Frequently Asked Questions for Students
Why
undertake an internship?
An internship will
provide you with real world experiences with writing in a professional setting.
Many times, students leave the university with no work-related experiences
in their major area, and they are unsure of the job possibilities available
to them. An internship will provide you with a better idea of what you can
do with a Professional Writing degree, and it will help smooth the transition
between school and work. The experience will also help you know how to market your skills after graduation.
What kinds of
internships are available to students?
Professional writing
students have a variety of internships available to them. We
have relationships with local businesses
and agencies where we regularly place students, including
local businesses, university departments, and non-profit agencies.
The internship
coordinator will work with you on finding an internship suitable
to your needs and on establishing contact with the
internship sponsor. Students are also welcome to seek out other
local internships, as long as they
are professional
writing-intensive. These outside internships should be approved
by the
internship coordinator.
What kinds of writing
tasks will I perform during the internship?
Students perform a variety
of different tasks depending on their interests and skills. Internship opportunities
available to students could allow them to develop promotional and marketing
materials, design and test websites, produce manuals
and training
materials, develop documentation for software or computer products, copyedit
documents, write press releases or news articles, compose and revise policy
documents, research and write grant applications, assist in book/journal/magazine
publishing
processes,
or
create
tutorials and
other help materials. There may be even more possibilities depending on the
internship.
What do I
need to qualify for one of these internships?
In order to qualify,
the student should be a junior or senior Professional Writing major with
a minimum 3.0 GPA. The student should have significant coursework in
the PW major and have supporting coursework in the specific area of the
internship (for instance, students without coursework in technical writing
would not be qualified for a tech writing internship). The student will
also need to have time in his or her schedule for at
least
8-10
hours
of internship
work
per
week
during
the Spring semester.
After I decide
to undertake an internship, what do I need to do?
The first thing a
student should do is contact the internship coordinator at the beginning
of the Fall semester or at the time of Spring registration. You will
need to make an appointment to discuss the internship and bring
a
recent
copy
of
your resume with you to the meeting. With approval, you will sign
up for English 488, which is offered in the Spring semester. You will
also need to send a professional email/phone call to the internship contact
to set
up an initial meeting.
Why do I need to
take the English 488 course?
The English 488 course
is the companion to the internship experience. It is a course in applied
rhetoric where we share one another's internship experiences, analyze
and discuss the workplace environment, and receive feedback from each other
on work-related projects. In short, English 488 is a support course in which
students are asked to reflect on what and how they are learning in their internships.The
latest syllabus and course materials are available on the Documents page.
Are there
any paid internships?
Very few internships
are able to offer monetary compensation for the internship
experience. The vast majority of internships are unpaid.
I would like
to get a summer internship. What can I do?
You can examine the
supplemental resources on the internship possibilities webpage for potential
summer internships. I also recommend that you develop a portfolio of
your professional work and update your resume.