Winter break is ultimately the three weeks you get to kick yourself for your mistakes in the past semester and make all those “new year, new me” resolutions. It’s also the beginning of your search for summer plans. Nothing is set in stone of course, but it is definitely in your mental process. Will you visit your grandparents in North Carolina? Study abroad? Or will you stay home and work at the yogurt place up the street? All of those sound like great options, don’t they? None of those however will boost your resume, give you real world experience in your career field, and give you memories for a lifetime.
Last summer I interned in New York City at a fashion showroom called RD style. Sounds great, right? It gets better. I interned with a program called Dream Careers and it was the best decision I could have ever made. The program is amazing because you apply and immediately a representative is calling you and asking about what YOU want to do, what you’re interested in, and what could really benefit you. They want to help you find your dream career. Once you choose to enroll in the program it’s pure excitement from there. You receive an internship coordinator that presents you internships you might be interested in and sets you up to do phone interviews with employers until you decide on the internship you want. You are in control of your internship.
You’re added to their Facebook page and start to meet all of the people in your program. There are people from universities all over the country and througout the world. I met friends from Denmark, United Kingdom, California, Texas and Illinois. The list is endless. They provide you with tips about succeeding in your internship and in the city via group phone calls every other week. Some students even book concert tickets and trips together before arriving. During the program you live in an apartment, have seminars and workshops weekly about LinkedIn, how to network, apartment searching, personal growth and how to improve your resume. You also get to meet Dream Careers Alumni that are now working in their fields. You can network with them and hear about their journey. Not only are you in an amazing city doing a cool internship, you’re getting hands-on advice from industry professionals.
The staff is amazing and really helps make your transition into a new city so fun. In New York, we did things like a Frank Sinatra tour in Hoboken, New Jersey, walked the Highline, went to a food flea market called Smorgasburg and visited the Chelsea Market as well as see museums and the botanical gardens. These are all events the staff planned themselves! Included in the program comes different fun events like a weekend trip to DC, a big bus tour of the city and dinner at the Hard Rock Café, a Broadway play, Yankees vs. Red Sox game and many more. It’s not just an internship they provide you with, but also a summer experience. Dream Careers for me was life changing. It taught me that I can do and accomplish so much and that I will always have my dream careers alumni and the friends a made to support me. This has reigned true in everything I’ve done since the program and I look forward to completing the program a second maybe even a third time.
So what are the logistics? The program is called Dream Careers and they were founded in 2000. They have over 5,000 internships in over 30 industries including but not limited to accounting, advertising, architecture, art galleries, business, casting, communications, event planning, fashion, film, finance, government, graphic design, human resources, interior design, international trade, legal, marketing, music, non-profit, photography, public relations, publishing, radio broadcasting, real estate, sports, talent agencies, technology, television and theatre. Whoa, right? The program features include guaranteed internship placement, housing 24/7 onsite staff assistance, transportation to and from work, planned events, career seminars and networking events, professionally revised resume, expert interview coaching, arrival reception and orientation as well as academic credit. They have programs both domestically and abroad. Florida State works with their domestic programs which include New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Washington D.C, San Francisco, and Miami. As a Florida State student, you get a significant discount on the program fee. All majors are accepted and using the code FSUVIP waves your application fee.
Want to know more? Have questions?
Click here for more information or you can contact our Florida State Dream Careers representatives:
Janecia Britt (me!)
jcb12f@my.fsu.edu | 407-797-4479
Hannah Esposito (Dream Careers Recruiter)
Hannah@dreamcareersinc.com | 904-753-7895
Freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors and recent grads are all welcome to apply! Look out for our info sessions coming next semester. This is a great opportunity so go for it, you wont regret it! I sure don’t. And in case you don’t believe me…