Tag Archives: Internships

Keep On Keepin’ On

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My body shook awake from the rhythmic vibrating of my alarm. 8 AM, groggy, burning eyes, I instinctually grabbed my phone, swiped the alarm off, and through my four hours of sleep not yet bolstered by coffee, saw the email.

The subject beamed with the name of a company I had interviewed with last week, the sender, “Recruiting.”

Dear Francesca Jimenez,

On behalf of the entire Career Management team, I would like to express our sincere appreciation for the time and consideration you have given us during this process.

After carefully reviewing all current openings for which you have been considered, I regret to inform you we will not be offering you a position with the firm at this time …

I rubbed my eyes with exhausted frustration, they became salty with tears as I wrapped my arms around my tense body.

When I had read the description for this role, I was literally dancing up and down (you can ask my boyfriend). Each line excited me more, backed by the confidence I had in my experiences relating directly to the statements. I still have dreams about a 401k and health insurance plan that covers dental AND vision (I have really bad eyes). Everything, from the assigned duties and qualifications appealed to me and matched me, or at least so I thought.

Getting rejected, turned down, told no, however you want to say it, is difficult. The feeling can weigh me down, as if every right step before hand, the company research, networking, cover letter, solid experiences presented on my resume, staying up till 4 AM multiple nights, still couldn’t even amount to an acceptance.

Last semester in Senior Colloquium for music majors, one of the faculty talked about how they came to teach at Scripps. They prefaced with this sentiment, “Keep in mind, that when you read the biography of anyone, they are only mentioning the highlights and completed awards. I bet, that for every degree they have listed, grant, published article, there’s a higher number of rejections or uncompleted projects. I can tell you, that for every completed degree I have, there are at least two or more unfinished.” They then began to talk about the beginning of their career.

I have found myself coming back to that talk from colloquium. Rejection is part of the process, just like the hard work, the writing, the research, but sometimes it is necessary. That talk from colloquium continues to help me put a lot of my past “failures” and success in perspective, breaking down my own biography. For instance, out of 11 colleges I applied to, I only got fully accepted into one, and it wasn’t even Scripps. I was wait-listed here until the first week of June, just a few days before my graduation. Last summer, I applied to at least 10 different internships, turned down from all but one, receiving an acceptance two days before I would have lost the internship grant. And that is only academic and professional related opportunities. I have been rejected from chamber groups, orchestras, music programs and summer intensives, but that hasn’t kept me away from something that I love doing.

Throughout this process, I have also been reminded about something another music professor said about life expectations and the stress to do great things, “There’s no guarantee for success when you put yourself out there and try. But if you don’t put yourself out there and try, there’s definitely a guarantee for no success.” It is easier said than done, but when the rejections and disappointments come (as they have been recently for me), I’ve been doing my best to keep my head up, change my perspective, continue with activities I enjoy, spend time with family and friends, remind myself I’m awesome, and keep on keepin’ on.

HOPE

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When I wrote to you all last week, I had just sent out a plethora of networking emails to a variety of Scripps alumni, who are currently living all around the globe. I chose my connections based on people who had the same majors as me – English and Organizational Studies – or who worked jobs that just sounded really interesting. I didn’t actually expect a response from any of them – I made it clear in my emails that I was just a wee first – year, trying to get some information and advice on what these alumnus maybe had done during their years at Scripps to bring them to the level of success they’re at today. However, I’m happy to say I got a response from three out of the five women I emailed!

While I tried to set up calls with two of the women who contacted me, one of them never got back to me with her schedule, and the other one never added me on Skype when we were set to meet (I’m trying to reschedule with her). The last woman who I talked to was the Scripps alumnus who had interviewed me, and basically gotten me into Scripps. She works currently in the fashion industry, and I was mostly talking to her because I remembered from our interview that we had a lot in common. Coming to Scripps, she didn’t know what she wanted to do with her life, except to write and be in New York City after she graduated. I feel exactly the same way. I was able to call her last week to chat, and to see what advice she had for me. What happened next blew my mind.

Upon getting on the phone, she expressed incredible enthusiasm talking to me, saying that she had even wanted to contact me to see how I was doing at Scripps. When I told her that I absolutely loved it, she was thrilled- she’s genuinely one of the sweetest people I’ve ever had the opportunity to meet. We chatted for a while about Scripps, my classes, my friends, etc. before getting down to the nitty-gritty: her experience as a freelance event planner and art buyer. She immediately said that she had friends in the city, fashion photographers, that she would contact about internships for me, as well as an organization that she worked with, which helped tutor underprivileged kids in the NYC public school system.

 

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I was amazed that anyone would offer me such opportunities, so quickly. I actually started to cry, and my reaction wasn’t unlike those girls pictured above. I must’ve looked like a madman to anyone who saw me on the phone.

Later, I was informed that all the internship opportunities with the fashion photographer had been booked for the summer, but I was welcome to apply to a position at the organization she worked with. I found a paid position online as a Teacher’s Assistant for their summer camp, and I’m submitting a cover letter and resume by the end of this week. I would absolutely love to work for them, and I actually have a lot of experience tutoring and working in a classroom environment. I’m going to still apply to other internship opportunities, but at this point, I’m feeling incredibly optimistic and relieved. I can say that all the awkwardness that I went through in networking was incredibly worth it-though I still think that the most genuine human connections lead to the best opportunities.

 

Coffee Girl to the Rescue

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For my fellow high school classmates and I, the second half of senior year was an incredibly exciting (and nerve wracking) time. In addition to figuring out where we would be heading for the next four years of our lives, we also were finishing up classes a whole six weeks earlier than everyone else. I kept that image of sweet relief in my mind as I willed myself to do homework and to study hard to finish out the year strong, knowing that in just a few short weeks I would be lounging pool side (think Sharpay in HSM 2) while other students were sitting in calculus. 

However, there was a catch to getting out early: seniors had to participate in a six week “capstone project.” For my project, I had two ideas that took me quite a bit of time to choose between. On the one hand, I thought an internship at a publishing company would be perfect for me. The school had many graduates that worked for local companies and I could have done some networking (woo!) to weasel my way into an internship. On the other hand, the idea of pursuing something new really intrigued me. I have been singing my whole life, and while I had always possessed an interest in song writing, I had never really tried it before this time. In the end, I decided to design a song writing program for myself that consisted of voice lessons, piano lessons, song writing lessons, and open mic performances. 

Boy, do I regret that. 

I don’t regret it because it wasn’t informative for me— I realized early on that song writing is not something that I am either a. particularly good at or b. particularly motivated to do— but rather because I didn’t feel like it was benefiting me. I couldn’t help but feel that if I had chosen to go the other route and take an internship that I would be en route to solidifying my “life plan.” 

When I applied for internships last summer, one of them was at the publishing house I had wanted to work for senior year. I didn’t get it. And, honestly, a big part of me wonders if I had taken an internship there senior year, would I have received the internship?  

I spent my summer asking incredible women what advice they would give themselves or to others in college. I have learned an immense amount from these responses, but I have yet to ask myself what advice I would give myself. Looking back, I would tell myself to not worry about the “prestige” of an internship. I think a large part of me was scared about taking a six week internship because I didn’t want to just be on coffee run duty. I was afraid that in the short period of time I wouldn’t learn anything beneficial and wouldn’t really get any “good” experience. However, what I wish I had thought about is that maybe if I had done the six weeks and gotten through the “coffee stage,” I could have skipped it another summer altogether. Or, maybe, I would have just received some office experience in general and learned how the working world works. I didn’t take the chance because I didn’t think it really would do me any good. Now though, I try to not think about that when I am looking into internships. Yes, it would be incredibly cool to get  a highly selective internship at a top notch company… but I also know that is setting a very impractical standard for myself as a sophomore that has had one internship. I need to work my way up, even if that means starting as “coffee girl.” Plus, you never know where any career is going to take you and what opportunities it may bring! 

Did you work your way up to where you are now? Was your first position informative even if you weren’t directly involved in the company’s business? 

How Clarifying Your Values Can Help You Keep an Open Mind

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Happy November, everybody! Isn’t it incredible how fast this semester has been moving? Goodness gracious. I honestly can’t even process how quickly the past few months have gone.

If you remember, last week I spoke a bit about the seminars that Books & Such Literary Agency presented to the school. Today I am going to touch on those seminars a bit more, but also tie them into something very important that one of my interviewees told me this summer.

Talia was an American Studies major who graduated in 1989 (nbd, just the year that Taylor Swift was born). While originally she didn’t think she was on the right path after graduation, as she worked for a department store corporation fully aware it was not what she wanted to spend her time doing, she kept an open mind.

“I really feel that the whole approach to my life has been [centered about] what I wanted out of it. And that made me more open.” Her words rang in my mind, but until now I haven’t fully had the chance to explore their meaning. While Talia was not sure exactly where she would end up, she knew what was important to her and what she had to have to be happy. Because she didn’t restrict herself to one set career, she was open to taking unexpected opportunities and finding work in areas she never would have considered.

At the seminars, Janet gave the students a handout entitled “What Values are Most Important to You in a Potential Profession?” The directions instructed them to choose three of the following: Creativity, Financial Security, Fame, Social Justice, Fun, Service to Others, Self-Development, Faith, Self-expression, Influence, Entertain Others, Family-Centric, Quality of Life, Team-Oriented, Opportunity to Persuade Others, Mental Stimulation, Satisfy Intellectual Curiosity, and Expand Understanding of the World/Society.

Let me tell you a secret: I could not do this exercise. The bolded words above are the ones I narrowed down to, but honestly other than that…well I refused to eliminate one. And you should have seen how long it took me to get it down to four. Agh.

However, this exercise reminded me of Talia’s words. She kept her priorities in line and she was able to make a path for herself based off her loose definition of future. Now, I don’t know what exactly those priorities were, but in the end it paid off. She ended up starting her own company and she has been loving it.

I have been going back and forth so much lately about what I want to do, stressing about the many different career paths I am starting to fall in love with. Even more, I am stressing that I won’t end up on any of my desired paths. But, honestly, I think I need to change from here on out the way I think about my future. No longer will I worry about what the career title is, rather what the job entails. If it provides me financial security, self-development, self-expression, and satisfies my intellectual curiosity…well, I will make sure to give it a chance. Yes, I love books and want to be absorbed in their world 24/7, but that doesn’t mean if I don’t end up there right away I won’t get there someday. For now I will just focus on my priorities and what I want to get out of my life.
What do you think? Is it better to have a set career path in mind, or are you willing to be open to a job you never would have thought about taking as long as it satisfies all your priorities? Also, what values from the list are most important to you?

How Networking Can Lead to (FREE) Cookies

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For me, the completion of any laborious task always is accompanied by a massive exhale that I feel through my whole body. It’s an exhale that portrays not a sense of relief, but rather a sense of “I did my best and whatever happens now is out of my hands.” This past Friday, I completed my internship with Books & Such Literary Agency. I had an amazing four months with their agency and I especially loved getting to know my boss Janet. She is such an incredible mentor and I know that my relationship with her will only continue to grow.

That being said, after concluding the final presentation on the business behind writing and what it means to be an authorpreneur, I stood there, just waiting for my exhale to come…and then I stood there some more…and a bit more…

Nothing. Nada. No exhale.

This may not seem weird to anyone except for me, except for the fact it always happens naturally. I mean, yeah, I could have forced an exhale out but that’s not the same! That was cheating! So there I stood, very confused as to what this all meant.

After some thinking, I realized that the reason there was no exhale was because I am so sad to see the end of this project. I learned aspects of every career path I am interested in: publishing, marketing, editing, writing, publicity, sales, etc. How many people can say that their internship taught them the basics behind each department of their desired job?

As soon as I realized this, I knew I needed to send similar words to Janet. I wanted her to know how much this internship positively impacted me and how I have grown because of her generosity.

However, this email has more than one effect: Not only does it express my gratitude to Janet, but it also establishes a lasting relationship. (Yay Networking!) One of my favorite parts of the interviews I conducted with the graduates this summer was reaching out to them just last month and updating them on the project. They had all expressed during their interviews how ecstatic they were to learn more and how much they wanted me to keep in touch. I didn’t really understand the extent to which these emails were building relationships. However, now looking back, I can see that I now have 13 women I can reach out to if I ever want to learn more about a specific career field or maybe even if I am interested in an internship at their company. One woman wants her daughter to come tour Scripps with me; another wants me to test her homemade chocolate chip cookies (okay… maybe I suggested this task…). I built relationships that go beyond the interview—ones’ that edge into every day life and are built upon more than just a work-related foundation.

My relationships with these women and Janet will have nothing but a positive impact upon my future and me—and look how easy it was to establish them. I encourage all of you to use networking to your advantage—no matter how simple or how unserious the connection may seem. Anyone can be a connection and you never know whom he or she knows. Your mailman? He could be best friends with Taylor Swift’s manager…and excuse me? Who wouldn’t want an internship with them? (If your mailman is TSwift’s manager’s best friend, please give me their name and email address now. Please and thank you.) Emailing is your best friend, and luckily CP&R is there to help you construct those emails that seem so scary at first. Don’t be afraid to go for what you want. Reach out for your desires instead of letting them pass you by because you think the connection is not “sophisticated” enough. You never know…you could get some cookies out of it 😉

What was the strangest connection you ever made that led you to a new opportunity? Did you have to take a leap to make this connection? If yes, tell us about it and tell us about how it felt!