Summer Media Internship

     For someone who heads in exercise company, Carl Diehl sure put a lot of thought into that application process (Muscles and brains? Go figure!). And yes, the personality trait test was a clever way to select the best candidate, but most employers usually want to hear that their potential employees/interns are born leaders, hard workers, organized, etc. In other words, it’s hard to tell your boss anything but good traits about yourself when you want to get a job, especially in a time where jobs are so rare.
     In terms of journalism careers, the quality of your work will always surpass who you know when getting a job. I remember the first story I ever wrote for a paper (the Hudson Reporter) was just a cold pitch, not having known anyone who wrote for the paper. This leads me to believe that if your writing is exceptional, you’ll find your name in print regardless of having “ins” in the company, and in my case, previous job experience. Since journalism is a second to second writing process, “what have you written for me lately?” becomes “what are you writing for me now?” Job experience is always a good sign that you’re can accomplish a task, but again, as long as your current story is well-written, little else matters (I’m speaking here in terms of freelance story pitches, not fulltime employment).
     For the internship I’m working in now, it was simply a resume sent in an email, a brief interview, and a phone call saying that I got the job. After realizing how mundane the internship could be, I actually asked my supervisor if anyone applicants did not get the job.She said yes. One prospect was denied after he sent in a resume for a completely different job. Perhaps the simplicity of the application process should have been a red light to me about the austerity of my internship…