By Charlie Foster
In the spring, I will be participating in the communication department’s Baylor in New York program. During the semester, I will live with other Baylor students, take classes from a Baylor professor and work as an intern at CBS Publishing.
At first, I was rather scared of the idea of moving to New York City, as this Texas guy hasn’t ever lived outside of the state. But, the thought of living there for four months while working in a real-time job was a whole new ballgame. However, finding this job was not an easy process.
Pursuing companies in hopes of a job is rather nerve-racking, in case you’ve wondered. For hours on end, you can surf the web, examine the 63 job openings you’ve heard about and still not find something in which you’re completely interested.
When you do, though, the light bulb clicks, and you realize, “Hey, this is place that I could see myself at! I could do that, and I could be good at it, too!”
So, you apply. You write-up all of your information for the countless time and gather together your resume and cover letter, which is an adventure in itself. (Need help with yours? Check out Baylor’s Career and Professional Development. Those are some of the best people out there for this purpose. )
Unfortunately, some companies want you to send these things to an anonymous “internships@whoever.com” email, so you don’t spam some poor soul with questions as to when they’re going to look at your resume, interview you or even look at their application materials. But, when you do get a good contact, USE IT.
People are the best resources, without a doubt. If you know someone, drop their name. If that person can help you talk to their human resources department, talk to them. Make sure the company knows who you are and that you’re interested. This can be a tricky thing though; you walk a fine line of being persistent or being annoying. Make sure they know who are, but don’t get to a point where they say, “Oh, great, Charlie Foster has emailed me for the twenty-second time this week.”
And, this is where you have patience, dear friend. By prayer and petition, you can get through the grudgingly long process of waiting to hear back. It took over a month for me to hear back from an employer. Finally, CBS Publicity sent me an email telling me they were interested in interviewing me for an internship. I corresponded with them and set up a phone interview, expecting it to be the only one for a while.
And then, the interviews started to roll in, back-to-back-to-back. Before I knew it, four different places were wanting to talk with me. This is when you seek wise counsel. Ask your mentors and advisors about what is best for you as a person and as a professional. What is going to grow and challenge you? What is going to hurt you? Take those into consideration as you make these next decisions.
I am very thankful that CBS offered me the internship after my interview. I remember thinking during the interview, “I hope they like me, because all I’m doing is being me. God, if this is where you want me, then let me go.”
I think this was the mindset that I needed to have. Employers can tell if you’re putting on a façade for them. They want a real person, with emotions, thoughts and feelings, yet can ultimately succeed and work above-and-beyond in their job opening.
When it comes down to it, don’t be afraid. Put yourself out there, and be trusting of what lies ahead. There are so many opportunities out there for each and every one of you. Pick one, take it and discover more about who you are while you do.
Photo Credit: Nina Cates