Newspaper Page Text
Spelman Spotlight March 12, 1980
Page 6
Opportunities Unlimited!
Getting Practical Experience
By Marti Moore
Quick! What is the number one
quality recruiters look for in in
terviewing college graduates for
employment?
If, like most people, you said
grades you missed the mark,
(leadership in activities is
second). The number one thing
prospective employers look for is
relevant work experience. Which
is all very nice to know, you say,
but how can you get adequate ex
perience while you are a college
student?
Oh sure, anyone can easily
develop a work record of the
usual things like waiting tables,
cashiering, doing clerical work,
caring for children. But gaining
meaningful work experience in a
professional field that causes
recruiters to notice you is
something else. It’s the old story
of needing the experience to get
the job but not being able to get
the job without the experience.
Well, there is a way to get ex
perience—meaningful, professio
nal experience which will catch
the recruiter’s eye. That way is
through internships served while
you are still in school.
What exactly is an intership?
Internships have been defined as
any on-the-job learning ex
periences designed for college
students considering a career in a
particular field. Ideally, the
program should offer you about
the same degree of involvement
and responsibility as you would
have in an entry level position as
a college graduate with the same
organization.
Internships generally last a
minimum of one term, although
some may run for two con
secutive terms. They may be full
time positions or may require as
little as ten to twenty hours per
week. In other words the
equivalent of a quarter or half-
*time position. Internships may
take place either during the
regular academic year or during
the summer.
Kinds of Internships
What are some of the kinds of
internships that exist? Internship
possibilities are as broad as the
world of work and they en
compass everything from
working as a public relations aid
for a legislator in Washington,
D.C., to working as a reporter or
copy editor on a big city
newspaper, to doing
ecological/biological research on
the Chesapeak Bay.
Here are a few job descriptions
of typical internships chosen at
random from internship direc
tories.
•Summer internships on
newspaper, broadcasting, ad
vertising and public relations;
plus enrollment in a special cour
se concerning minorities in jour
nalism. New York, New York.
Salary: $135 week minimum.
•Research, coordinating small
projects,field aids for coun-
cilpersons, etc., in municipal
government, Los Angeles.
California. No salary.
•Wide variety of summer
professional experiences in en
Internships provide practical application of classroom experiences, such as the one pictured above.
vironmental area of student’s
choice with public and private
agencies. New York and New
England. Salary $1,200 for un
dergraduates.
•Summer work in museum on
some of following: design and in
stallation of exhibits, research on
American Indians, restoration,
development of radio/tv and/or
journalism programs. Florida. No
salary.
•Summer work doing short
term research, assisting staff with
on-going research and meeting
with business, labor and govern
mental experts and civic leaders
to gain insight into public
decision-making process. New
York, New York. Salary $100
week.
These are just a tiny sampling
of the possibilities.
Other Advantages
What are the other advantages
to serving an internship besides
gaining professional experience?
1. Most important, for almost
all internships you will receive
academic credit through your
college or university. For exam
ple, for a one-term full-time in
ternship as an administrative aid
to a state legislator you would
probably receive 15 academic
credits applicable to your
graduation.
2. Some internships also pay a
salary commensurate with the
work you will be doing. Some
placements which require that
you live for a term away from
your campus or home, may pay
your living expenses instead of
paying a salary.
3. Internships will supplement
your classroom learning and give
you a chance to see and practice
applications of the theories that
otherwise you may only get to
talk about.
4. Internships can help you to
define and develop your skills
and in many cases to discover
skills that you may not have
realized that you had. Thus they
are a source of self-awareness
and self-confidence.
5. They allow you to “really
test”. The only wav to discover
whether you really enjoy a par
ticular field is to try it out. Often
early reality testing can change
your mind about a career, saving
you a later mistake which would
be far more costly in terms of in
vestment of time, money' and
your own energy.
6. Internships will of course
help you to develop an important
network of contracts—contracts
who can help you not only when
you are looking for your first job
but later on as well, when you are
making your way up the career
ladder.
Requirements
Most internships require that
you have completed your
sophomore year. Some have
some grade requirements such as
ranking in the upper half of your
class or maintaining a “B”
average. Some internships
require that you be a minority
group member.
Others will require some
special coursework or ex
perience that pertains to the in
ternship. For example, a museum
might require that you have
taken courses in studio arts or
fine arts. A newspaper might
require that you have a portfolio
of papers and perhaps clippings
of articles that you have written
for your school newspaper or
year book. Some internships are
limited to particular majors,
political science, for example, for
a government internship.
Many internships are also
available io graduate students.
Finding Out What Is Available
All right, where do you go to
find the right internship for you?
If your college has an in
ternship coordinator you are in
luck. He or she will have a large
file of directories of existing in
ternships and will probably also
be able to help you to create a
new internship tailored to your
own needs through making initial
contacts for you. Y ou should not,
however, make the error of ex
pecting the coordinator to taxe
control and find you an ap
propriate internship. You should
approach the office with a pretty
good idea of what you want and
need in an internship and use the
coordinator’s experience and
knowledge to help you through
the process.
For example, you should be
able to say something like “I’m
looking for an internship in the
area of professional sports
management and publicity, not
I’m looking for a career direction
and thought an internship might
help—what do you suggest?”
In other words you need to
have some idea of what you want
from an internship.
In any case, the coordinator
can help you on both ends of the
process by:
1. Finding an appropriate in
ternship and completing the ap
plication procedure.
2. Explaining how to go about
arranging to receive academic
credit through your college.
Generally, you will need a faculty
sponsor or advisor to assure this.
If your college does not have
an internship coordinator, there
are plenty of other potential sour
ces of help.
Black Collegian
By Marti Moore
December/January
1979/80
Vol. 10, No. 3
Preston J. Edwards,
Publisher
ABt
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mty Palac
e
Mrs. Henry Dorsey
812 M.L. King Drive
Mr. Jimmy Lang
Phone: 525-7504
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