what else is special about you, that proves you’ve got what it takes to succeed? If you want to be a journalist, what have you written or had published? If you’re a future fashion photographer, how can you demonstrate your interest?

Work experience pulls you out of your ‘fresh out of college’ comfort zone into the ‘real world’ of work. Even if this means not getting paid for a while. Of course you have to eat, so it’s not a bad idea to start thinking about work experience when you’re living at home. Or are in some other privileged situation that doesn’t require you to pay the rent. I did this by fixing up placements during my summer holidays.

How do you get a placement?

When friends asked me how I got to do work experience at Harpers & Queen, my answer was simple. I wrote and asked. Work experience is not advertised. You get it by suggesting it.

Remember to be the three P’s: patient, persistent and proactive. The art and media worlds are not for those whose egos are easily bruised. If you’re not already pushy then learn to be and practise it often.

Write a wish list of places you would like to work – you might already have one, then write in with a CV and ask if you can come in for a week or two. If you sound bright and keen, you’ll be an attractive extra pair of hands to most people, and this is what you want them to think – they’re most likely to say yes if they do.

Don’t just write to your dream people and wait for the phone to ring. You have to get into multi-tasking. Research well and think outside the box. This means exploring the less glossy-looking places – they might just be the ones who are willing to open their doors to you.

Surviving creatively is not as secure as working in a bank, and you need to be prepared for rejection. It’s hard not to take it personally but remember a lot of this often has to do with the right timing. So try again if it didn’t work this time.

If they say no, file their response for possible future contact. They bothered to write back, and though there’s no opening now, it doesn’t mean there won’t be in future. I wrote to Vogue three times before I got a yes. So persistence pays. On the other hand you don’t want to irritate anyone, so make a judgement call and gauge what feels right.

Find out about and enter competitions. This is good for disciplining yourself and to keep ideas flowing. I entered the Vogue Talent Contest twice and was a finalist at my second try. I didn’t win, but I did acquire new confidence.

What do you do with your placement when you’ve got it?

There are three main points to remember: watch, listen and learn. Be a sponge – you will learn more by watching than anything else.

Showing off is not a good idea. You did this with your CV, now you’re in, there’s no need to do it in the office again. If you’re on work experience at the same time as someone else then it’s great for forming a team and the inevitable healthy competition also keeps you on tip-toe.

Be willing and available and don’t think that any task is beneath you. It’s not. You are not likely to walk in and be given an exclusive news story/high profile project upon your lap to devour. You must show willingness to do the mind numbing tasks, whatever they might be, first.

Be quietly confident, the age old adage of not speaking until you’re spoken to, couldn’t be truer here. I’m not suggesting you should swallow your personality, but it’s better to perform your tasks as exceptionally as you can and let your strengths shine through. This will be rewarded more readily, than by talking about how good you could be if only they would let you have a go at…

I’ve noticed that staff on glossies tend to nip out and buy their own designer lattes, whereas newspaper people live for their tea fixes indoors and argue about whose round it is. Enter you: sniff out your office’s culture and offer to oblige. There are hidden benefits to getting the tea. Do it a few times and you might just be remembered and loved.

Don’t be afraid of pitching ideas. But there is a balance to be struck – no taking over, polite suggestion will suffice. Wow them with your eager fresh mind. It’s infectious and people will want to either snuff you out or feel good about themselves for having found you. Ensure you spend your energies on those in the latter camp.

Enjoy yourself!

What next?

Newspapers are a competitive place to be and none of my placements led to permanent work. But I have many friends who got their first jobs through placements so it’s not unheard of.

If you aren’t offered work, there’s no point wasting time feeling despondent. Life’s a learning curve and think of what’s been gained – you have new insight and a fistful of contacts. Exploit this and make sure you’re not forgotten. Think of a good reason (like e-mailing a thank you note, it was great to work with you…etc.), to remind them you exist and are still keen.

Stay focused and keep going. If there isn’t anything else you would rather do then there’s nothing for it but to keep plugging away. Perseverance and tenacity bring results in the end. Over to you.