Well class, its about that
time of year. Finals are coming and on
top of that, your parents are peers are badgering you about where you’re
working or interning this summer. For
those of you who have absolutely no idea what you want to do with your life, interning
is great! You get a quick taste of a
certain industry or company and within the summer you are back on your own, no
strings attached. I started my search a
few months ago and have actually had a blast researching company after company,
essentially stalking the ones I like to see if they need interns.
Being a complete bottom
feeder isn’t always as glamorous as it seems though. Often times what actually happens is, you
work your ass off without pay for months on end, just to end up having another
contact on your linkedin page. On the
odd chance you love the internship you get, and your superiors like you
(unlikely, I’ve met all of you), you do have the opportunity to move forward
with that company. Connections and
getting your foot in the door go a long way in this industry. My absolute favorite part of interning, other
than changing the toner in the printer and getting coffee stains out of a shirt
I can’t even begin to afford, is being able to use all of my work in my
portfolio for later in life, another perk to doing graphic design work (I’d
like to see you try and use your job lifeguarding in your portfolio).
In all seriousness graphic
design internships are awesome. Depending on what company you intern at, you
will get to work under really awesome designers, be able to pick up on how they
go about working, and see if you could see yourself at that company. Searching for internships can be really
boring though, so I thought I would share a few of the website I used to find
companies.
http://www.internmatch.com
InternMatch is a well
designed website that allows you to search for internships that match what you
are interested in and what city you want to be located in.
http://www.onedayoneinternship.com
One Day One Internship is a
terribly poor designed website that allows you to search what you are
interested in as well as what city.
Intern Sushi is a really neat
webpage that allows you to create a profile and search internships by location,
type, pay, and more. Also, you can apply
to be ZEDD’s intern for a day through this web page. Unfortunately most of the pages require you
to buy the subscription to apply through them.
The luck I have had with
internships so far are searing companies I know I like, and looking through
their “carriers” at the bottom of the site.
Sometimes they have positions open and sometimes they don’t. If there isn’t an internship position open, I
would suggest just sending an email with a cover letter saying why you would be
a good addition to their company as well as your resume.
Good luck !
I needed this post haha i'm actually in the process of getting my portfolio ready for internship applications. Ill be sure to use these websites!
ReplyDeleteOh. my. gosh. Thanks Ellie. I think this will help a lot, cause it's really hard to find internship websites that are legit. I browsed through the sites, and they make it seem like its super exciting, instead of the boring websites we're all use to seeing.
ReplyDeleteThese sites are so helpful! Looking for an internship is hard enough on it's own, but with sites like these, the difficulty is most definitely lowered.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing.
Ellie, best post, thanks. I agree with what you mentioned about emailing a company even if they don't have an internship position open. That is how I got my internship that I have done for the last two summers. I emailed them and they had me come in and we talked and they pretty much created an internship position for me. It never hurts to ask because the worst that can happen is you get told no.
ReplyDelete