An internship is a real-world working experience,
supervised by a professional, where you learn more about a career and the types of jobs in the field of communication. At the same time, an internship is a college course that comes with academic expectations and a faculty sponsor who guides you through a process of applying your course work to your professional experience.
An internship may be paid or unpaid, but students who
complete an internship through the university receive
academic credit and a grade for the course.
What is the value of an internship?
More than ever, employers are looking for candidates with both a college degree and professional experience. In addition to offering a path to a job, internships offer an
opportunity:
• To apply the knowledge and skills you have learned in
our classes and to develop new marketable skills.
• To explore different professions and gain a better sense of what you do and don’t like in a job.
• To learn how a professional workplace operates and
to develop the “soft” professional skills needed in the workplace.
• To build your professional network and find both
mentors and references.
• To build your resume and develop your portfolio.
The Westfield State University Difference
Westfield State University communication students have
interned at hundreds of sites around the country, and we are adding new sites all the time.
These include opportunities to work in public relations and marketing, media production, social media management, journalism, event planning, and
organizational communication for major media outlets, sports organizations, not-for-profits, advertising and marketing firms, government agencies, and small businesses including:
WSU students have been able to intern at amazing sites because our students have an internship coordinator who knows the field of communication!
We value our relationship to the professional communication community and we want our students to have a positive internship experience so we work to ensure that students are well-prepared for the internship experience. All full-time communication majors who have attained at least junior status are eligible to apply. However, the following qualifying criteria are in place:
If a student does not meet one or more of the above requirements, there is room on the application form to explain why the requirement(s) should be waived.
When is the best time to do an internship?