As I move into a temporary editorial assistant position with the magazine, new recruits will arrive to take over the Intern Diaries. One of them is a friend that I recommended. He is an excellent writer, and I am hoping that helping a fellow writer will give me a little career karma.This business runs on connections. If you do not have the skills necessary to write successfully, a recommendation will not get you the internship. Okay, sometimes it will. Although they can benefit you, do not expect to succeed on connections alone! If your skills look exactly like the ones on the next resume, a current employee vouching for your responsibility and friendliness might give you the extra edge.
When I heard that another friend was searching for a summer magazine internship, I offered to put in a good word for her here at IW. She refused to apply, stating that she could not afford to live in Indianapolis over the summer.
As a recent graduate, I completely understand the importance of a budget. But if someone hands you an opportunity and you really want to work in a magazine, find a way to make it happen. I went to New York City with about six hundred dollars last summer. In New York, that is not just a shoestring budget. It is more like a thread. I made it work because I knew what the opportunity could do for my career. It would have been easy to stay home with my fiancée, my family and my summer retail job. But I would have been sacrificing my future happiness because I’d always wonder what would have happened if I had taken that internship.
Today, my friend is still applying for internships in our hometown. The likelihood of this happening is slim, since good internships generally fill up the semester before they take place. I really hope things go well for her in the future, but taking risks is a part of success in this business.
I am taking a big risk in August. Stay tuned for my final entry to find out about it.
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