Internships are essential when it comes to work experience in a field such as media and journalism. Despite the fact there are numerous opportunities, there are even more applicants.
Social media is fast becoming one of the most important factors in modern day businesses; it’s a way of communicating with your customers, thus obtaining feedback in a more direct way than before.
For us internet wizards (and I class myself as one), to get your foot in the social media door, an Internship is certainly the best chance you have at gaining valuable experience and in the end (hopefully) a career.
The following tips should point you in the right direction and not leave you tweeting four hundred times a day to a measly 12 followers:
1. Find the internship you’re looking for
First and foremost, you need to find exactly what you are after. There’d be no use in interning at an Animal Vetinary, if your ambition was to work for a hunting network now would there?
Ask yourself, what is it I want to do? Do I have a passion in this?
Identify your choices and list ’em down.
2. Well, you’ll need to apply, of course
Obviously, you aren’t going to get anywhere if you don’t ask. If the company are advertising for an internship, their contact details should be on the ad (I’d re-think if they aren’t).
If the contact details aren’t glaring you in the face, find the ‘Contact Us’ page on their website and ping an e-mail over to the relevant chaps.
Now, applying for an internship isn’t as simple (Pfft!) as applying for a full-time position, because more often than not, you haven’t got the experience or the qualifications to prove you are the perfect individual for the position.
Be honest; provide links to your own social media pages, blogs or any websites you may’ve contributed to. Put yourself in the employers shoes, think, what does she/he have that’s different to all of the other applicants? You need to get noticed and stand out – Although beware, don’t come across as cocky, no one likes that.
3. “Erm, I’m just calling to check you received.”
Woah, I know what you’re thinking, am I telling you to nag them? Kind of, but it’s nagging in a good, determined way.
If you haven ́t heard anything a week after the application deadline (no sooner!), it’s always a good idea to either give the company a call, or drop them an e-mail, just to see if they’ve received it.
In most cases, this will give you a rough idea of when to expect a reply – assuming they did actually receive your application.
As I stated above, this is nagging, yes, but if you only do it once, they won’t see it like that.
Remember, you need to get noticed. You need to show the employers why they should give you the internship, rather than the other social media enthusiast. What makes you better and more apt for the role? Think about this and express yourself.
Please do bear in mind, you don’t want to come across desperate or needy – No one wants that. There is a balance to strike here.
