Ever stare at a list of job postings and feel your stomach start to turn with a fear of rejection, or worse, no response at all? With every submission, do you play a constant waiting game, letting anxiety creep in and doubts fester until you toe the line of insanity? I’ve been there.
My internship hunt began in the fall of 2021. I was looking for a summer job to give me experience in my major, journalism, but I had specific preferences: a paid, 10-week reporting opportunity with a daily newspaper based in Portland.
Frankly, I didn’t even know where to begin.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. This story really starts with the Charles Snowden Program for Excellence in Journalism. Facilitated by two SOJC faculty members, the Snowden program is a prestigious, highly competitive internship for emerging Oregon journalists. If selected, you’re placed at a top-notch media outlet in Oregon. For 10 weeks, you’re paid to learn and work in the world of professional communication.
Only 19 to 25 students are selected each year, and I wanted one of those spots badly. Which is why, after undergoing a lengthy interview process and submitting recommendations from admired professors, the final decision crushed me:
“All positions are currently filled. However, we found much to admire in your application, and we have chosen you as an alternate.”
I read that email over and over, wondering what went wrong.
Amid the paralyzing frustration and hopelessness, one question remained: Where to go from here?
After half an hour of tears and an uplifting phone call with my best friend, I had the answer. The same night I received the news, I applied to two internships in Portland. The next day, I sent in five applications.
Using Google, I was able to locate several local job postings through job sites Indeed and Glassdoor. When applying, I made sure my resume contained experiences relevant to the position. I also included specific, tangible examples that proved my qualifications in my cover letters.
It catalyzed a renewed determination in my pursuit to obtain a summer internship. I had a fire to show how I could take this disappointment and turn it around. When I ran out of internships to apply for in Portland, I expanded my search results and kept applying.
The interview requests began flooding in. One week, I interviewed for a position every day. With each conversation, I grew more confident in pitching myself and my skills.
It was around that time that I stumbled across a 10-week, paid summer position as a news reporter with the Albany Democrat-Herald. Following an energetic interview with the editor, it felt right. I cautiously hoped for the best.
I was hired one week later. I was elated and relieved. Though I had received other offers, I really wanted this one, and I got it.
I don't say all this to intimidate you in your search for an internship. I say it to motivate you. Applying for any job is scary and interviewing even more so. In the process, exhaustion and trepidation threaten to consume.
But I encourage you – keep trying. Think about the kind of future you want, and fight for it. Stay vigilant, dear reader, because you never know what might happen.
—By Kayla Nguyen, class of ’23
Kayla Nguyen, class of ’23, is a fourth-year journalism major and art minor working as a writing intern with the SOJC Communication Team.
This blog post is part one in a three-part series reflecting on Nguyen’s summer news reporting internship with the Albany-Democrat Herald. The following posts, A summer spent well: Interning with the Albany Democrat-Herald, and What now? My biggest takeaways as a summer intern, chronicle her full experience.