I interned at Girls' Life magazine over the summer of 2009. It was a really fun experience. From writing online articles to assisting on a photo shoot, I got more than just a behind-the-scenes look at what goes on at a national magazine: I learned how to how to be a part of it. I left GL in the fall to go to college.

Having an internship under my belt was a big plus when it came to getting positions on the school newspaper. My journalism professors were so impressed that I was ahead of the game—but they weren't the only ones. With GL on my resume, I was offered a spring internship at USA WEEKEND—a big opportunity most journalism students don't get until their junior or senior year. I'm way excited to take the skills I've learned at GL and other journalistic activities and apply them there (and learn a li'l more) in the spring. Making it in the magazine industry is all about taking those little steps up: My dream is to work at a big fash mag in Manhattan one day, and I know GL was the perf way to get a head start. I'm so thankful for what GL has taught me and so happy to still be involved as a mod and contributing writer!

Being an editorial intern at Girls' Life was a dream come true. Ever since I was in middle school, I knew I wanted to work for teen magazines. My internship taught me a lot about responsibility, hard work and helped me become a better writer. I use the many skills I learned at GL every day as a reporter for a local newspaper where I'm constantly interviewing people and working with tight deadlines. I also write for Girls' Life as an online contributing writer, which I absolutely love. Being an intern was an unforgettable experience. Internships are great opportunities to help you discover your passion. Interning looks great on your resume and gives you the experience you need to succeed in the real world.

Hey, girlies. Melany here! I’m totally missing my time away from GL but I’m keeping busy with projects, papers and finals. Oh, the life of a college chica! One thing my summer at GL prepared me for was blogging. Right now being an ultra-techy journalista is pretty much a must for any publication.

My life is consumed with blogs...and I mean that in a good way. I keep a blog for all my classes at school and I usually keep-up with a personal blog. Without the help of Girls' Life I would be suffering from a complete blogger blunder. Interning was the best! I learned tons of stuff and had a blast, too. One piece of advice for the future girlies, internships are uber-important! Don’t stress yourself out about it, but remember they’ll be big help in your future. Smooches!

I interned at GL when I was a senior in college. I was really into writing and thought that I wanted to work at a big time magazine once I graduated. I randomly Googled GL one day because I read it growing up. Imagine my excitement when I found out they were a short ten minute drive down the road from my college! I spent a year there doing really great stuff. I got to write up giveaways, answer questions, MOD the blog, assist on fashion shoots, come to think of it…there really wasn’t anything I WASN’T doing.

Internships are important because they give you valuable work experience in a field that you’re interested in. I wanted to get into editorial so I focused on internships/jobs that were heavy on writing. Do as many as you can and get started early. Being proactive about it indicates that you take your future seriously, have actually thought about what happens after college and have charted a course that best suits that vision. I wish I had done one every year of college rather than just my junior and senior year. When you’re interning you meet a lot of great people that can potentially help you out later in life. It is important to establish relationships like that.

After graduation I had my heart set on New York City. I moved here without a job but quickly got one working at a publishing house. While I was there I decided that editorial just wasn’t for me, especially in a place like New York. Everyone here wants to either work for a magazine or be an actor. Jobs were scarce and didn’t pay well so I got a position at a boutique recruitment firm. I love it here. I do TONS of write-ups, get to meet really awesome people and the small size makes me feel as though my contributions really matter to the growth of the company as a whole. I still think later on in life I will try to get back into the publishing world because I love it so much. But right now things are GREAT.

After having interned at Girls' Life during the last semester of my senior year of college, I knew that I wanted to pursue a career in journalism. I am currently a graduate student at New York University in the journalism department and am planning to receive a masters in the field. My time at Girls' Life required me to work primarily on girlslife.com, which lead me to become extremely interested in web journalism.

I learned how to write for the web and gained various helpful skills such as how to efficiently research subjects online. The practice I got definitely helped when it came time to apply to journalism grad schools, and I felt more confident considering the responsibilities I had during my Girls' Life internship. Internships are extremely beneficial and absolutely serve to one's advantage when trying to get into a particular college or land a certain job. They provide you with real-life experiences and help you to gain the necessary skills you will need in the future.

I'm about to move to Brooklyn with two of my BFFs for the winter (so excited!!) where I'll be working at two independent publishers in Manhattan. Mostly I'll be editing and approving/rejecting manuscripts and assisting in marketing books, but I'm sure I'll also be helping out with general office work, too.

Working at GL was a great insight into seeing the business side of publications and it looked great on my resume. Everyone I talked to was interested in what it was like and they all seemed to really like that I'd had such a positive, fun experience in the industry. Internships are a big deal at my school—we're required to complete at least three to graduate—and it's probably been the most helpful thing I've learned at college. Any experience, good or bad, is still experience, and having a nice, full resume has made job hunting a lot easier for me than it has been for some of my friends who haven't done internships.

by GL | 2/1/2016