Last week we Skyped with Megan Angelo, a Glamour entertainment contributor (she also occasionally writes for The New York Times). She writes four blog posts a day from her home in Pennsylvania -- she started almost two years ago, and so far she’s written about 1650 posts. Whew. She also helps the Glamour team figure out what entertainment content to include in the print magazine and contributes about 1,000 words per issue.
The Villanova grad and English major applied to the Conde Nast internship program, thinking she’d never get in because she didn’t have any connections. When she was selected for an internship, she was so surprised that she politely asked why she was hired. The answer: there were few applicants who were co-editors-in-chief of the school paper, and that was pretty cool.
Six weeks after she graduated, she became the editorial assistant at Conde Nast’s “Portfolio.” She worked there for two years, and when it folded, Megan turned to freelancing out of necessity -- a.k.a., she shifted towards entertainment journalism. She helped launch the entertainment section for “Business Insider” and became its entertainment editor.
After two years, her friend, a photo editor at Glamour, got in touch with her -- they were looking for writers since they were about to relaunch their site. After a big edit test, among other things, she was hired! She worked her way up from two blog posts a day to print.
Megan said she works on both the print and online schedule because of the nature of her job. She’s at her desk at home from 8 a.m. to around 6:30 p.m., and spends most of the day writing those four posts. Then she works on print.
On working at Glamour: “Working at Glamour is so satisfying to know I’m working at a place that any woman, regardless of how much money they make or where they live, can pick up the magazine. I love the universality of it. Everyone’s really nice.”
Megan’s advice:
“Do whatever you have to do to get clips,” Megan said, “because that’s really all anybody cares about at the end of the day. There's no better time in college to write about whatever you want. … That’s huge when it comes to getting an internship, pitching an assignment, etc.”
On networking: Before she worked for Glamour, Megan used to read magazines’ mastheads and cold-email people with coveted jobs. “I looked at EAs who were only a few years older and emailed them, ‘I think it’s amazing you have this job. I would love to hear about how you got here.’ … In that first email, there’s no reason to say you're looking for a job. It’s obvious.”
“You do have to have connections in the industry to make it, but you don’t have to be born with them. Be genuine and ask about them. I always remember them and I remember great interns who are sweet, get it and contribute meaningfully.”
“Be genuine with everyone. That’s all there is to networking.”
On living in New York: “If humanly possible, don’t get an apartment before you get a job. If it’s at all possible to live with someone for free, live with someone.”
“Get someone’s New York address and put it on your resume. They filter them. Just say New York so they know you’re available.”
Megan said she wouldn’t recommend working from home when you’re first starting up. “If your dream is to be an editor and to climb up the ladder, you probably won’t work from home.If you wanna go more the writing route, things get more murky because writers come from everywhere.” A “staff writer” or “contributor” is often working from home.
On being obsessed with Conde Nast: “I wish I hadn’t obsessed so much about getting certain internships.”
On blogging: “The kind of personal blogs that will impress an employer are time-consuming. They want to see you post twice a week. They want something sophisticated and consistent. The other route is writing for a campus publication, getting clips, etc.”
“People do like to see that you’re an expert in something or that you’re interested in something.”
On breaking into music journalism: “That’s a fantastic place to break in because you can review things constantly, get into niche areas of music, etc. It’s such a big thing to say, ‘You're not covering this and it’s really important and I know all about this. That’s why you need me.’”
On breaking into fashion: “It’s almost better to have a very well-curated Instagram or Tumblr. That goes a long way -- Glamour’s Instagram is huge for them. … Think about the visual and let your style come through.”
On freelancing: “There are so many places that young people can write, which is great, but make connections first if you can and get your reputation established in the industry. Most jobs, even if they’re grueling, it’s still possible to launch a freelance career on the site, even if it’s a blog post a month at a local bank or magazine that you love.”
“The good thing about freelancing is that you get to pick what you actually want to write about.”
Consider writing for start-ups, not just big-name publications.
And finally: “If you're the person who’s already thinking about this, then you're already ahead of the game. Relax, enjoy college, because working isn’t as fun as college. Trust your voice and show it off. No one is saying to you, ‘The deadline is tomorrow.’ Write what you want.”
“Everything really is a stepping stone.”
The Villanova grad and English major applied to the Conde Nast internship program, thinking she’d never get in because she didn’t have any connections. When she was selected for an internship, she was so surprised that she politely asked why she was hired. The answer: there were few applicants who were co-editors-in-chief of the school paper, and that was pretty cool.
Six weeks after she graduated, she became the editorial assistant at Conde Nast’s “Portfolio.” She worked there for two years, and when it folded, Megan turned to freelancing out of necessity -- a.k.a., she shifted towards entertainment journalism. She helped launch the entertainment section for “Business Insider” and became its entertainment editor.
After two years, her friend, a photo editor at Glamour, got in touch with her -- they were looking for writers since they were about to relaunch their site. After a big edit test, among other things, she was hired! She worked her way up from two blog posts a day to print.
Megan said she works on both the print and online schedule because of the nature of her job. She’s at her desk at home from 8 a.m. to around 6:30 p.m., and spends most of the day writing those four posts. Then she works on print.
On working at Glamour: “Working at Glamour is so satisfying to know I’m working at a place that any woman, regardless of how much money they make or where they live, can pick up the magazine. I love the universality of it. Everyone’s really nice.”
Megan’s advice:
“Do whatever you have to do to get clips,” Megan said, “because that’s really all anybody cares about at the end of the day. There's no better time in college to write about whatever you want. … That’s huge when it comes to getting an internship, pitching an assignment, etc.”
On networking: Before she worked for Glamour, Megan used to read magazines’ mastheads and cold-email people with coveted jobs. “I looked at EAs who were only a few years older and emailed them, ‘I think it’s amazing you have this job. I would love to hear about how you got here.’ … In that first email, there’s no reason to say you're looking for a job. It’s obvious.”
“You do have to have connections in the industry to make it, but you don’t have to be born with them. Be genuine and ask about them. I always remember them and I remember great interns who are sweet, get it and contribute meaningfully.”
“Be genuine with everyone. That’s all there is to networking.”
On living in New York: “If humanly possible, don’t get an apartment before you get a job. If it’s at all possible to live with someone for free, live with someone.”
“Get someone’s New York address and put it on your resume. They filter them. Just say New York so they know you’re available.”
Megan said she wouldn’t recommend working from home when you’re first starting up. “If your dream is to be an editor and to climb up the ladder, you probably won’t work from home.If you wanna go more the writing route, things get more murky because writers come from everywhere.” A “staff writer” or “contributor” is often working from home.
On being obsessed with Conde Nast: “I wish I hadn’t obsessed so much about getting certain internships.”
On blogging: “The kind of personal blogs that will impress an employer are time-consuming. They want to see you post twice a week. They want something sophisticated and consistent. The other route is writing for a campus publication, getting clips, etc.”
“People do like to see that you’re an expert in something or that you’re interested in something.”
On breaking into music journalism: “That’s a fantastic place to break in because you can review things constantly, get into niche areas of music, etc. It’s such a big thing to say, ‘You're not covering this and it’s really important and I know all about this. That’s why you need me.’”
On breaking into fashion: “It’s almost better to have a very well-curated Instagram or Tumblr. That goes a long way -- Glamour’s Instagram is huge for them. … Think about the visual and let your style come through.”
On freelancing: “There are so many places that young people can write, which is great, but make connections first if you can and get your reputation established in the industry. Most jobs, even if they’re grueling, it’s still possible to launch a freelance career on the site, even if it’s a blog post a month at a local bank or magazine that you love.”
“The good thing about freelancing is that you get to pick what you actually want to write about.”
Consider writing for start-ups, not just big-name publications.
And finally: “If you're the person who’s already thinking about this, then you're already ahead of the game. Relax, enjoy college, because working isn’t as fun as college. Trust your voice and show it off. No one is saying to you, ‘The deadline is tomorrow.’ Write what you want.”
“Everything really is a stepping stone.”
