Job Title: Advertising Coordinator
Location: New York, NY
Submitted on: 28-Sep-03
|
|
Job Title |
Workplace
Survey |
| Advertising Coordinator |
Before being hired by Vogue, I was a rover for Conde Nast, which
means that I was basically an internal temp - floating from position
to position in all of the magazines. So I was privy to what went on at
all of Conde Nast's magazines and pretty much knew what I was
getting into. After working as a rover for a year, I accepted the
position at Vogue as Advertising Coordinator (fancy name for
Assistant.)
Hours were 8:30 - 5:30, but assistants were expected to be in the
office and ready to roll before their bosses came in - so your day
would usually begin around 7:30-8:00 am. I was there during the
tumultuous tenure of Richard "Mad Dog" Beckman as Publisher,
and also when Tom Florio took over. Dress code at Vogue is
exactly what you'd suppose: everyone is perfectly dressed in
expensive clothing, and everyone wears Manolo Blahniks - even the
assistants, who only make from 28K - 34K . You can be sure thqt
your outfits were scrutinized, although this didn't necessarily form
100% of people's opinions of you. I say this from experience, as I
come from a working class background and didn't have the kind of
money required to buy a flawless wardrobe. Nevertheless, I was
treated as well as anyone else, and never felt ostracized. However,
dress code is very strict - everyone is expected to wear corporate
dress.
When I was there, the assistants on the lower end of the earning
spectrum were allowed to put in for over time, (they were the
assistants who did not work for management) but I hear now that
Vogue is much more strict and does not want to pay for over time.
The workplace environment is extremely stressful. It's not
uncommon to see grown women running through the office at top
speed, and to see or hear women crying in the bathroom. If you
work there, whether you're an assistant or the Associate Publisher,
you can be certain that you will be expected to perform, and if you
don't you'll be screamed at. You learn quickly that every little detail
is extremely important. All Assistants work through lunches, and
often stay late. (To be fair, so do the reps and managers.) The
work is thankless, demanding and exhausting. I can honestly say
that when I worked at Vogue I was basically incapable of having any
relationships outside of the magazine. You give yourself over to the
job, and to the people you work for. You are essentially promised
that if you can make it through your first year, you will be given
assistance in any career path you wish. And because Conde Nast
has a corporate policy of not promoting any Advertising assistants
or coordinators, you will need to leave the company after your
tenure as assistant - and that help becomes absolutely essential.
The vast majority of Vogue employees are women. There are
possibly 5 men out of 70 employees, and none of them are
assistants. Any Vogue Ad rep or manager will tell you that they will
never hire a male assistant. Some say it's because men don't fit in,
or men don't get it, or men don't multi task well. I suspect that the
real reason is because men, especially young men, wouldn't put up
with the kind of shit that young women will. Can you see your
boyfriend or brother leaving the house at 5:30 am so that they can
go to the gym and then to Shoe Service Plus to pick up their boss'
Manolos before going in to the office to prep for a meeting? I didn't
think so. Honestly, as a woman I can say that the fact that women
essentially run the magazine is very inspiring. (Except that the
Publisher is a man.) It's a rare industry, I'll tell you that.
Also, Vogue is basically as white as can be. When I was there,
there was one african american assistant (she was fired,although I
don't know if it was related to her race or not), and one african
american manager, (she was a maternity fill-in, and temporary.)
There were also two male ad reps, both gay, and both were fired
fairly quickly after they were hired. They were replaced by white
women.
At Vogue, everyone has gone to a good school, and most people
are from the upper-middle class. ( I was one exception to this rule.)
The truth is this: you work your ass off. You pretty much hate every
minute of it. You're exhausted, anxious, starving and a wizard at
Excel by the time you leave. Until you move on to your next job, you
may think that all you've learned as a Vogue assistant is how to
hustle. But the reality is that you've basically received "wax-on,
wax-off" training in publishing. And if you've done a good job, and
made an impression, they will help you when you leave. You will
be better disciplined, more finely-tuned and able to think critically
and strategically than most of your peers.
Your first year is like being hazed, but after that you're in the
sorority,
as stupid as that sounds. And once it's over, you're glad you went
through it. Corny, I know, but it's an accomplishment. Trust me on
this one, from the other side of the fence, it's worth it.
|
|
Conde Nast Publications Inc. Interview Surveys
