Cosmopolitan Editor-in-Chief Jessica Pels shares tips on turning an internship into a full-time role
Cosmopolitan Editor-in-Chief Jessica Pels began her career in the magazine industry at a young age.
While interning at The New Yorker during her sophomore year at New York University, Pels said she attended long-time film critic Richard Brody's book launch, which is where she said she "got the bug," and from then on pursued her career in the world of magazines.
"I went to HR at the company [Conde Nast] and I said, 'Hey, I love this company, here's my resume. I would love to intern at another magazine and get a sense for how things work elsewhere.' I was lucky that there was an opening at Vogue, and I jumped to Vogue for the next semester which was a totally different experience," Pels told ABC News' Rebecca Jarvis on an episode of "No Limits with Rebecca Jarvis."
Pels navigated her way through Conde Nast from The New Yorker to Vogue to landing a full-time position at Glamour upon graduating -- all opportunities made possible by staying connected with Conde Nast's human resources team.
"Every time I emailed her [HR contact] I would say, 'Hey I saw that Vogue just published this piece I loved it and here's why,' just a little nugget of something personal and connective," Pels said, recalling her early attempts to land a job within Conde Nast.
"I'm not going to say that that's why I got the job, but I do think it's why she thought of me when the position opened up to work for Cindy Levy at Glamour," Levy was editor-in-chief of the magazine at the time.
Pels has held practically every position possible in the magazine industry: intern, assistant, associate editor, digital director and now editor-in-chief.
She shares some advice to every intern that she sits down with is to take similar steps that she did to secure a future position:
First, print out your resume
"I know this is the digital era," Pels added, "but print out your resume while you're still in the internship because you're in the building, you've got the email address. This is the time of leverage."
Second, set up a meeting with HR
"Go and meet with HR and tell them how much you love the company," Pels said. "This is something that not enough candidates do. I think it's so rare that I have a job candidate who says, 'I love what you do. I love this place.' Be passionate."
Third, don't get discouraged if it doesn't happen right away
"They were in a hiring freeze at the time because I graduated in December of 2008, not a good moment," Pels recalled. "I spent six months at a charity doing communications for them sort of biding my time and just hoping that I would hear from HR."
Finally, stay persistent
"I followed up, not too often, but I followed up every month-and-a-half with a one- or two-liner, always a cute little joke and nothing that required a response," Pels added.
Pels' tactics have worked for her as she's climbed the ladder of success.
She assumed the top editorial role at Cosmo in October 2018 at just 32 years old. She's grown the brand to reach 81 million readers, making it the largest young women's media brand in the world.
Another key to her success? Putting major emphasis on data and analytics.
"Data really is identifying what your goal is and then measuring whether you got there," Pels explained. "It's so fascinating to think about that in the context of a creative field like content and writing and editing. To me, that's why it's so satisfying, that you can see how many people read your story, you can identify why that story did so well and why the other one you published in tandem didn't. And that makes you smarter and better."
Hear more from Cosmopolitan Editor-in-Chief Jessica Pels on episode 135 of "No Limits with Rebecca Jarvis."
