Cosmopolitan UK – September 2019

COSMOPOLITAN · 67

I dida yearofworkingasanunpaidintern

beforeI gotmyfirstfull-timejournalismjob.

I wasn’tfromLondon,soI hadtomakeends

meetbyworkingata pubintheevenings and

atweekends.Aftereveryplacement,I always

triedtostayintouchwiththepeopleI had

met,evenwhenit felta bitcringe– the

publishingindustryis a smallworldandyou

neverknowwhoknowswho.Thecontacts

I madeledmetomyfirstfull-timeroleat

a magazine,whichledmetoanonlinejob

ata newspaper,whichtogethergaveme

theexperiencetolandtheroleofsenior

digitalwriteratCosmopolitan. Sincethen

I’veworkedmywayup.AndnowI getto

workalongsidethetalentedmegastars

featuredonthesepageseveryday.

Forsixyears,I workedata job

I hated.It wasataninsurance

companyandthelongerI was

there,theharderit felttoleave.

I’dalwayswantedtobea beauty

journalist,soI startedusingmy

annualleaveforwork-experience

placements.I wasaskedto

interviewasa personalassistantat

Cosmopolitan– it wasn’tthepath

I wantedtotake,andI definitely

wasn’tthebestatmyjob,but

I wentoutofmywaytotakeon

extraworkandpitchideastothe

beautyteam.Whenthebeauty

assistantleft,I walkedintothe

editor’sofficeandtoldher

I wantedthejob.Thebeauty

directorwantedmefortherole

too,thankstoallmyextrawork,

andtheygavemea three-month

trial.It wasa risk,butI’venow

learnedthattakingriskspaysoff.i

My first job in video
wasn’t exactly glamorous.
I worked on anything
from property and car
conventions to small-
time music videos – no
job was too minor. I got
a lot of support and
encouragement from
friends and my partner,
which was priceless in
the long run – I would
suggest asking for help
wherever you can. In the early days, I also said yes
to everything first and then thought about it later.
If I had given myself a chance to think about all the
things that could go wrong on a job before accepting
it, I wouldn’t have gained the skills to be here. That’s
my advice for anyone who’s suffering from imposter
syndrome – load it off on friends and family, and just
throw yourself into it.

Claire Hodgson

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Laura Capon

ACTING BEAUTY EDITOR

Alex Hering

VIDEO LEAD