Getting Your Foot in the Door
By Tamara Gillis, Ed.D., ABC
Internships
It’s a Catch 22. How do you get a job without experience, and how do you get experience without a job? The answer is internships and other practical experiences. That sounds too easy; yet it is true. What’s the catch? Well, money, of course.
In today’s economy and marketplace there is less on-the-job training and more experience requirements, even for entry-level positions.
Through internships and other practical experiences outside of the traditional employment situation, both students and employers benefit. Students benefit by gaining some work experience that they can put on their résumé, and employers benefit from lower cost in workforce for a particular project.
Most colleges and universities recognize internship experiences related to a student’s chosen field of study for credit. These are structured experiences or contracted experiences monitored by a supervisor on the job site and from the school. Credit amount may vary from program to program. Some internships may offer a stipend or small salary, while others are only for academic credit.
More important tha n the credits added to a transcript or the money in the pocket is the experience a person gains from the work experience. Experiences where a student practices skills learned in a classroom course or adds to their expertise are most
beneficial. The best experiences are those in which the student has responsibility for a particular project or activity that they can describe on a résumé or discuss in an interview. Samples or work products like news releases, publications, websites or videos add to the experience and a student’s work portfolio.
An internship or practical experience is also a time for students to experiment with the real world and their place in it. I advise my internship students to consider taking a number of practical experiences to try different communication opportunities. For one student, an internship gave her the opportunity to try out a job that she was sure she wanted after graduation. Upon successfully completing the experience as a news reporter, she returned to school determined NOT to do that job. The experience allowed her to practice her skills and determine that she really wanted to be on the other end of the media equation. She much more enjoyed the public relations activities associated with representing one organization to the media. Upon returning to school, she had the opportunity to do another practical experience and hone those skills.
This discussion of the benefits of internships is all well and good. Any college student can tell you these positive and negative aspects. They can also tell you how competitive some internship positions are with different companies, especially the paid internship positions.
So what should you do then, when you get a rejection letter from an internship program? Consider volunteering your services to a local nonprofit organization. If you plan it right and put some forethought into the process, you could create your own internship opportunity.
Many nonprofit organizations need communication assistance, but they can’t afford to have a formal internship program. A few networking phone calls to some local chapters of national or state organizations can uncover practical experience opportunities. So there’s no pay attached to it. The work experience can be added to that entry-level résumé and work portfolio, giving the volunteer a foot in the interview door for that first job.
Here are some things to consider when developing a practical experience or internship opportunity:
- Work with a supervisor or organization representative to develop a list of projects, duties, responsibilities that a student intern or volunteer may provide. The more specific the elements are to the communication discipline, the better.
- Acknowledge to the organization representative that you are motivated by the opportunity to gain experience. Money is secondary at this point.
- If possible, work with the organization representative that is responsible for your specialty, i.e., communication, training, fundraising. Supervision of the experience is important. You want to be able to use this experience on a résumé or job application. Having a supervisor who is willing to acknowledge your work and contributions to the organization is critical.
Networking with communication professionals at local IABC chapter meetings is a great way to develop internship and practical experience opportunities. It’s one way to get notices and get your foot in the door.
The portfolio
Every work experience like an internship or communication-related volunteer role should result in some sort of work samples. Just as a stringer journalist keeps a clip book and an artist a sketchbook, so a professional communicator should keep a portfolio of sample work to show potential employers during an interview.
Work samples provide evidence of practiced skills—from research, to planning, project implementation, to measurement of goals.
When reviewing a job applicant’s portfolio, different interviewers have different criteria by which they judge the applicant’s previous work. Some interviewers may be looking for very specific applications or specialty skills; others may be looking for evidence of a generalist who can do many types of work; still others may be looking for work that supports the company’s priorities or goals.
Some guidelines to keep in mind when developing a work portfolio include the following:
- Consider the job description and the expectations of the job you are interviewing for or the type of job you would like to get.
- Consider whether you want to tailor your work samples to the job description at hand or whether you want to provide a variety to show breadth of skills and strategies. Most employers would like to see a broad range of abilities exhibited.
- Include your best work. Never include work you have to apologize for later.
- Neatly label each sample with a short description that gives the reviewer some understanding of its relevance.
- Assemble and mount each sample in a professional manner.
- Include work that shows imaginative concept development and problem-solving skills.
- Develop a logical sequence of work within the portfolio. If an interviewer asked to see your portfolio without you present in the room (say while you are taking a writing test or interviewing with another member of the team), would the content
flow be meaningful?
- Include a developmental piece that shows a project from conception to completion.
- Try not to overwhelm the portfolio reviewer with too much information. A study conducted by the Rhode Island School of Design on portfolio evaluation indicated that 10 to 15 samples were plenty.
- Don’t forget to include a copy of your résumé.
In the study of portfolio evaluation conducted by the Rhode Island School of Design, corporate recruitment representatives indicated that in hiring an applicant, the portfolio and interview far outweighed the applicant’s résumé in the hiring process.
Senior communication students at Elizabethtown College are required to construct a work portfolio and résumé as part of a senior applied research course. At homecoming each year, I always hear new graduates telling current students anecdotes about how their work portfolio gave them an edge in a job interview. Because they could show a future employer evidence of their skills and problem-solving abilities, they had gotten their foot in the door and on the first rung of a ladder to a professional communication career.
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