Journalism Careers: Do Internships Really Matter? (Part 3)

Part one is here

Part two is here

Now, let’s talk about big market vs. small market internships. I did all my interning in smaller markets. This gave me an opportunity to do just about everything - short of being on camera (legal reasons for that). I went out with my own camera crew to do interviews. I was sent to interview everyone from city officials to dog lovers to local celebrities. I wrote my own material and helped edit it. I assisted the reporters, producers, editors, you name it. I thought this was the way to go.

I went to school in a big city, and I had friends who interned right there. Even then they weren’t relegated to coffee-fetching duty, like some of the horror stories you hear, but they definitely didn’t get to do as much. Or it might have taken them longer to get a project to work on.

Sure, I think I got more hands-on experience in my internships, but something I didn’t think about till a couple years ago was this: my friends probably had far better contacts than I did. Now, I’ve done well with making, keeping and cultivating my contacts, because you just never know who might help you turn over that newer and better leaf in your career. But I didn’t start out knowing the people I know now. However, my friends who interned in big market news automatically have powerful names in their arsenal. These people may come to their aid later on down the road, as long as they keep in touch.

Here’s a problem with that, though. I’ve since worked in big market news, and the people who started out interning at these bigger stations usually find it hard to get a job there. Whereas I smoothly transitioned from intern to paid employee, people who intern in bigger market stations usually find it’s at the very least difficult to make that type of transition. For obvious reasons. Bigger markets garner way more applications for any given job, with way more qualified candidates applying. Sure you have an upper hand because you already have a foot in the door. Never the less, I’ve seen several people who, after starting out as interns and vying for that job, just decided to move down in market size to get better opportunity and more hands on experience.

There are pros and cons to either of these scenarios - and a large part of the direction you take depends on where you go to school (is it in a bigger or smaller market?), and what type of internship you can get.

*alexis (www.10thfloorpr.com)