This is a blog post from Kelli Vorndran, the Communications and Media Intern for EmployIndy. Kelli will graduate from IUPUI in the spring with a bachelorâs degree in English with a concentration in Creative Writing.
Most of todayâs college students understand the value of an internship. Interning has become so commonplace that many employers actually expect to see this kind of experience on a college gradâs resume. In addition to this newer idea of a ârequiredâ internship, I was eager to enter the professional world as an intern just to gain experience.
One thing that may turn students away from an internship is the idea that it is all workÂâwith no pay. This is never the case! As clichĂ© as it sounds, an internship pays you in experience, if not only as a rĂ©sumĂ© booster. If you are lucky enough to land a paid internship, hooray! Bask in it for a minute and then remember why you are getting paid: your internship is a job, and your employer will expect a certain amount of work and professionalism from you.
Movies and TV have stereotyped interns as coffee-fetchers and copy-makers. This is usually a misconception that is nothing but an overused and abused stereotype. Obviously, this kind of intern treatment must have happened in the past in order for the notion to exist, but aspiring interns should not go into an internship expecting that to happen. Especially if the internship is paid, the employer is going to take you seriously, and you will be given worthwhile tasks to complete. Often times, the higher ups will value your opinions and fresh perspectives in the office. Not to mention, interns make their supervisorsâ jobs easier by taking over some of the entry-level type tasks (who wouldnât appreciate that?).
Finally, remember that itâs not the end of the world if you canât find an internship in your exact field of study. While it would be ideal to intern, say, at a publishing house as an aspiring writer or editor, sometimes that just isnât possible. Instead of writing off an internship and giving up the chance to gain experience, it doesnât hurt to look for opportunities outside your major or area of expertise that could provide a similar experience. In my case, I was a Journalism major-turned English/Creative Writing major.
While I hope to someday work as an editor, it wasnât as easy as I would have liked to find internship opportunities with an editorial concentration. Instead, I kept my options (and my mind) open and applied for other internships that would consider English majors. Chances are, you will still get to do a lot of the things you wanted to accomplish in the first place, and working in an internship slightly outside of your industry will show potential employers you are willing to learn new things and are able to work in diverse fields requiring a wide range of skills and knowledge.
A final tip from this intern: always carry a notepadâeverything you do will be a learning experienceâŠand itâll impress your supervisors!
