Reilly Tuccinard is our co-campus correspondent. When she’s not jumping into a new book she’s probably binging Grey’s Anatomy for the thousandth time. This summer she interned at Her Campus Nationals as an editorial intern. If you didn’t know already, Her Campus South Carolina is part of a huge organization that contains over 300 college chapters. During her internship she edited content, wrote the Her Campus College Rankings, conducted interviews and pitched ideas. Here’s what she learned, and a little bit about the day in the life of an HC intern.
“This was the first job I actually loved going to everyday. Instead of that feeling of dread every morning, I actually looked forward to getting up and heading out the door. This is probably because not only was the work that I did so interesting, but also I worked with the best group of women possible.”
“When you are an intern at HC, you get tons of freedom. That doesn’t mean messing around all day and swinging on the swings—yes, there are swings. You have so much work to keep you busy, and the best part is that you know you’re actually contributing to the company. Actually, the College Rankings are a great example of that, because they were all conceived, researched and created by the editorial interns. It was a project that we took a lot of time on and to see it on the site now is such a great feeling.”
“Being at a relatively small company is a really different experience because you are directly contributing to the company. For me it was awesome because I also got to meet with Stephanie Kaplan Lewis, one of HC’s co-founders and the EIC. She was in all our editorial meetings and was always in-office, which was also really cool. There wasn’t that huge degree of separation that you might get at a huge company.”
Some of my Tips for Success:
ASK QUESTIONS. This is something you’ve probably heard all the time, but it’s so important. Asking questions ensures you don’t have to fix mistakes before you make them, and it also shows that you’re interested in every project you’re working on.
Use your other interns as your resources! I can’t count the amount of times I asked the other editorial interns for help on something I wasn’t quite sure on. Everyone is so eager to help.
Get your work done quickly. Your supervisors will appreciate that you’re completing all your work in a timely manner. Not only will it be expected of you, but it also makes their lives easier because they have a million other things to do.
Speak up! Don’t be afraid to make suggestions. When you’re at a small company you get the opportunity to really contribute, so if you have an idea, don’t be afraid to say something.
In all, my experience at HC was completely invaluable. I learned so much more than I could ever imagine, and it definitely set me up to be a stronger writer, editor and member of the professional world.