Here’s your chance to gain experience at the nation’s premier and award-winning Asian American woman’s magazine! At Audrey, we cover stories that encompasses news, lifestyle, beauty, fashion, and entertainment. We are currently looking for INTERNS who would be interested in working for ONLINE sections for SUMMER 2013.
AUDREY INTERNS
Audrey Interns are given significant responsibility in areas such as research, writing, marketing, public relations, and will provide general office support. Time commitment of 15-20 hours per week preferred. College credit can be offered.
In general, ideal candidates are detail-oriented, able to multitask, have strong communication and writing skills and should have an interest in the Asian/Asian American community. Tech-savvy people with experience with WordPress, Photoshop, Google Analytics, social media, video production/post-production, and other software and online tools a huge plus.
NOTE: This is NOT a telecommute/virtual internship. Interns are required to be in Los Angeles/Gardena for Summer 2013.
Interested? Please send your resume and email cover letter and two writing samples to online@audreymagazine.com.
When the Great Recession hit in 2008, millions were downgraded to part-time, furloughed or simply laid off. But if there’s one thing the recession has proven, it’s that sometimes a downturn in life can be a blessing in disguise.
ISSUE: Fall 2011
DEPT: Features
STORY: Shirley Lau
PHOTO: Kristy Lee & Luke Cho
It’s impossible to look in any direction without seeing someone playing the Words with Friends app on their iPhone or messaging a friend on their Blackberry. Despite government-issued checks being the sole source of income for many, it’s not hard to find restaurants with people waiting in a line that goes out the door, eager to spend their scavenged cash on a nice meal. It may look like the economy is getting better, but looks can be awfully deceiving.
Being unemployed or making a career change during what is considered by economists to be the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s, is anything but an anomaly. As of this past summer, the unemployment
rate was nearly 10 percent, about 31 million people. And with constant fears of a possible double-dip recession, it doesn’t look like things are going to get better any time soon.
So what is one to do when she’s living off unemployment and sending hundreds of résumés into a black hole? Some may choose to make a career out of being couch potatoes, while others are just trying to stay afloat, holding out for the day when they can make a career out of what they’re most passionate about. And then there are those fresh (and once fearful) faces who’ve changed their lives for the better — and they have the recession to thank for it.
A New Global Perspective
{ Cat Manabat, 25, Filipina American }
Previous job: Copywriter for start-up social media marketing company
Current job: English teacher
As a fresh college graduate from University of California, Irvine, Catherine Manabat wasn’t moving up at the start-up company she was at, despite being there for a year. Her paycheck barely managed to cover her school loans and monthly bills. And she had to sacrifice her freedom — without any residual income to live on her own, she was living back at home with her parents.
“It was very odd to come back [home] and try to assert myself as an adult-child, rather than a child-child,” says Manabat. “It can be a rocky transition for most. The obvious downside was I was still getting bothered almost all the time about going out, being out too much, being asked to run a lot of errands whenever they saw I had any free time, and not really feeling like I had my own space.”
So she decided to make a big move. Not to another state or across the country, but to Korea.
It seemed like the most viable solution to her money woes. As an English teacher in Korea, she has her rent paid for, finally has health insurance, is paid overtime and gets more vacation days.
“Life in Korea is great, and I enjoy my independence and the perspective it is giving me,” says Manabat. “It may be cheesy, but this experience helped me realize this dream, and also propels me to consider the world — and not just my neighborhood — in my future.”
Dream Job to Having a Life
{ Celena Cipriaso, Filipina American }
Previous job: Writers’ assistant for All My Children
Current job: Ad sales, freelance writer
It was always Celena Cipriaso’s dream to work for a soap opera, especially All My Children — the show she’d been watching since she was only 5 years old. So when she was laid off as a writers’ assistant after four years, she was heartbroken … and in a financial bind. Her annual income dropped by $15,000 — almost a third of her previous salary.
“I kind of fell apart,” she says. “I totally panicked. I wouldn’t be human if I didn’t panic.”
Dozens of employees were a part of the unexpected mass layoff, some who had even been a part of
the show since its inception, says Cipriaso. She planned on making a career out of her job “until I died or [soap operas] died,” she says. Luckily, the show gave Cirpriaso a few gigs as a writer, which helped tide her over as she waited for unemployment to start rolling in. But that position, too, was short-lived — though monetarily it was worth three months of pay doing what she did as a writers’ assistant. “I felt like I was getting laid off for the second time,” says Cipriaso.
In order to pay her bills, Cipriaso took an ad sales job through a temp agency. “It forced me to be
very conscious with my money [and] look at my budget,” she says. Yet despite the smaller paycheck, Cipriaso is more satisfied with her life. At her old job she worked endless hours. “It never used to be daylight out when I got home,” she says. “My husband would be sleeping. I would see my husband on the weekends.” Now that the layoff forced her to find another job (“When I get really comfortable with a place, I love to stay. I never challenge myself for the next thing,” she says), she gets to spend more time at home while she freelances and works a straight 9-to-6 job.
When the Great Recession hit in 2008, millions were downgraded to part-time, furloughed or simply laid off. But if there’s one thing the recession has proven, it’s that sometimes a downturn in life can be a blessing in disguise.
ISSUE: Fall 2011
DEPT: Features
STORY & PHOTO: Shirley Lau
It’s impossible to look in any direction without seeing someone playing the Words with Friends app on their iPhone or messaging a friend on their Blackberry. Despite government-issued checks being the sole source of income for many, it’s not hard to find restaurants with people waiting in a line that goes out the door, eager to spend their scavenged cash on a nice meal. It may look like the economy is getting better, but looks can be awfully deceiving.
Being unemployed or making a career change during what is considered by economists to be the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s, is anything but an anomaly. As of this past summer, the unemployment
rate was nearly 10 percent, about 31 million people. And with constant fears of a possible double-dip recession, it doesn’t look like things are going to get better any time soon.
So what is one to do when she’s living off unemployment and sending hundreds of résumés into a black hole? Some may choose to make a career out of being couch potatoes, while others are just trying to stay afloat, holding out for the day when they can make a career out of what they’re most passionate about. And then there are those fresh (and once fearful) faces who’ve changed their lives for the better — and they have the recession to thank for it.
Business, Interrupted
{ Alfred Fung, Chinese American }
Current job: Marketing manager
“Most people who go to business school, there’s a sense of entitlement. They think they’re going to get a six-figure salary or be the next Mark Zuckerberg. It’s almost this fantasy,” says Alfred Fung, who once chased his dream of starting his own business after he got his MBA from University of Southern California.
But that proved to be the hardest thing to do during a recession.
“Expectations were already low at the point of graduation. It was clear that there would be a rocky journey to find funding,” says Fung. “Despite this, entrepreneurs I knew pushed forward by bootstrapping as much as they could in what was our generation’s most hostile start-up environment. After all, being an entrepreneur was a much more active role than being unemployed.”
So Fung spent nearly a year in search of funding to make his idea of a new educational platform come to fruition. He sent his business plan to venture capitalists, applied for grants, and even pitched his idea during job interviews.
“I approached investors of all walks,” says Fung. “The most promising, and ultimately depressing, meetings were with the U.S. Department of Education’s Small Business Innovation Research Program director, who loved my idea. I waited several months for an answer, only to be denied. The investment environment is just not friendly to people who just have ideas.”
After exhausting every option, Fung says he decided to forgo his business venture. Now he’s working in the marketing sector of a mobile apps company. It’s not exactly what he envisioned, but he says it aligns well with his interests and he’s lucky to have the job. He keeps in mind something a former classmate told him: It’s not just your job for now; it’s undercover research for the future.
– Shirley Lau
Purchase the Summer issue of Audrey Magazine here.
When the Great Recession hit in 2008, millions were downgraded to part-time, furloughed or simply laid off. But if there’s one thing the recession has proven, it’s that sometimes a downturn in life can be a blessing in disguise.
ISSUE: Fall 2011
DEPT: Features
STORY: Shirley Lau
It’s impossible to look in any direction without seeing someone playing the Words with Friends app on their iPhone or messaging a friend on their Blackberry. Despite government-issued checks being the sole source of income for many, it’s not hard to find restaurants with people waiting in a line that goes out the door, eager to spend their scavenged cash on a nice meal. It may look like the economy is getting better, but looks can be awfully deceiving.
Being unemployed or making a career change during what is considered by economists to be the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s, is anything but an anomaly. As of this past summer, the unemployment
rate was nearly 10 percent, about 31 million people. And with constant fears of a possible double-dip recession, it doesn’t look like things are going to get better any time soon.
So what is one to do when she’s living off unemployment and sending hundreds of résumés into a black hole? Some may choose to make a career out of being couch potatoes, while others are just trying to stay afloat, holding out for the day when they can make a career out of what they’re most passionate about. And then there are those fresh (and once fearful) faces who’ve changed their lives for the better — and they have the recession to thank for it.
Back to the Books
{ Enid Portuguez, 30, Filipina American }
Previous job: Los Angeles Times staff writer
Current job: Graduate student
She’s in graduate school and accumulating debt like there’s no tomorrow. She spent all summer in Europe doing an unpaid internship. At the age of 30 and after nine years of having real jobs, this isn’t the life Enid Portuguez had in mind.
“I kind of realized it was time for something new,” says Portuguez about her choice to go back to school. “I really wanted to do something that was practical and was different from what I was doing before.”
Despite the recent debate over whether college, especially graduate school, is really worth it, Portuguez decided to not only pursue her master’s degree, but also change careers. Her bachelor’s degree was in criminology, her last job was in journalism, and now she’s getting her master’s in conflict resolution.
After falling victim to the second round of about five mass layoffs at the Los Angeles Times, Portuguez decided to return to her old stomping grounds of New York — just a week after the stock market crashed. “That was kind of a downer, to say the least,” she says. She toiled away working at a restaurant, while also freelancing and continuing to blog for the Los Angeles Times for extra income.
“Don’t count anything out,” says Portuguez. “Don’t think about how old you are; don’t think about how ridiculous it might sound. Don’t think about how outlandish or impossible it may seem. Now is the time to try what will make you happy.”
If your only glimpse into the entertainment industry is through the boob tube with the likes of The Hills, then you’ve missed out on the panel to the window of the real biz. And by boob tube, I’m not suggesting any part of Heidi Montag.
The Asian Professionals Exchange (APEX) hosted its Career Symposium to help members maximize their career and realize their potential at the Wilshire Grand Hotel on Saturday.
To add to the festivities, a Korean wedding reception was also taking place in the same ballroom, which is a predecessor of the Asian invasion.
I got to attend the last panel I Can’t Act, I Can’t Write, But I Want to Work in Entertainment, which was moderated byAngry Asian Man Phil Yu. The panelists were: Jamie Lai (Teddy Zee Productions),
Melissa Sun (Stan Rosenfield & Associates), David Kang (David Kang Casting)
and Nesa Khajehali (The Hub and Discovery/Hasbro Joint Venture Children’s Network).
Even though some started off in a different field; Jamie was a lawyer and David was a marine, the lure of the entertainment industry is draconian
They dispelled the notion that the entertainment industry is glamorous as they discussed the long and demanding hours that make work a way of life in the fast-paced industry.
They also highlighted that it’s all about marketing yourself and maintaining relations– getting one’s foot in the door with networking with the PIC (people in charge) and taking clients out for coffee is a must if you want to brew your career.
When asked to sell themselves with a single word: Jamie chose hardworking, Melissa chose aggressive, David chose edgy and Nessa chose authentic. Approach-approach conflict is the solution!
The Hills only realistically portrays the catty competition, which reflects Darwinism in the entertainment biz. If you want to reign supreme or at least secure yourself in the industry, then strategize.
