Students know that an internship can make a difference in getting the job they want after college.
Yet, students working their way through college cannot afford to cut back their work or class hours to do an internship for credit that is unpaid.
“I just do not have the time or money since I work and go to school full time to do an internship unless it is paid, and there just are not any paid internships in communications around here,” ETSU communications senior Justin Fields said. “So what am I supposed to do?”
Many programs require students to do an internship before graduation, so that they will have work experience.
Other programs, like the journalism program at ETSU, do not require an internship but offer it as an option. For students who need or want to do an internship for credit, the Career and Internships Services office is available to help.
“The majority of our internships are paid,” said Michelle Adkins, executive aide in Career and Internship Services.
Since last year, 437 students have come to the Career and Internships Services office to seek internships or co-ops, according to information provided by the office.
“Internships and co-ops sponsored by Career and Internship Services seem to have stabilized, with 87 placements in 2006 and 88 in 2007,” Adkins said.
The office’s Web site has almost 100 postings for different majors and concentrations.
Many of the positions posted are in various areas for the Washington Center in Washington, D.C.
There are several for local places like the Johnson City Public Library, and places that are within a couple of hours of Johnson City, like Oak Ridge and Tennessee Valley Authority.
The only career fairs listed are for health care professions, social work, education and business and technology. Not as single career fair is listed for communications – a field that has been laying people off all over the country.
Required or not, many students desire internships because they can make finding a job in their field easier after graduation.
In a competitive field like journalism, an internship can supposedly make the difference in finding a job.
Career and Internships Services lists eight internships available in communications, one of the 28 concentrations.
Of the concentrations listed, several do not have an internship posted. Only three of the eight internships listed in communications are paid.
But what about a student who cannot afford an unpaid internship?
What happens to students who have worked for an internship and find out that there are no jobs available in their field?
Kylie Fritz graduated in May with a degree in journalism and knows first-hand how rare paid internships are in the communications field.
She wanted to find a job in publishing, and had an unpaid internship while in school at a local publishing company. She could not find a job in the Tri-Cities, so she moved to Nashville to find one.
Finding a position in communications in the Nashville area has proved to be impossible for Fritz, who has lived there since graduation, unable to find a single job.
“I did as much networking as I possibly could, I called and e-mailed, I sent résumés, but everyone is on a hiring freeze or they are laying people off in journalism and publishing,” Fritz said.
She went to Cold Tree Publishing in Brentwood in search of a job.
“I had a contact who knew the owner,” Fritz said.
“I wanted a job, but the interviewer said that all they had available was an internship, and it would be a lot of work for no pay,” Fritz said. “But I told them I would take it, and I think that is why I got the internship as opposed to someone else, because I must have seemed like I really wanted it.”
All of the internships and jobs are very competitive, and in this area they are almost non-existent, Fritz said.
“My boss at the publishing company said that she wishes that there was a position available so that they could hire me,” Fritz said. “I thought, yeah, so do I.

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