As a public relations junior, I am always searching for an internship that will not only fulfill my graduation requirements, but also provide with me real world experience before I enter the “real world.”
Ideally, the internship would be at one of my dream companies to work for – interning for Saucony or Starbucks, for instance. However, the more I look into my dream internships, the more I realize working for a large company out-of-state is a bit unrealistic. Should I settle for something more local?
Then I look to the legacies of previous public relations students. We have had interns for Disney, the Pistons and fashion designers in New York. There was one student who created an entire internship for herself and one alumnus who is currently interning abroad in Ireland. Not only did they dream big; they made those dreams a reality.
I came into the program with a narrow path I wanted to follow directly to employment, but the closer I’m getting to these larger goals, the more I find myself second guessing them.
I just have to keep reminding myself – if they can do it, so can I.
This doesn’t mean I haven’t hit some bumps on this long road. Starbucks doesn’t even allow potential candidates to apply for their internship program. They recruit interns at a select number of large universities, such as Washington University and Arizona University.
Saucony underwent some corporate changes when Wolverine Worldwide Inc. bought them.
It’s up in the air as to how they will run their internships on the East Coast as opposed to Wolverine Worldwide’s internship program in Rockford.
Many business majors are in the same boat. Finding an internship, especially one that will hopefully lead to future employment, is a daunting task. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves to find the right one.
I’ve decided to continue to pursue my dream internships, but also keep an open mind to those opportunities I have never really considered before. Who knows, maybe I’ll find something just right for me along the way.