Summer is in full swing, and Champaign-Urbana is definitely not as lively as it used to be. Some students went back home and others on vacation, but some students are getting ahead of the game with their future careers. How does someone gain experience in the real work world while also expanding his or her network? Well, it’s quite simple: interning.
In recent years, having a summer internship has become the up-and-coming trend. Five women here at UIUC have gotten a good grasp on their future careers and have landed some pretty awesome internships.
Angelica Florio, sophomore, is interning with CS Modern Luxury Magazine Chicago. Angelica helps the magazine’s photographer at events by getting the names of clients for the “C Gallery” online. She also makes sure that everything runs on schedule for the events. As an intern, another job Angelica has to do is to make sure that strictly clients are entering the events.
“I’ve had a couple awkward incidents when I have had to stop people from coming into the events because they didn’t have a wristband on,” Angelica said. She is looking forward to meeting new clients at CS events and expanding her networking opportunities for her future.
Julia Benson, senior, is an intern at Bump. Bump is a non-profit design studio that has designed a low-cost, rapid-fitting prosthetic arm to distribute to amputees in developing countries. As an intern, Julia collaborates with other interns in a few different areas that Bump is focusing their energy on. She, along with her fellow interns, get to harness their creativity and see where it takes them in product design possibilities.
“Be proactive by connecting with friends or friends of friends,” Julia said. She is also looking forward to working with other interns. “Working closely with them allows me to see how other people think through problems, which is important in improving my ability to think critically.”
Sarah Lohr, junior, is interning at TOMS Shoes in Los Angeles this summer, working in e-commerce. The e-commerce department is responsible for all things digital. Sarah said that since many consumers currently use digital platforms to purchase products, this is an extremely important time to stay on top of trends. Sarah’s duties as an intern entail many different things, including writing the Digital Weekly Update, which is an article that updates the department on different trends in the digital world. Sara also assists the development of different digital pieces and programs as the company grows.
“Everyone has activities in college, but what makes an applicant stand out is how active they were in the clubs,” Sarah said. “I believe [that] what set me apart from the other applicants was that I have been actively involved in major and minor related clubs since freshman year. Not only was I involved in them, but I could speak to great detail about what I did in each of the organizations.”
Sarah is fascinated by how much TOMS is able to give back to the world by being funded as a business and not a charity. She is looking forward to learning about how TOMS does that and how they can expand more to make an even larger global impact.
Lindsey Law, junior, is very active on campus. She is co-founder of Spoon Magazine, which will be launching this fall on campus, and creative assistant and photographer at IMPULSE Magazine, just to name a couple. She is participating in the Condé Nast Internship Program where she is working in SELF Magazine’s photo department.
Lindsay is located in New York this summer, and her internship is packed every day with new and different tasks. Lindsey spends some of her days assisting on photo shoots, uploading film on the server, scouting locations, creating call sheets, picking and dropping off packages from designers and photographers and setting up photo equipment for in-house shoots.
Lindsey is excited and looking forward to assisting SELF’s Editor-in-Chief Lucy Danziger with her online, “5 on 5” celebrity interviews. Next week, Ty Pennington from “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” will be visiting the office as the next interviewee!
“My advice to anyone applying for an internship in the magazine/fashion/photography industry would be to create a nice résumé,” Lindsey said. “Make sure your résumé is visually pleasing and memorable, network as much as possible and be prepared for your interview with work samples or a portfolio.”
Lindsey suggested looking for job postings on sites such as www.freefasioninternships.com and www.ed2010.com.
“This may sounds cheesy,” Lindsey said, “but just be yourself, listen to your gut and everything will fall into place as it should.”
Allison Piwowarski, senior, has worked for magazines on campus and recently became the editor-in-chief of the new Spoon Magazine. Last summer, Allison was an editorial intern at Michigan Avenue Magazine in Chicago. This summer, Allison is an editorial intern at Cosmopolitan Magazine in New York. She noted that her past experiences were very helpful.
“Interning for Michigan Avenue Magazine gave me a great deal of knowledge into the publishing industry and totally helped me prepare for Cosmo,” Allison said.
Allison, along with other interns, compiles a morning news report, which outlines all of the day’s big news (celeb, world, sex/relationships, career, health, beauty, etc.). That, then, goes out to the entire editorial staff and helps generate story ideas. Allison also helps the editors research upcoming stories, including finding statistics, experts, and research done on topics.
“[Cosmo] is such an amazing magazine that I am so passionate about, so working here everyday is a dream come true,” Allison said. She is thrilled to able to pitch ideas to the editors, which is a great way to see her story ideas in Cosmo!