Happy Thanksgiving (almost!) We hope you enjoy your time off and come back feeling rested and rejuvenated!How about eating a nice piece of pumpkin pie with some Cool Whip while you read Part II of Cara's experience with internship searching... here goes!
Read Part I here
Out of the dozen or so publishing companies I applied to, I at last received a respo
nse from Don Congdon Associates, a small literary agency based out of New York City. After sending in a writing sample--an analysis of Shakespeare’s gruesome Titus Andronicus--I was offered a phone interview. Back I was in the cozy haven of Donna’s office, where I prepped cohesive interview responses and practiced tackling some trickier questions. The fateful day of, I hung up my phone interview feeling confident. I’d communicated all I wanted to say, dodged any fatal traps, and, from what I felt, achieved a relatively fluid and personable conversation. Despite my high hopes, I didn’t end up being selected for the position. At first, I felt defeated. Plain and simple, I’d expected the efforts I had spent researching companies and tweaking my apps to marketable perfection to pay off. Surely employers would slide me toward the yes pile, or at least mollify my anxieties with a promising response. But, while I’ve heard my fair share of success stories, “cold-applying” for internships doesn’t always turn out quite as we’d hope. However stellar our apps might be, the impersonality of the process pits you against countless qualified candidates, all vying for the job in question. For those who’ve met a similar fate, remember that it’s not about our fundamental abilities, or greater capacity to tackle what comes our way. Simply put, standing out from swarms of intelligent, unknown contenders isn’t quite so easy.
When I returned to Donna’s office, she suggested I try reeling in a summer internship with a different strategy: networking, the way by which more than 2/3 of students end up landing internshi
p positions. In contrast to cold applying, networking is all about relationships--forming, developing, and consistently maintaining them. Rather than our on-paper lingo, networking lets us rely on our bubbly personalities to impress employers in our profession-to-be. With more intimate insight into our skills and aspirations, networking contacts become inevitably invested in our career exploration--in facilitating our access to the professional life they lead each day. Simply put, networking makes the haywire of the internship process a whole lot more personal. And after about a month of checking day-in-and-out for faceless emails, I was more than ready for it. Once discussing the ins and outs of networking strategy, Donna suggested I make a list all the contacts I have, or could potentially acquire, in the field of journalism and publishing. She suggested I send out a slew of sharply worded emails to revitalize existing connections in the field and subtly inquire into any open opportunities. And so I did. Along with writing-savvy professionals I’d previously known, I reached out to some new names in the writing world--recommended to me by friends, neighbors, and my chatty, friend-heavy parents. In the dwindling month that followed, I continuously chatted--both through email and on the phone--with many friendly, well-intentioned professionals, all alert to my interests and eager to lend a helping hand.
At last, a conversation with a networking contact spawned some good news. After a slew of back-and-forths, the marketing head at the Center for Hearing and Communication--a NYC-based nonprofit that caters to children and adults with hearing-loss--informed me that a summer writing intern would be a perfect asset to their organization.
As she ticked off my responsibilities, I started grinning ear to ear. I’d be writing content for their website, interviewing top-notch clinicians, and practicing a wide myriad of writing styles. And, all the while, I’d be immersed in the impressive, innovative climate of today’s hearing culture, a field I had known little to nothing about. Rather unsurprisingly, my experience at CHC turned out to be all I expected and more. I dabbled in a variety of writing styles, intimately conversed with first-rate clinicians (including one that worked alongside Rosie O’Donnell’s son!) and saw my contributions in their published, final forms. I left its cozy offices feeling like I had developed as a writer, and--as corny as this sounds--a person too. Looking back on my internship experience--and the long-winded but rewarding journey to get there--I’ll conclude with this. Landing an internship in today’s fiercely competitive job market certainly isn’t easy. Between scribbling cover letters and anxiously checking my email on the daily, there were many times I felt like pushing all aside and settling for a summer of late wakeups and marathon TV. But at the end of the day--with the right energy and persistence--fantastic internship opportunities are entirely within our reach. Never hesitate to go outside your comfort zone, whether it means applying for an out-of-character offer or contacting a sleek, professionally esteemed acquaintance. And, most importantly, relax! It’s not as scary as it seems.
