Internship Time

There comes a time in every college student's life where they start looking for their little window of opportunity to jump through in order to enter their chosen profession. This is what we like to call the internship hunt.

Now, it's not easy, the internship hunt. And it's not always fun. But it's exciting, don't you think? Just the thought of maybe working at an actual magazine over the summer is just amazing... and, of course, frightening beyond alllll reason. Maybe by-lines are out of the question but, getting coffee for the by-liners is good enough for me.

So far, I've only applied for one internship, and will be applying for a few more in the upcomminig week. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for something at the big magazine publishing company in Des Moines called Meredith Publishing. They do a little publication called Better Homes and Gardens... maybe you've heard of it. They do that, all the Better Homes and Gardens spin-offs and about a million other magazines. A lot of Drake students get internships and jobs with them after graduation, but it's still very competitive. They also have an office in New York, so if I'm accepted into the internship program I might be sent out there. I'd rather stay in Des Moines, but you have to take what you can get.

Generally speaking college students usually get the big internships the summers of their junior and senior years, but you can start working towards getting one now. The most important thing is to start building your resume. Or at least keep a running list of activities, jobs and honors from high school. All of those things are especially important on your first resume at least... when you don't have much (if any) professional experience to speak of.

Plus, if you're a journalism major (or plan on being one), keep your clips from your high school newspaper and make copies of your pages from your yearbook. Portfolios are important. People want to be able to see what you can do. You can write about what kind of design programs you can use on your resume and them prove it to them by bringing in some design samples. Visuals never hurt. Some people may ask you for those things, some might not, but having it is always best.

Some internships pay and some don't. So far I've applied for only the ones that do pay since, if I do end up in Des Moines for the summer, I am going to have to eat somehow. Don't get me wrong, interns don't make a lot of money because what you really gain is the experience. And, you have to be careful and not be too picky. I applied for an internship at a woodworking magazine. Do I know a darn thing about woodworking? No. But, is it a magazine? Yes. Plus, I think the prospect for working on a magazine about a topic I know nothing about is kind of exciting. It's a chance to learn something.

I'll keep you posted on the hunt, and don't forget that you can do things now to help you later.