Student Lands NFL Internship After Being Rejected
Persistence is a key attribute for applicants in any kind of job market. When talking about a recession, persistence is a necessity for those seeking internships and/or jobs in a shrinking job market. Joe McDevitt, an upcoming senior at Lander University who is interested in a career in sports medicine, tells us how his internship strategy and persistence landed him a summer internship at the Buffalo Bills Training Camp at St. John Fisher College near Rochester, NY.
First off, Joe started his internship search by sending his resume and cover letter to all 32 NFL teams in January. It's important to note that Joe chose to send his application materials to all NFL teams rather than just a choice few and that he also sent them out in January rather than waiting until March or April. He received a response from over 20 teams saying that, unfortunately, they had no positions available. Three weeks later, the Buffalo Bills contact him again and told him that they had an opening and asked if he was still interested. I believe that Joe's strategy and persistence in applying to all 32 teams greatly increased his chances of succes in finding an internship in his chosen career field and with an organization in which he really wanted to work. Continue reading ...
Article by, Penny Loretto, a career counselor at a small liberal arts college in upstate New York, has her own private career counseling practice, Career Choice, and is About.com's Guide to Internships.
I left my job at the one of the largest resorts in the country where I'd worked for 8 years, in order to go back to school full-time to earn my bachelor's degree. I had hit a wall in my career path, and decided that this was the best investment I could make. There is one very large frustration for me currently: I am earning a Restaurant & Food Service Management degree (in which I am an honors student), and I am required to do 3 semesters of co-op in anything that is hospitality related, yet any previous experience does not count. I feel that I have to compete with inexperienced students for something I already have (experience in my field of study), and the fact that I am at a different stage in my life (I am a mother in my 40's, I have a family with small children, and my schedule is not as free as most of the other students), and given the current economic conditions, the "over-qualification" bias I have been experiencing in trying to find a part-time job with flexible day hours to satisfy the co-op requirements (I was turned down for a job at my own campus as a CASHIER), I see all these kids around me getting their degrees and hitting the professional market well before me. The internship/co-op department at my school assures me that if I don't find something by the time I finish my courses (the end of next year), I will still be able to apply for a professional position with a degree-in-progress. Is this sound advisement? I am skeptical, and angry that my past years of experience are so easily dismissed in such a program.