Defining and Pursuing Good Internships
by Hayli Morrison
For college students, the pressure to land a “good internship” is immense. There is a common perception that internships with bigger and more prestigious companies mean greater chances of success in “the real world.” However, this is not necessarily true, experts say.
“I think very few employers look at just
where you intern,” said Alan J. Kirkpatrick, internship director for the University of Colorado at Boulder’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication. “It’s more important
what you do with it.
“There are students who get great opportunities to intern somewhere, but they don’t network there. One of the things you want to get out of that experience is a healthy list of contacts. Sometimes, it’s all you can do with the internship, but it’s one of the most important things you can do.”
Sometimes the best internships appear in the most unexpected field, said Pam Claughton, senior-level marketing and technology recruiter for Custom Search Group Inc. They can also prove to be great conversation-starters in the future, as Claughton learned with her St. Louis Cardinals advertising internship during college.
“That one thing on my resume was more of a conversation piece,” she said, adding that she was not a baseball fan at the time, though she is an avid fan now. When it comes to internships, Claughton advises students that more is better.
“What I stress is to do as many internships as you can,” she said. “When you take your summer job, it’s really great to waitress, but don’t pass up the chance to do something in your field – even if it’s at the same time.”
Kirkpatrick agreed that students should take as many internships as possible, even those scheduled during the school semester. Such internships tend to be more productive because they generally last twice as long. Without being open to internships year-round, students are “not giving themselves all the opportunities they deserve,” Kirkpatrick said. However, it can take considerable effort to get past the mentality that summer is work time and semesters are reserved only for school.
“Students tend to look at college as high school, and their parents do, too,” he said. “Except this time, they’re paying for it.”
The key to hunting down internships is networking with everyone from college professors to fellow students to community professionals. The Internet has opened up a whole new realm of possibility as well, with such popular sites as Facebook and LinkedIn.
“You can get information on that internship, thumbs-up or thumbs-down, and what you need to do to get there,” Kirkpatrick said. “Research is huge, and it can even be cold-calling. There are many very good smaller organizations who don’t advertise and may not even think they have an internship program until the student calls.”
Students should try to balance large internship opportunities with smaller ones, and don’t neglect the unpaid opportunities. The prospect of working an entire summer or semester without pay could be daunting, but there are ways to make it happen. It may require working a second job simultaneously or taking on fewer credits for a few semesters to save money, but unpaid internships can be very worthwhile in the long-term picture.
“You can always afford it,” Kirkpatrick said. “If you’ve done the research, you know that is a very important thing to do. You’re going to look back and say, ‘Why didn’t I do that?’”
With the changing face of media, it is important to develop a broad range of skills. For instance, with increasing reliance on highly interactive web sites, video production and editing skills are just as relevant to modern-day newspapers as writing and interviewing skills are. Internships are a prime opportunity to develop those skills by sampling professions across the different sectors of the media industry.
When applying, students should be attuned to the specific requirements of each individual internship. The cover letter and internship application can be structured to emphasize the particular information a company is looking for. Some will look very closely at a student’s grade point average, while others might examine a student’s all-around productivity, like involvement in student media and the surrounding community.
“In addition to that, they may be looking for people who are capable with newer forms of media,” Kirkpatrick said. “Maybe they want someone who’s done some blogging. You don’t want to deny yourself any opportunity to gain experience.”
Undeniably, the most important aspect of internships is to get as many as possible and maximize each experience by learning as much as possible. It is all part of transforming yourself into the well-rounded job candidate media companies are seeking. And gradually, as the transformation occurs, you may find that your definition of a “good internship” has been redefined.
