How to Apply for a Journalism Internship

Getting a good journalism internship not only gives you real-world experience, but can also lay a foundation for working at that company in the future or using contacts at that company to get a job somewhere else. However, internships are competitive, especially in journalism. But follow these steps, and you might be able to land a good gig.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Start looking for internships after your freshman year of college. Visit the career center at your university and look at any recent job postings. Do this in October or November since a lot of journalism internship application deadlines are in December and March.

2. Decide whether you want to do a paid internship or an internship for credit. Most big and medium outlets will pay their interns, but it won't be much. What you're really looking for in an internship is the experience.

3. Send your resume and examples of your work to multiple media outlets. Although most people would like to land an internship at a major media outlet, it shouldn't matter where you work as long as you get experience. Don't be wary about applying to a paper in a place you'd never see yourself working.

4. Email the recruiting coordinator, editor or director of the places you've applied to make sure they know your stuff is on the way. This will also give you an opportunity to make your name familiar. Email them again about a week after you send your stuff to make sure the person in charge received it. Also ask if there are any questions about what you've included in the package.

Tips & Warnings

• Add a description of each item you have included in your package. If you are sending newspaper clips, tell how you got each story or whether you were the first to break it.
• Wait to hear back from all of the places you've applied. You never know whether a better opportunity might come up.
• Stick to email when communicating with prospective employers unless they ask you to call. Most are working journalists with multiple things to juggle.

Resources

• Access this source for new and seasoned journalists.

Who Can Help Sponsored

• Earn your degree from industry experts at University of Phoenix. Take the next step in your career.

[kimlucatorto]

on 7/25/2009 A great resource for getting your first media job and/or internship is: www.HungryGrad.com

[Rains506]

on 7/17/2009 Well written. Finding a good journalism internship can be tough. Finding a good internship in general can be tough if you want to avoid those coffee fetching, envelope licking ones! I'd recommend researching reviews on different journalism internships. One site that is good with this is www.UltimateIntern.com. This site provides comprehensive internship reviews posted by actual interns. So, you'll see how they got the job, the best and worst part of it, daily tasks, and tips and advice for potential interns. Good Luck!