Accidental Opportunity

By: Meghan

I honestly hadn’t even thought about doing an internship until it was a requirement in my WRT. 251 class to apply for one. Although I was dreading this assignment at first, I am glad that it was required because it made me stop dragging my feet and seriously begin the process. Creating a resume was the first step to my internship search. Although I had never put one together before, I found lots of helpful tools online through the Career Service website as well as attended several seminars put on through Grand Valley on how to create a sharp resume that would highlight my best professional attributes. My professor, Professor Lowe, was also very helpful in this process because of his real-world experience, and he was very honest in telling us what would and would not get noticed in a resume. I think that talking to someone who has gone through the hiring process before is a great way to start finishing your resume.

I then began looking online for possible internship openings. I primarily used the Career Services websites and the postings that were listed there. It really was quite simple to use, and I was able to narrow down my search to the type of internship that I was exactly looking for. I found it to be a great means to get what I needed, and I consider myself lucky because I had to look no further. After finding several options that I was interested in, I tailored a cover letter to each individual job site, and sent in my resume and cover letter to those places via e-mail.

Within one week, I had three responses! From there, I set up three different interviews. The interview process was nerve – racking, but I also attended several Career Service interview training and tips seminars that really put my mind at ease guided me into the things I needed to know about interviews. One of those things is that you are interviewing the company just as much as they are interviewing you. You should only choose an internship if you feel that they are going to serve you in a way that is conducive to your learning and create opportunities that you could not get anywhere else. This very fact helped me choose the right internship for me. Through my three interviews, one with a museum, and two with different non-profit organizations, I finally chose the right internship for me, which was with the West Michigan Tourist Association.

The WMTA was a great first internship for me because I had all different types of real life work experiences. From writing, to advertising, to marketing, to web content, I felt like I did many things that I would have never been able to do within the confines of a classroom. It helped me to see some of the things I would like in a career, and some things I definitely do not want, and I really think that that is the most valuable part of an internship and key to finding the job that will make you happy in the future .