This is my second year at Washington and Lee applying for a summer internship. I have applied for 10 positions, received three rejections and accepted one offer. However, I know that these numbers pale in comparison to others. Some in my department have applied for 30 positions, others over 100. Journalism can be a unique field to search for a job in — at least that is what Heather Dobbins, the journalism department’s internship coordinator thinks.
“I think journalism is far more straightforward [than strategic communications]. It’s show me your work. Where have you been?” Dobbins said, “If you’ve worked at decent papers, then I’m automatically going to look at your application without seeing your materials first, because I know the quality of those papers.”
Searching for a position can look different across industries, said Brooke Peccie, an advisor in the office of Career and Professor Development. Those in finance are typically applying to be part of an entire analyst class at a big firm while smaller marketing firms may be hiring as needed.
Peccie says that students should go into the internship search with a mindset of career exploration.
“I like to talk about being proactive in your search and collecting a list of companies, employers, agencies, things like that, that you know that you are interested in,” Peccie said.
I find that advice can help students deal with rejection or ending up with a position that may not be their first choice. Everything, even the internship search itself, is an experience that teaches us what we want and what we don’t want.
If they can, Peccie encourages students to ask hiring managers who rejected them what was missing from their application so that they can improve. Peccie said that students should apply for positions multiple years in a row if they get rejected.
Dobbins tries to make the internship search as similar to the job search process as possible for first-years and sophomores. That way, they can gain experience writing resumes, cover letters and building portfolios.
“This is all a game, you know?” Dobbins said. “We’re using internships as a chance to give you guys experience in the workforce before you get out there, but also the whole process, applying, cover letter, resume, interviewing, that’s all part of the process.”
Your resume and cover letter are not the places to be “cutesy”or appear too eager, said Dobbins. Students should not go into the career search trying to make friends.
Peccie encourages students to write to hiring managers and HR representatives at companies that they are interested in.
“That person hears from you and gets to know you, rather than just has to look at a stack of 100 resumes and pick someone to be an intern,” Peccie said.
Peccie recounted the story of a W&L student who emailed an HR representative at a company that she was interested in once a month over multiple months. Each time, the person did not have a job opening, until one day she did. In the fourth month, the representative knew that she would be a good fit for the company because they had already been in communication with her, said Peccie.
W&L students excel when they can network and connect with people, Peccie said.
“I think it’s a lot more sort of hopes and dreams with internships, and there’s a lot more, stark reality when you get to the job search,” said Dobbins. “You know, I would love to think that our seniors are still going into this with that bright optimism.”
Even during my summer internship search as a sophomore, I felt optimism leaving my body after each month without responses to my applications and after every rejection.
However, I find myself regretting not being more passionate and not putting myself out there more. In the future, I hope that I can use the advice I have received from Dobbins, Peccie and my peers during my search.
