Take Initiatives With Your Passion
[quote]Find something you are passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it. –Julia Child[/quote]
Using Julia Child’s advice, I have been able to create a couple of unique internships for myself. In the past two summers, I have interned for two companies; the Indiana ICE, a hockey team located in Indianapolis; and Falco Ink, an entertainment public relations and marketing firm based in New York City. Both summers, I was able to create unique internship opportunities that separated me from other interns because I voiced ideas about what I was interested in. In both cases, I went from being one of the summer interns to being the social media intern.
Taking initiative has made me feel better prepared for life after Indiana University. I have a confidence that I am able to bring something more to the table when I interview with potential employers because I have real work examples in my portfolio.
While interning with Indiana ICE, I was asked to create a Facebook fan page for the ICE cheerleaders. What was assigned as a one-time task became something I worked at every day in order to develop fan engagement. My passion for social media created a full-blown professional experience. My boss was impressed that something he thought would take all week long was completed by lunchtime. My work was rewarded with his trust to create two more Facebook pages and monitor the team’s Twitter account.
This summer, I read a few articles online about brands using Pinterest. As an avid Pinterest user, I was very interested in seeing how this could be used for the entertainment public relations firm for which I am currently interning. Since we work with mostly independent films, it seemed that the visual aspect of Pinterest could be a great platform for promotion. The next day, I asked the agency’s social media coordinator if they had considered using Pinterest to promote the films. I shared some of my ideas and she suggested that I should schedule a meeting with the owners of the firm and her to further discuss the possibility. Since then, I am included in conference calls and meetings on similar topics because I took the initiative to find a unique way to benefit the company.
About the blogger
This is a guest post by Kaleigh Bacher, a senior majoring in sport communication at Indiana University. Currently, she has an internship with the Indianapolis Colts. Most recently, Bacher interned for Falco Ink, an entertainment public relations firm in New York City.
[highlight]What’s your passion? By following it, you may be able to create an opportunity for yourself that makes you resume stand out among the rest, even your fellow interns.[/highlight]
