What I Wish I Knew: Internships 101

Some Background:

As a college freshman, I was definitely eager for the complete “college experience”. I worked hard throughout high school, which came naturally as a result of the fast-paced environment of attending Moravian Academy. When I finally graduated, I was excited to learn and dive right into my chosen curriculum at Syracuse. It was the moment I was waiting for: to choose my classes, live on my own, and have fun. Those objectives became my goals, and as always, I made sure to achieve them. I loved my classes, made friends in my dorm, and joined clubs like PRSSA. I kept up a good GPA and made relationships with the professors that made an impact on my experience. In my mind, I was doing everything right.

That feeling of accomplishment lasted until my first day of my Public Relations class in the spring semester. On this first day, not only did we go over the major icebreaker topics such as name, dorm and year, but my professor chose to include internship experience as well. As she said this, she tried her best to ensure it was not meant to intimidate new students, but instead to allow older students the chance to showcase their experiences. However, as students began to present their personal details to the class, I locked eyes with my friend Allie. You should have seen the look on our faces as we realized over half of the room of our introductory-level course already had industry-related internship experience. Though I was feeling on top of the world just moments before, I soon realized I had a long way to the top.

Now, what does this story mean in relation to you? First, I want to make sure that my readers understand that I am not perfect. I was not told the proper way to research internships, make LinkedIn connections, or create relationships with professors. Certainly, I never realized that internships were an important part of college. However, I know now many tidbits of information that I wish my freshman-year self knew before freaking out on that first day of class. So, without further ado, here’s what I would have shared with Freshman Caroline:

Why are internships important?

Fair question. Internships are important for a few reasons. Above all, the one thing that’s important to realize is that finding and completing an internship might not enhance your love for a specific career. In fact, one of the main purposes of interning during college is to realize if you’re on the right path. The easiest way to test out one’s interest in a field is to actually be put in that specific field of work. And, even if this is the case, no internship is a waste of time. Either way, this can be put on your resume as an experience you learned useful skills from.

Now, on a more positive note, an internship can be an experience that helps you realize you’re on the right path in school. Along with that, it can help you make connections that can be extremely beneficial down the line. A good internship experience is one that allows you to practice the skills you’ve been taught in the classroom, while it also providing new skillsets and lessons along the way.

Ultimately, an internship is important because it’s crucial to see beyond the classroom. You can learn everything your curriculum has to offer, yet still feel hopeless on graduation day wondering if you actually like your major. With internship experience, that outcome is at least a little less likely.

Now What?

Okay. By now, you’ve probably skimmed through my introduction to find out what really matters. You want an internship, and you know why. But, that doesn’t mean you know where to go from here. Here’s the simple breakdown- because I believe lists are sometimes more beneficial than long dragged-out explanations:

Where to Look:

• Your college or university’s career development center. Make an appointment with your advisor. Ask about their workshops for resumes and cover letters. Sign up for them. Ask if they have books of previous student internships. Read those. Basically, make them recognize you in that office. It will help. Look at Syracuse’s options here.

• Your professors. They all have experience in some capacity. If they don’t offer their own previous companies or connections, they might offer a recent graduate’s connections. Either way, they definitely have more knowledge about the field than you do. (no offense)

• Your parents. This might be super lame to realize, but our parents are assets. My dad is in sales, but the company he works for has a public relations department. If they like him, they probably wouldn’t mind talking to me about my own interests with PR. Similarly, if my mom’s college roommate is in PR, she’s definitely worth reaching out to. I don’t know why people stopped asking their parents for help, but I say we stop that stigma right now. If they offer a connection, take it. A door is a door.

• LinkedIn. Move over Facebook and Snapchat, we’re in college now. That means that we join adult career-like apps. LinkedIn is definitely where you should look for connections, job openings, or overall career-related information. In fact, you can set up alerts for certain job openings with keywords such as “PR internship” or “Spotify Intern”.

How long does it take to hear back?

Here’s the kicker. Sometimes, you won’t hear back. It’s irritating, annoying, and confusing, but it’s the truth. As a college student, we have the time and energy to apply to countless opportunities. As a professional, however, it’s probably unlikely you will send an email out to each of the 100s of applicants to your summer internship program. Although it’s unfair, it’s just life. My recommendation is to apply to your most prioritized opportunities, make sure to make connections via LinkedIn in relation to those opportunities, and continue to follow up. As you wait, continue to keep searching. Sometimes I put on a movie and scroll aimlessly through LinkedIn or Indeed until I find a new relevant internship posting.

My Point

I don’t want to end up hating my job. I want to love what I do, and if that takes extra work now, then so be it. So far, I’ve had an unpaid position with the Chamber of Commerce and now a paid position with a PR agency during my spring semester. These are both extremely different opportunities, and yet they have both taught me about what I like about PR versus what I don’t like.

My freshman year-self spent way too much time comparing myself to others. I wasn’t happy with not having any potential opportunities and didn’t know how to start looking. I eventually figured it out, thanks to help from friends and professors. I hope this post reaches someone who could use the information. If you find this useful, let me know in the comments. Furthermore, if you have any of your own advice, post it in a comment below!