Opinion
Search for internships remains unfruitful
March 5, 2009
It’s been four weeks now. I still haven’t found the internship that suits me. I started early, in hopes of putting myself out there and showing my eagerness to work in the field. I sent out 10 e-mails the first few weeks.
When I didn’t get too much of a reply, I sent out 10 more the following two to three weeks. It’s been about a month and a half and I’ve received four replies, one of which was a sarcastic response, basically telling me that I wasn’t good enough to work for them.
I’m almost positive that two came from some sort of robot machine, because they were that impersonal. And the remaining one is what I’m working with currently. Twenty or more e-mails, each with a personalized cover letter, writing samples and a resume. Six weeks later, here are my thoughts.
Number one, I know people are busy, but could you at least send me some sort of response? Even if it’s simply a “no,” I’d appreciate it. Number two, most of these internships are unpaid!?
That’s right, I’m willing to basically volunteer and yet I still fail to receive even a response. And number three, I consider myself a good candidate for these internships.
I don’t mean to sound self-centered or ego-driven, but I’ve worked pretty hard and have put myself in a good position for obtaining an internship. If I’m having this difficult of a time, what are others with less experience and background knowledge going through?
I didn’t expect to have a full-fledged internship in place by now. However, a few responses, draws of interest would be nice. This was part of my plan. I started out thinking I might be able to snag a paid internship that I actually enjoyed. Now, I might end up unpaid and doing work that’s non-beneficial towards my major.
I have this inner hope that something’s going to pop up and that everything will work out fine. Yet, as the days go by, my expectations continue to dwindle. I understand that the economy is in rough shape right now. Shouldn’t that mean that you should be taking advantage of unpaid employees, who merely want a chance to learn and gain experience?
I truly feel I’ve put in a ton of time and effort for nothing. I’m starting to question my credentials and more importantly, my love of writing. I am absolutely baffled at how this process is working out for me. I’m running out of resources, time and hope that I’d finally be able to put my education into practice.
Now, I could take this time to throw my own personal advertisement out there. Would it really do me any good? Am I doing something wrong or is it still too early? Is it really meant to be this much of a challenge? Help me out. This columnist is lost.
Cristy Brusoe is a student at UW-River Falls.