Know What You're Looking For

The most important thing when looking for an internship is knowing what you want.

Journalism majors, do you want experience in the newsroom?
Public Relations majors, do you want to work in a PR firm?

Many of the Communication & Major concentrations are pretty broad (which is one of the reasons why it's so great!) so it's important to know what you can do with your major.

Here are some starting points to help you along your way:
1) Will I have time for an internship? Try to really think about whether or not you can balance your social, academic, and internship lives. You wouldn't want to make a commitment to a company and then find out you don't have time.
2) Which industry to I want to enter (media, health, politics, advertisement, fashion, etc.)? It's important to pick a field you're interested in so you can be passionate about what you're doing.
3) How far will I have to travel? I've declined an internship because it would have taken me 3 different trains and 1.5 hrs to get to the office.
4) Will I get the experience that I want? Internship titles and descriptions can be misleading. Dissect the internship description word for word and make sure you ask questions about the position when you meet with the employer.

Figuring out what you want will help you choose the internship to apply for. You don't want to apply for all the internships you find and just settle for the one that you get. Take a step further to find something that relates to what you want to do so you can put it on your resume, get a great experience, and find out if it may be a possible career path for you.


keep going,
SUNY New Paltz
Communication & Media
Internship Program