12 weights were lifted off my shoulders this week.

After a Skype interview last Monday with two different departments of a major online music website, I received an offer the next day! I will be interning with the Client Services department. Not only is it full time in Oakland, but it is paid! A rare commodity in the internship world.

Here’s what interesting/funny about this internship: I never actually applied. You’re probably thinking, What? How can you get an internship without ever applying? That’s what I thought too. Let me explain.

After my mom bugged me to call a family friend, who has been working in PR, marketing, and advertising for almost ten years. She put me in contact with a previous colleague who currently works at this website. After emailing her my resume, she said she would look out for intern opportunities. Two day later, I received an email from the recruiter. “Thank you for your application to the Ad Operations team,” it read. I’m thinking, what? I never applied. She wanted to set up a phone interview. A few days later, they wanted to schedule a Skype interview with me for two different departments. Two days later, I received an offer.

Mostly what I want to share by telling this story, is that in the job world, the intern world, it’s all about connections! Even though, I had talked to current employees (and they either put a good word in for me or passed along my resume) at numerous companies for which I applied for an internship, the way I got my internship this summer was through connections. That being said, not all connections end up in an internship. But for the past two summers, I have gotten an internship through connections.

Yes, they’re awkward. To call up an aunt, uncle, family friend who you’ve never met, a friend’s dad. But they get results. In such a tough job market, (because let’s not kid ourselves, it’s really hard out there) you need all the help you can get to stand out. And that doesn’t mean you aren’t capable and qualified in your own right. It just helps you get your resume in from of the right people and brings it to the top of the stack. Because let’s be honest, how often do employers read all 800+ resumes? Probably not very often, they don’t have time for that.

Don’t be afraid to advocate on your behalf! Because if you don’t advocate for yourself, how can you expect others to do it for you?