No Experience Required this week enters the glamorous world of magazine publishing at Harmonia with Norah Casey at its helm. Harmonia publish some of Ireland’s most popular titles such as Irish Tatler, U Magazine and Food and Wine Magazine. The job on offer is Editorial Assistant, a much sought after position in the world of monthly glossies. An Editorial Assistant is involved in the production of a magazine by assisting senior editorial staff, writing copy and liaising with journalists and photographers.
The three who make it through to the two-week work placement are a linguist, a clothes store manager and a law graduate. The candidates begin their first week learning that it is vital to target the correct readership. They must know their readers. After a master-class in the role of an editorial assistant given by Norah, the candidates get their first task and it involves one of their favourite activities – shopping.
They are under a tight deadline to choose three winter fashion looks that will feature in U magazine and the separates they choose must appeal to U’s readers. This will demonstrate their sense of style, knowledge of fashion and whether they understand their audience’s needs and price range, or not, as the case may be.
The following day, the candidates style their shoot at a photographic studio and write the text to accompany it. They each work with Art Director, Sue Conley on the lay-out of their page and face some the feedback from Norah, Dee O’Keefe, Editor of U Magazine and Sue Conley.
There’s no time to waste in the fast-paced and deadline-oriented world of magazine publishing and they quickly receive another task: a 500 word beauty spread, also for U Magazine, They are given a deadline of midnight to submit their work and then anxiously await feedback.
Next, they don their glad rags and work on the Social Diary for Irish Tatler. The candidates go to the high profile Angel’s Quest Ball and direct a photographer to take photos of celebrity guests and must be sure to record their names accurately. This quickly shows how much or how little they know about Dublin’s glitterati. Norah watches the candidates closely to ensure that they behave and interact appropriately at the event.
By the end of week one Norah has made her decision and one of the candidates is eliminated.
Week two gets off to an intensive start as the two remaining novices have to devise an idea for an 8 page booklet to be given away free with Irish Tatler. They are expected to produce and edit the booklet from start to finish, including a cover, a contents page, Editor’s letter, articles and pictures!
They present their magazine to Norah and the editors at the end of the week. This is by far the biggest test of their editorial potential and will form the backbone of Norah’s final decision on who gets the job.
While still very busy with their booklets, the candidates help with Irish Tatler Women of the Year Awards. They act as escorts for the winners to the stage and mingle with the attendees, as ambassadors for Harmonia
Tune in to find out who gets the shot at a glossy future and who returns to their day job?
NO EXPERIENCE REQUIRED IS PRODUCED BY LIBERTY FILMS FOR RTÉ TELEVISION.