The "I" Word

Internships, internships, internships...


You will hear that word from the time you walk onto your college campus as a freshman to the time you leave as a senior.


As a Delta College student I knew walking into Brockport that I would be doing internships. The programs mandates that a student does at least one local internship, one national internship and one international "experience." The international experience can be either a study abroad program or an abroad internship. So, by the time I was a sophomore my resume was already growing with internship experience. You can look into the Delta College program more at www.brockport.edu/delta!


I did my first internship at (this is when I get a little embarrassed) Governor Spitzer's Regional Rochester Office. I was a little freshman with no office experience and I was terrified, not to mention the fact I somehow was picked out of ten applicants and all of the other interns were juniors and seniors. I had only ever been a lifeguard! That's all I knew. Although now I realize that I gained many transferable skills through that job, I had no idea that it would help me when I was getting ready for the internship process.


When I interviewed for the internship I was shaking, literally. I couldn't control it. Although I may have seemed and sounded confident: I was scared...for my life. Even after I received the great news that I got the internship, I was still terrified for the first day. Of course, I was still pretty shaky on the first day. The drive to Rochester was a my calming down time for the first few weeks, and then as I grew more and more comfortable I started being able to answer the phone without my blood pressure rising at the office. My internship consisted of answering the phone, writing short press releases, clipping all the important regional Rochester-area newspapers to go to the Albany office, talking with constituents in the regional areas if they were having problems, and making sure the office was in generally working order.


As an internship, it was one of the best I could have asked for. I quickly learned that spending my life in politics was not something I was interested in. My minor of communications became my major and my major of political science became my minor. Because I still hold an interest in the field, I still keep in touch with the woman I worked for. I send her an email every six months to catch up and see how she is doing. It pays off, trust me. This way she always has me in mind. For example, in January of 2007 First Lady Silda Spitzer came to the Canandaigua Wine and Culinary Center. Since Jennifer knew I was still in the area, she immediately called and asked if I was interested in helping her with the event. Another great experience gained from a past internship...


My second internship was in my hometown. I interned for the woman in charge of marketing and public relations at a Business Improvement District Office. Since working at Career Services I had become obsessed with making flyers and coming up with catchy slogans. That was the basis of my internship, but I also was able to connect with many of the downtown merchants. I learned about the hardships they were finding, and the constant problems they faced. The internship opened my eyes to many things I had never thought of before.


Along with marketing the events, I was able to do some event planning and really enjoyed that aspect of my internship as well. I also was able to work all the summer events in my hometown, so I was able to broaden my interpersonal skills. Of course with all the exciting times of an internship there are an equal amount of boring things that happen in an internship. When I didn't have an event to plan or market I helped Nicole update her lists of contacts, break down her press contacts for her event press releases, and make sure that her files were all in order.

Here are a few tips for getting through your internship.

1. Internships are boring sometimes. Every intern has to do some office work. It's not the worst part. Just remember, in your real job you are going to have some boring work to do.

2. If you work at your internship for a few days and know already that you are going to hate it, just think that it's one future career that you can cross off your list.

3. Talk to your supervisor. Let him/her what you are thinking and how comfortable you are with what you're doing. Your internship is partly what YOU make of it.

4. When you finish your internship, be sure to ask your supervisor for a letter of recommendation and keep in touch so that you can call upon him/her later when you are in need of a reference. This will also help your supervisor keep you in mind when future opportunities arise.

5. Be easy to work with. Accept assignments without complaint, ask for more work when assignments are completed, and turn out good quality work.

Internships are worth it. They can change your major, your interests, your thoughts on a certain career field. Believe your professors when they say "Employers want to see that you had an internship!" It gets you experience in the field before you are out of college. Employers will see that you went out, found an internships and gained a valuable experience - whether you enjoyed it or not. So, when you hear something about an internship, find out!

Brockport Career Services offers four internship programs. They include America Reads, Brockport Career Exploration Course (BCEC), Albany Semester Program, and the Disney College Program. You can find out more about these four internships at www.brockport.edu/career!