Work Placement

Elle’s Work placement
Assessment Activity 1: Short written reportI knew I wanted to try and get in to one of the leading women’s magazines, like CLEO, Cosmopolitan, Shop till you Drop or VOGUE but I didn't know how to go about it or who to contact. I looked in the Sydney phone book (I have a copy at my work) and discovered that the majority of Australian magazines are owned by a company called ACP magazines. I called the switchboard and asked to be put through to Cosmo...they had no places, then Cleo...they also had no places, then Shop til you Drop, they were also full...After several more failed attempts I was informed that to get work experience at acp magazines you have to book months in advance. What a let down.The next day Dolly magazine called me with a cancellation, if I could come in the following week. I accepted and emailed Eva (the magazine co coordinator) through my personal details. My work placement was confirmed!

Assessment Activity 2: Workplace entries

Entry one:
On my first day at Dolly my job was to familiarise myself with the magazine, the different people that worked in the office and their roles and responsibilities. There is an editorial section, an online section, an entertainment section, a beauty section and a fashion section. The online, entertainment, beauty and fashion sections work on their stories and the editorial rewrites and edits the articles.

Entry two:
On my second day I assisted in the Editorial section, my duties were:
Getting the mail (three times a day)
Doing coffee runs
Editing questions that readers had sent in to Dolly Doctor so that they had no errors or spelling mistakes
Organising files
Working on the work experience program booklet.

Entry three:
I spent my third day in fashion, my duties were:
§ Going out in the street and interviewing and taking photos of girls with ‘cool outfits’
§ Organising and labeling outfits
§ Researching new trends that could be used in the upcoming issues
§ Photocopying
§ Working on the work experience booklet



Entry four:
I spent my fourth day helping the beauty editor. I cleared out the cupboards and sorted the beauty products and organised her media released into alphabetical folders. When there were no jobs that needed doing I worked on the work experience booklet.

Entry five:
On my last day at Dolly I asked the magazine coordinator about internships and how they worked. I asked her if there were any positions available at the moment and luckily she had one spot left for an editorial intern. We organised my starting date and arranged that I would go in to the office one day a week for the next year.

Assessment Activity 3: Placement Evaluation

Work placement at Dolly magazine was a great experience for me. It offered me insight into what it’s like to work in a magazine, and the different roles and positions that are available. Before I went on work experience I was unsure of what I wanted to do for my career, and had no real direction- after a week in the industry I am certain it is what I want to do. If I hadn’t of completed work placement I would have never been offered the opportunity of an internship, and would still be unsure of my career path.