How to Work at a Magazine

We pool our collective experience to bring you some tried and true advice about how to kick your boot through the glass door of corporate media, and how to keep your morale high once you get there (Part II, where we deal with this, TK).

1. Your job will not be glamorous. Like, at all. You've seen The
Devil Wears Prada, Ugly Betty, Suddenly Susan, Spiderman, Just Shoot Me, The Fashionista Diaries. Your job will not be like any of these movies/ tv shows. You will sit in a cubicle for a very long time every day. You will read the internet, and maybe ichat. You will have minimal person to person contact with cool office co-workers. Your contact will generally be limited to people who are angry / stressed / looking for something / want something from you. There may be a time when you go out for drinks with co-workers after a big close. You will probably talk about work the whole time, then get wasted. If you think your life will be glamorous, I advise you to prepare yourself for disappointment. You will be in good company.

2. Find the free table. The flip side to the lack of glamor is an abundance of free swag. When I worked at a fancy women's magazine, I told myself that I may be stuck here till 11pm every night, but I'm not going home empty-handed. I now have $500-$1000 worth of beauty products in my bathroom, countless self-help books, free shoes, free bags, free cabs, free passes, free everything. My soul can be bought.

3. Don't burn any bridges: the revolving door is always spinning. After 3-6 months in the publishing industry, one quickly realizes that cast members come and go at an alarming frequency. Today, your intern may quit to work at a neighboring publication. Tomorrow, she may be your boss. Do not underestimate the network. Be nice to everyone, they will return the favor. At the end of the day, magazine people generally suck, but they all pretend to like each other anyway. Why can't you?

4. It's all about the ego: who has it, who wants it. Flaunt it if you got it, or even if you don't. If you can persuade others that you know something they don't, you will be promoted. It doesn't matter who or what you know, it's like a warped version of The Game. Everything is a power struggle. Pretend that you know what you're talking about and people will believe that you do. Bragging counts more than hard work.