Writing About... Internships: My Experience, Tips and Advice

Internships are such a valuable experience no matter what field you are heading into. For me, finding an internship was difficult because as companies transitioned to online work, they didn't find they needed to hire interns or cancelled the internships altogether. 

No matter the type of internships, they prove to be such great experiences where you can build and learn new skills that will further you in your industry. Especially if you are still in school, being able to apply the knowledge and skills that you learned there into your workplace shows initiative and that you have the skills they look for in a good employee. Internships are also a great way to test the waters in a certain career path or industry. through your couple months with the company, the work and environment gets put into a bigger picture to figure out if that is where you see yourself working in the future.

This summer I did my first internship with a PR company here in Toronto. It was my first time doing real work in the Communications field so I was very nervous but also excited to get my foot in the door. With everything being switched to online, I wasn't sure how well I would adapt but everything ended being great and I had a good time working there. I worked really closely with the company's internal communications and just trying to improve brand recognition and social media engagement. It wasn't something I ever thought I'd do but I really enjoyed that work. I wrote several articles and learned a lot about the industry and was able to add real work experience to my resume. I made some lasting connections with my team and the people who I got to know throughout my internship. Overall, it was such a fun and informative experience and really solidified what I hope to do in the future. 

Finding an internship can be hard. With an abundance of applications and tons of companies, it can feel like you will never find an opportunity. When applying for these positions it's important to remember you will face rejection before you even get an interview and that's just a part of the journey. It's a long process but at the end of the day, you will hopefully find a company that is everything that you wanted and you'll get an amazing position.

Here are some of my tips and tricks to securing your internship:

• Apply to as many positions as you can in a variety of companies
• Look at job boards, school resources, and specific companies websites or social media to see who's hiring
• Keep track of all the positions you applied for (company name, position, date sent, etc)
• Find keywords in the job posting and apply them in your resume and cv
• When you score an interview, know everything you can about the company
• Don't forget to send a follow-up email after the interview thanking them for their time