April 2001

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Internships can be crucial to successful job-hunting

Want to know the most accurate predictor of a student’s success in finding a job when he or she graduates from the School of Journalism and Mass Communication? Look no further than the internship experience a student has cobbled together.

Internships give students invaluable work experience that supplements what is learned in classes. For many students, an internship cements the career path that has been chosen. But as importantly, some students find that their original career path may not be what they envisioned.

Each year hundreds of students in the School intern at a variety of mass communication outlets. Students in the School intern literally around the globe, at outlets as diverse as Nike, The Outer Banks Sentinel, CNN, D’Arcy and Fleishman Hillard.

Students generally follow two paths in securing internships during the summer and also during the fall and spring semesters:

Most students intern either for pay or simply for the experience during the summer and the fall and spring semesters. During the summer, many of the students who are interning work full-time at those jobs, gaining vital real-world experience and contacts. During the fall and spring semesters, interns work anywhere from eight to 20 hours per week, juggling internships with classes.

A smaller group of students sign up for the School’s Practicum course, offered each fall and spring. Students in this course are assigned internships in Chapel Hill, Durham, Raleigh or other places close to campus. In exchange for the work experience, students receive course credit.

The Career Services office serves as a clearinghouse of sorts for students seeking internship information. The School is always looking for new opportunities, and alumni and friends are some of the best sources of information for incredible internships.

Just two examples: Penny Muse Abernathy secured an internship for a School student at Harvard Business School Publishing, where she is group publisher and general manager; Ed Vick similarly squired an internship for a School student at Young & Rubicam Advertising, where he is chairman.

The best way to let students know about internships is to send an e-mail to the Career Services office at jeubank@email.unc.edu. Students constantly receive internship notices via an e-mail listserve and on the career services’ Web site.