What It’s Really Like to Work for a Magazine

We’ve all seen The Devil Wears Prada. We’ve seen Andy working her god damn ass off to get to the top, we’ve admired Meryl Streep as she shone as Miranda (who is the ultimate sassy GIF material), and admired Emily for some killer one-liners. It’s Mean Girls for grownups. A classic that’s survived the ages. And for a young Caroline, a definite dream job that I thought only would remain a dream until October 2018.

As a Media and Journalism student at, what’s considered the best university in Africa, the University of Cape Town (UCT), I had many options for the career I would eventually choose. But despite being quite well-versed in knowing my options, I basically saw my path going down two narrow routes: hard news with politics, violence, drama, and on-the-scene hardcore action or freelancing. Neither of those two options appealed to me at all so, I took a shot in the dark and heard about an internship my friend had done at a top magazine publication in South Africa.

Best. Results. Ever.

The internship is no longer available; but they can extend an offer to just work for them. Casual dream-come-true.

My first day in the office: I’m overly dressed and waiting for Miranda to walk through the door. Fortunately (and maybe unfortunately, if you enjoy the thrill), there was no absolute PANIC when the Editor in Chief walked through the door, but there are a couple more different experiences I had compared to Andy.

Image from Go Into The Story

Do I do coffee runs for our Miranda Priestly?

No. I don’t just run through the streets of Cape Town trying to balance a dozen take-away coffee cups while answering my endlessly ringing phone. To clear up what I do: I’m a features writer. I write articles about kick-ass women or experiences. I review beauty products or books, often giving recommendations of must-tries for the month. I interview people and spend hours painstakingly transcribing them.  I submit articles, and I work with other kick-ass women all around me. Sweet deal, right?

Image from Teen Vogue

Do I get to wear the Chanel boots?

A (wonderful) shock to the system when I entered the work force was that if you’re a writer working in media, or just a general creative, no one expects you to wear high heels and tight skirts to work! If you do, you’re going to stick out like a sore thumb. Smart-casual is the way to go. It depends on your own style, but trendy sneakers are a must and my standard outfit combos include dresses and sandals, or jeans and a pretty shirt. On the big interview days, I’ll wear ankle boots to be a bit bougie. But unfortunately, no Chanel.

Image from Smooth Australia

Where is Meryl?

Probably rehearsing another new script that will shake the Earth again. Our Editor in Chief does dress up though. Every day, she’s rocking some gorgeous printed or bold dress. We can hear her heels or wedges as she walks down the hall. Our heads peek above our desktops or laptops as she approaches. But she’s no Miranda. However, she definitely has the same aura that naturally makes you quake with respect and awe as you think I-just-want-to-be-you-when-I-grow-please-can-we-go-for-coffee-and-be-best-friends?

Image from Vogue Australia

Who is my Emily?

There’s no catty, bitchy fighting with snide comments, and killer one-liners from my co-workers. I will admit that for the first couple of months, I kept to myself because I was a small, university newbie and intimidated by everyone’s incredible knowledge and huge spreads in the magazine. However, after I just started chatting to the women around me more, asking questions and using their knowledge, which previously intimidated me, to help me grow; professional, yet friendly, mentor-like, yet still encouraging bonds formed with my fellow feature writers.

Image from Glamour UK

Deadlines and Perks

I’m not called in at 11pm to go to my Editor’s house and awkwardly listen in to their personal life. Thank goodness! As opposed to hard news and online media sites’ pressure to publish content every day, or sometimes as it happens ‘churn-alism’; magazine deadlines are a lot easier to work with. You work towards a print deadline for each edition, giving you, the writer, time to invest in each of your stories, give them character, make it yours, form bonds with your interviewees, and maybe even attend the shoot for your spread.

Image from Dr Andrew Joseph Pegoda

It’s a beautiful place to start your journalism career: purist, rosy, and full of character. I know not every media job sends you to wine farms to review their restaurants or, gives you the opportunity to connect with South Africa’s biggest influencers; but this is a wonderful place to stretch my legs as a student, making her way into the big, wide world of media.