DREAM JOB: Fashion Reporter

Ruairidh PritchardRuairidh Pritchard (pictured right) graduated with a BA in journalism from Glasgow Caledonian University in 2011, and now works for SHOP Magazine, the luxury shopping and travel guide published by Global Blue (ww.globalblue.com), covering over 50 destinations worldwide with a readership of over 4 million, making them the world’s largest publisher of free distribution shopping magazines. Ruairidh sat down to tell Kirsty McKenzie how he bagged his dream job…

Can you give us a brief description of your job title and what it is you do.

My official title is Menswear Reporter – working across Global Blue’s magazine, SHOP and website, globalblue.com. I create content for both SHOP magazine and globalblue.com on all things menswear – whether it’s cool new denim shops in Prague, the best tailors in Holland, or the latest trends from men’s fashion week in London.

How instrumental do you think your degree was in getting you where you are today?

It’s absolutely 100% the reason I have the job I have today – I think my experience editing my university’s student magazine was the main reason I was hired as a Production Assistant two years ago, but since then the skills I learned from my journalism degree have allowed me to grow into the role I have today.

What’s the biggest thing you’ve learned since graduating?

No one really knows what they’re doing. Not really – not for definite. Everyone is doing a bit of guesswork, and luck definitely comes into it too. The trick is to keep in mind that everyone is bluffing a bit.

How easy have you found it to develop your own tone and style of writing?

The main purpose of SHOP and globalblue.com is to educate the reader about new destinations, and the brands that are located in different cities around the world, so our tone has to be informative, but I try to keep it light and simple too.

Do you feel any pressure that your writing should be funny? Or any pressure to ‘dumb down’ your work to make it more accessible?

With fashion writing the key is to keep it simple – there’s so much hyperbole in fashion, which is primarily the reason why it gets such a bad reputation amongst “real journalists”. If I don’t understand what I’m writing, how is the person reading it supposed to?

What’s the best and worst part about your job?

The best part is definitely seeing your work in print – getting copies of the magazine back from the printer and having a physical entity that you helped to create gives you a feeling digital work will never be able to provide. The worst part is undoubtedly the late nights – being in the office until 8 or 9 at night (five nights a week during super busy periods) can take its toll on your sanity after a while.

What personal qualities do you think it takes to do this job?

I think you have to be determined. Everyone loves the idea of working in media, but the reality is often very different to the Devil Meets Prada/Sex and the City idea – you have to work hard, long hours, often for free to begin with. That said, if it’s really what you want to do you have to be able to stick with it, and put a smile on even if you’re shattered.

How accommodating do you think this industry is to young people starting out and wanting to get involved?

People are never going to turn down help, whether or not its paid is another matter – you hear horror stories of people interning for years before getting a “real job”.  I’ve found that if you make a space for yourself, and if you add value to the company you’re working for, the industry can be very accommodating.

What are your thoughts on work experience, would you say it’s essential?

It depends on what you view as “work experience”. I edited my student magazine for two years while doing my degree and it taught me so much about publishing – something that has really helped me since. I think it can only help to put yourself into a real working environment where you are free to learn from others, and make mistakes, before moving on to a real position. Honestly, I can’t imagine anyone being hired without illustrating some form of prior experience.

Biggest myth about the industry?

The glamour! It’s all rubbish. I hate to break it to you, but MTV lied to us all. If Lauren Conrad and Whitney Port where real interns they would’ve been fired on the first day – you have to work hard. I cannot stress that enough. It’s not all parties with the cast of Made in Chelsea (although I have been to one of those – they’re all awful, btw).

What’s next for you? Any big projects in the pipeline?

I’m happy where I am now – men’s SS15 just debuted in across Europe, which is exciting, and we’re starting print on SHOP’s AW14 season, which is daunting, but fun – I can’t wait to see them come back from print.

Any tips for people wanting to follow in your footsteps?

Write! Do it for free, work with people in production and get involved in any way you can. Make yourself as accessible and as helpful as possible – people will never turn down free help, and it gives you the opportunity to make a great impression. Wherever possible try to find something that no one else is focussing on – make it yours and find ways to make it valuable to the running of the operation. Make yourself indispensable.

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