While it may seem like job prospects for graduates are few and far between, there is some opportunity out there—you just might have to work for it. Danielle Crowder, a public relations major graduating this weekend, completed two internships during her last year of college and has another promising internship lined up.
“It’s a paid, 40-hour-a-week internship for Bosch, which is an automotive and engineering company, in their communication department,” Crowder said. “I think they might hire me afterwards, too.”
For Crowder, getting the internship wasn’t just about luck. She worked hard for it.
Like many students, Crowder ended up switching her major halfway through her college career.
“I started out as an earth science and education major,” she said. “I thought I wanted to be a high school teacher. I liked science, but I was always really stressed out about teaching.”
After speaking to an adviser, she decided to go into public relations and communications. “I did a complete 180,” she said. “But the stress was gone, and I started doing better in my classes.”
Once she had switched her major, Crowder quickly got involved in PRSSA and began building her network.
“I made a lot of friends, and they’re people I will keep in contact with. After everyone has jobs, you can still network with them,” she said.
“I think everyone should get involved with clubs like that, no matter what they’re going into,” Crowder said. “They’re extremely beneficial. You can meet a lot of people in the field who you could possibly work with. Networking is so important these days.”
During the last of her five years at EMU, Crowder completed two internships. “I was an intern for the radio station 96.3 WDVD, and I also had an internship with VFI Marketing,” she said. “They were both so different.”
The radio station internship involved contacting radio prizewinners and helping with events, and the marketing internship had Crowder at a cubicle, writing press releases and contacting media sources for the marketing firm.
“The radio internship was really fun, but they were both really beneficial,” she said.
Even though being a full-time student doing an unpaid internship was a lot of work, Crowder still stressed the importance of internships.
“A lot of people don’t want to take the unpaid internships, but it’s so worth it,” she said. “My advice would be to take two or even three or four internships while you’re in college and try different types. It’s a lot of work but they lead to bigger things, and there’s so much more than learning in the classroom. You really need
real-world experience.”
She acquired her upcoming internship at the ESA Communications Executive Meeting, a communications conference. She went with Lolita Cummings-Carson, a public relations professor, and together they represented EMU’s PR department.
“The communications director for Bosch was there and I texted my dad and asked if he knew her, since he works for Bosch. He told me I should ‘snuggle up to her,’ so I did,” Crowder said. “She told me about the internship, and I applied for it. I’m still shocked that I got it!
“I am so happy that I got the internship, I feel like my goals have already been met. If they hire me, that’s the job that I want to do. I can move anywhere and still work for the company, because they have offices all over the world.”
Crowder has a few pieces of advice for current and graduating students who are worried about not finding a job.
“Go to job fairs and broaden your search,” she said. “If there’s a state you might want to move to, just go there and go to a job fair, and don’t be afraid to just start talking to people. They’re not scary!”
She also reiterated the importance of multiple internships.
With graduation fast approaching, Crowder is feeling excited.
“I can’t believe I’m completely done,” she said. “I normally register for classes as soon as registration opens and it feels weird — I keep thinking I forgot to do it! I’m just really excited to go to my job and come home and not have to write papers all the time.”
Proud of her accomplishments, Crowder did leave some final words of advice for her fellow students. “Don’t forget to have fun, but remember that hard work truly does pay off.”
