For those long-time WordWrite followers who may have seen my last blog post and thought, “That girl looks vaguely familiar,” you’re not going crazy. Two years ago, I was an intern for WordWrite, and now I’m back as an account executive.
My WordWrite colleagues have said, “It seems like you were just here as an intern!” but after finishing my internship with WordWrite, spending the fall interning in D.C., going back to WVU for my final semester of college, beginning my first “post-grad” job before I graduated, and then landing another position, two years feels like a long time. With that said, I can’t put into words how great it is to be back. Coming back to WordWrite is like coming home, and I love coming in to work every day. (Paul isn’t paying me to say that, I swear.)
During my internship, I wrote a blog post about the wake-up call that most college students face when beginning their first major internship. All in all, one of my primary messages was that college doesn’t teach you a whole lot about the real world. Now, I’m not saying, “Forget the system! You don’t need college!” but you do need a lot of real-world experience to get noticed after you graduate.
Reflecting back, a lot of what I said about internships still rings true, and can be applied to the post-grad job search, as well. Many of my peers ask me how I got where I am today, like there’s some kind of secret password to getting a job in the strategic communications industry. I’m here, as a 23-year-old and a “millennial,” telling you that there isn’t a secret password. Work and study hard at school. Get involved in organizations and attend networking events. One internship isn’t enough. Two internships aren’t enough. I hate to play into the millennial stereotype because it’s overly discussed and not necessarily accurate, but perhaps there are too many from our generation who expect things to be handed to them. You can’t start caring about your career during your junior year of college. You should be considering internships by the end of freshmen year and heavily involved on campus by your sophomore year.
Most importantly, treat every relationship you build with an industry professional like gold, and keep in touch with the people you meet during interviews. Not getting hired doesn’t necessarily mean that an employer isn’t interested in you. One of the worst mistakes you can make during a job search is to not show gratitude, regardless of the outcome. As a college student, I thought thank you letters were a pain. Now on the other end, I’m irked when I go out of my way to help a student and I get radio silence in return. You don’t have to go to extreme measures; mainly, we just want to make sure you received our email or enjoyed chatting during an interview or networking event.
Remember even if you have a lot of internship experience, good grades, campus involvement and connections—don’t expect instant results. During the spring of my senior year, I can recall several occasions of moping around with my roommate, proclaiming that we were never going to get jobs because we didn’t hear back about the positions to which we had applied. Now being able to laugh at how overly dramatic we were, I can tell you that it will come in due time.
I’m always happy to connect with students and young professionals in the greater Pittsburgh area who are looking for some advice on internships or how to break into the industry after college, so don’t hesitate to shoot me an email. Additionally, WordWrite is always looking for talented undergraduate interns, so take a look at the education and internships page on our website. Thanks for reading, and good luck in your search!
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Rachel Borowski is an account executive for WordWrite Communications. She can be reached at rachel.borowski@wordwritepr.com and found on Twitter @RachelBro_ski.
