By Jasmine Kabiling

Let me tell you. There is no struggle like the struggle in the hunt for an internship. Okay, I’m kind of exaggerating, but I mean, I definitely didn’t take it as seriously as I should have at first. I was under the impression that, you know, you’d just apply, get an interview and ‘BOOM’, internship time! It’s pretty much free labour, right? Who wouldn’t want someone to work for free? Right? Wrong.

Coming into the program four years ago, I knew I wanted to do something in print. It became clearer over the next three years that I wanted to get into magazines. With that in mind, I applied for a few magazine editorial internships and a couple of random PR internships. Did I get them? Well . . . no – I was either under-qualified (for the PR ones) or my availability wasn’t ideal (since we have school two days a week and the companies required a five-day commitment).

Fast-forward to January and I was freaking out. The only thoughts running through my mind were: “Will I even graduate this year?” “Do I still have to PAY for this course?” “WHAT DO I DO?”

I guess the internship gods heard me whining and got annoyed, because I ended up landing two interviews in one week – one with Newstalk1010 and another for Lotus Leaf PR. I went to both interviews and did horribly. At least I thought so. I mean . . . I didn’t know anything about radio or fashion PR and I was convinced my face betrayed me during my interviews.

Like I said, though, the internship gods must have been on my side because I ended up getting both positions! I chose the Newstalk1010 internship since I figured I’ve been studying journalism for the past four years and should probably get some experience in it before brushing the idea of radio aside.

There are times when I wonder what I would have been doing if I had gone with the PR internship, but I am definitely happy I stuck with Newstalk1010. I’ve gotten a lot of experience in the past few months and have improved at doing interviews and streeters. I’ve also been able to interview a bunch of cool people (Mats Sundin, Bob Barker . . . cool, I know) and cover a number of different events and police conferences.

Anyway, what I’m really trying to get at is this: When you’re applying for internships, be open-minded and don’t give up. I know it sounds cliché (I should know, I thought so, too) but it’s true. Good luck!