First-Timer

I hadn't gotten the opportunity to apply for an internship as I missed the deadline to apply. I was considering staying for an extra semester so I could do an internship, but that would have meant I would receive my degree in December rather than August.

My second option and the option I'm leaning towards is the possibility of entering the field for a year or two and applying back to school to receive my B.S. in Professional Communications as I was informed that I only need to complete 10 classes to receive the degree. I figured it'd be a nice resume builder to have both a degree in English and Communications. The Communications department requires either a capstone seminar or internship to be completed while within the English department I received my degree in a internship was optional for the degree requirements.

I figured, too, that the intenship within the Communications department will offer me some insight into work within other careers other than journalism itself.

 

My first editor insisted we never use "last" when referring to dates. "It wasn't the LAST Saturday ever? Was it? WAS IT?!"

I actually miss him now.

 

Of course an internship is optional for the English degree. It doesn't lead to any jobs. So where are they gonna expect you to intern -- at the unemployment office?

(I'm an English major, so I should know).

 

I'm sorry to tell you First Timer is that your explanations aren't good ones. You breathe. right? That's enough of an opportunity to apply for an internship.

It doesn't matter that internships were optional. You needed to find out on your own that you would need to have one or two under your belt to get a job. An internship at your own school won't help you much either. You need real-world experience. You don't need a second bachelor's degree.

Did you write for the school newspaper? Any published clips? Is there any reason for an editor to hire you except the fact that you're someone who would just fill a spot making very little money.

I don't want to sound harsh, but editors are thinking these same questions when looking over your stuff.

 

I was gonna say the exact same thing, but I didn't want to be mean.

 

Never stopped you before.

 

He's an English major. We gotta stick up for one another. Never know when a roving band of toughs is gonna terrorize the library.

 

From my experience, once you star working and start making money -- yes, even the piddly money at newspapers -- it'll seem that much harder to drag yourself back into school and living off student loans. If you want to get the B.S., you might want to do it now. I had the "I'll enter the field now and go back to school later if I want" thought when I graduated eight years ago, and I haven't made it back into school. Seriously thought about it on a couple occasions, but when a better job rolled around, it was tough to pass that up and return to a life of debt (and I didn't even have a family at the time to take into consideration).

 

Makes sense. Maybe the B.S. wouldn't make much of a difference. But to answer an eariler question, I served at the school newspaper for two and a half years serving as Sports Editor for a year.

 

Also, it's "toward", not "towards". Same with "afterward" and "afterwards".

And I'll echo what others have said about being willing to move for the first job. It's always worth a shot to see if the local paper has an opening, but you might be waiting a while if you're looking for one specific job. Take the shotgun approach to mailing out resumes. Find 5 or 10 jobs that look good, and send out a batch or two at a time.
And for god's sake, if someone calls you back to talk, either call them back or let them know why you've changed your mind. We've had openings in the past where we've gotten resumes from all over the country. We'd call one back, and get no response. That's an easy way to piss off an editor.

 

Go back to school, get an MBA. Then look for a job.

 

Yes, because the financial sector is so secure these days:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/18/business/18cnd-citi.html?_r=1&ex=1366257600&en=e52a2cd4a2cfb7c0&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin

http://layoff.wordpress.com/2008/01/17/116-bank-of-america-650-more-layoffs/