Finding Your Perfect Fall Internship: Don’t Settle!

The summer air is beginning to cool off, and all of the PR newsletters you subscribe to are popping up in your inbox containing key words and phrases like “internships” and “fall opportunities”.

If you are like many aspiring PR professionals, you hope to have at least one internship under your belt before you graduate college and enter the job market.

However, picking an internship isn’t always as easy as filling out an application and getting an interview.
Even if you are able to navigate the interview and application process without a problem, what if after you have spent a week in the office, you realize that you won’t have a positive experience at the company?

This may sound obscure, however, it is very common in the realm of internships.

What if your internship coordinator is too demanding, or what if he or she is too laid back? What if your main task of the day involves being the runner for coffee?

Although it can happen, there are plenty of ways to avoid getting into an internship that won’t help you grow:

1.Gather Info: Do you like the sound of that agency in Center City? If so, reach out to a worker and see if you can schedule an informational interview. Unlike actual job interviews, informational interviews allow a potential intern or employee to ask various questions about the company of their interest to a staff member without having to apply first. Not only will this give you the opportunity to ask important questions, but it will also get you a connection within the company for when you apply!

2.Blast from the Past: Doing a quick LinkedIn search of the company you may want to intern with may help you find students who previously interned with the company. Take a look at their profiles to see what kind of duties performed while interning, and perhaps if you share connections, reach out to them to see what their experience was like.

3.Close Reading: It seems simple, but reading the job description posted online for an internship very closely can help you determine if you want to reconsider applying. If the job description doesn’t interest you or your qualifications aren't what they are looking for, you may need to wait until they do match or find another company you are interested in.

How did you find your perfect internship? Let us know in the comments below!