Amie Sites | Oct. 16, 2011
Senior Julia Meek said students should be open to leads and information they hear about in routine fashion. For example, her internship at Taste of Italy started that way.
Meek spent the last year studying in Bologna, Italy. While there, she met Taste of Italy cooking school owner Maribel Agullo, talked with her a few times, and eventually was hired as an intern to help with research and some online tasks.
Meek said this was as great experience, even though her days were hectic, dealing with 10 projects at a time.
“I was paid in food,” Meek joked about her unpaid internship.
Her duties included researching food dishes or, in one case, Parmesan cheese. For that assignment, she visited a factory to speak with the cheesemaker. She said she enjoyed meeting new people in this way.
“People need to get internships with different demographics to get a new perspective,” she said. “ I put myself in unfamiliar and uncomfortable situations so that I grow. Italy was a different culture, but so worth it.”
Alyssa Goldman had a summer internship at All You Magazine of Time Inc. At All You Magazine, she wrote a daily blog, contacted participants, wrote a few articles and conducted research. Goldman said that even though her internship was a great experience, finding it took a lot of preparation and caused just a bit of stress.
“I basically applied to Time Inc. and thought I for sure would not hear back,” she recalled. “I just did the general application and, miraculously, made the first round interviews. Then I made it to the second round interview, booked a flight to New York City and did the interview face-to-face. The rest is history.”
She remembers being treated more like an employee than an intern. Her bosses apologized when they handed her mundane tasks. Her editors also allowed her to brainstorm with them about story ideas and consult them for advice.
“Everyone was so friendly and relaxed. No one was intimidating,” she said. “The fact that they let me write and come up with story ideas was fun, to say the least.”
Goldman said students should not be intimidated when applying to top companies.
“Don’t compare or compete with your peers,” she said. “You are your own person and things will fall into place for you, so don’t stress out.”
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