Everyone wants an internship. Or at least that’s how it felt last year. Every LinkedIn job posting said, “100+ people clicked apply.” Everyone who sat next to me in class was applying for 15 different jobs. Every other TikTok I watched was a “marketing girlie” who had just landed her dream role with Rhode or Paramount. The content that made me feel inadequate about my summer job prospects came from every direction.
The Search
I began looking for an internship last September. I knew how competitive positions were, and I also knew I didn’t have much to make my application stand out. Building my resume was the first step. That was part of why I applied to join Her Campus last fall. It relates to the field I want to pursue and allowed me to work creatively throughout the year. I also signed up to be the social media volunteer for Newton Conservators, an environmental nonprofit in my town. Despite all of this, I still wasn’t hearing back from any jobs.
After an unsuccessful semester of applying without getting responses, I decided to take winter break to really focus on my search. I sat down at a Sweetgreen and started making a portfolio. I included Her Campus articles, a video I filmed and edited for UConn Student Television, and a few digital projects I had made on Canva. Now I actually had something tangible to include in my applications. My strategy was to email every advertising, marketing, and public relations firm in the Boston area, as well as other companies that might need a summer intern. Cold emailing worked much better than applying on LinkedIn, and I was able to land interviews at a couple of different companies. I interviewed to be a social media intern, internal communications intern, event planning intern, and a sports marketing intern. While I didn’t get those jobs, the interview process allowed me to practice my skills, which was invaluable. When I eventually interviewed for the position I landed, I felt confident and had my answers ready to go thanks to my previous experience.
The Carroll Center
I found The Carroll Center for the Blind on Instagram, of all places. I was uploading a post for my social media role when I saw a different post pop up. The Carroll Center had listed an opening for a marketing intern. I was immediately interested and emailed them right away. I set up an interview for a week later and was offered the position soon after. The Carroll Center for the Blind is a nonprofit organization that provides rehabilitation services for people with all stages of visual impairment. During the year, they offer programs for adults and seniors, and during the summer they run their “summer program” for kids. At the Carroll Center, they provide technology training, orientation and mobility lessons, field trips, and other experiences for children with different levels of vision impairment.
THE DAY-TO-DAY JOB
As a marketing intern, I worked on many projects. I started my internship with a media contacts research project. I found emails and phone numbers of people who might be interested in writing a story about the Carroll Center. I would look for people who had previously written about disability, diversity, or nonprofits and add their information to a spreadsheet. My next project was filming Field Day. Usually on Thursdays, the students would go on field trips, but during Field Day, a bunch of fun activities were set up on the campus. There was a petting zoo, a bounce house, ice cream, crafts, and sports. I spent the day filming lots of content, and then editing it together into a fun reel that was posted on the Carroll Center Instagram. Seeing my hard work getting views and likes made me so proud. After that, my job was a mix of different tasks. I created flyers promoting different Carroll Center programs and their annual “Walk for Independence”. I went through pictures and decided what would be best to post on Instagram. I took photos of corporate volunteer groups for social media. One day I packed and stamped 280 invitations for a special donor event.
My favorite part
Video editing was my favorite part of the job. I’ve been filming and editing videos since elementary school, except back then I filmed movies with my cousins and used iMovie instead of Premiere Pro. This summer I filmed and edited a few reels, but the majority of my editing was client interviews. These interviews were of previous Carroll Center clients talking about their time in the program. Most of the videos were from 2024, so they had been sitting in Google Drive for a few years before I edited them. My job was to cut the 15- to 20-minute videos down to one or two minutes so they could be posted on the Carroll Center website or YouTube.
I loved working on these videos because of the way the clients talked about their experiences. Everyone had different things to say, but they all left their programs with a newfound confidence in their abilities. Many of these clients became visually impaired later in life, and it can be difficult for them to adjust to their new reality. The Carroll Center helped them with that transition, and it was amazing to see that in a video. I also enjoyed editing the videos because I was able to be creative with organizing clips, and it gave me a lot of practice with editing software like Premiere Pro.
What I learned
This internship was my first experience working in an office. My previous jobs had been either retail or at a summer camp. As the social media volunteer for Newton Conservators, I don’t report to anyone, and I have a lot of flexibility when creating content. Working at the Carroll Center was different. I reported directly to my boss, the marketing and communications manager, and got all my assignments from her and the marketing coordinator. There was less flexibility with the content we were making. The flyers all had to look uniform, so I couldn’t add random colors or experiment with templates. Working in a real office environment helped me understand what that part of the professional world is like. Working with a team means constant communication about decisions that are being made. The marketing team met with the development and program teams often to discuss different choices. The two members of the marketing team also had to talk frequently and make sure they were on the same page about projects.
Working in this environment also gave me the experience of having my work critiqued. Although it would be great if people loved everything I did on the first try, it’s not realistic, and I wouldn’t grow as a creative that way. Getting notes on the videos and flyers I created allowed me to get used to criticism and how to adjust to the product better. Overall, this internship experience reaffirmed my desire to pursue a career in marketing and advertising. Each project I completed made me feel fulfilled and proud, and I look forward to doing similar work in the future, whether for the Carroll Center or another great organization.