I’m finally a senior in college (yikes!). I’m a journalism major with a sport management minor. Internships seem to be all you hear about in the j-school around the end of the school year – from both professors and classmates. In my major, it feels like if you don’t have an internship, you have a super low chance of getting a full-time job. While I’m not sure how much of that actually rings true, I do know that internships are extremely helpful and can often teach you more than your classes can. Being involved in school is important too, but the work that you put in outside the classroom is what really makes a difference.

Working with a small nonprofit

My first summer internship was with a nonprofit charity high school all-star football game. The game was a huge deal in the state of Kansas, but the nonprofit itself was tiny. It was certainly a new experience – it was only my boss and three interns (including me) that didn’t really know what they were doing. We ended up splitting up tasks throughout the summer to fit each intern’s skillset the best. I took on graphic design and social media advertising. This internship, while small, threw me into the deep end and I had to learn how to swim fast to succeed.

Internships with small companies can be really beneficial. They’re very hands-on (no just fetching coffee!) and you often get the chance to shape your own experience within the company. You can be very involved and get a look at what other roles in the company are as well.

Working with a large company

I also have experience interning with a large firm. You may not have heard of Populous before, but you’ve probably been in a building they’ve designed. Populous has designed more than 2,500 projects within the past 35 years, and I was lucky to be a marketing intern for them this summer.

Populous is an architecture firm with a focus on designing the venues that draw people together – stadia, arenas, convention centers, airports, etc. In the spring semester, my journalism capstone class worked with Populous’ marketing team to develop a mock campaign centered around the college football experience. I had heard of Populous before, but the capstone class interested me in Populous even more after learning about all the places they had designed. After this very rewarding class, I was then hired as a summer marketing intern.

As a marketing intern, I was able to work with a lot of projects. In my first week, I was able to use the extensive research done by my capstone class and turn them into infographics for internal company use. I also helped with projects for several different sports teams, including the Milwaukee Bucks and D.C. United. In addition, I helped put together presentation materials for the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics and press releases for the National Baseball Hall of Fame and the Tampa Bay Rays. In addition to writing and creating graphics for various project proposals, I was also able to conduct research on stadia and training facilities around the world and see how they’re used daily.

As a sports fan, it was very cool to simply walk around the office and see all the amazing projects that the Populous team is working on. I’ve never worked with a global company before, but the experience I’ve gained is invaluable.

Even though Populous has nearly 300 employees in the Kansas City headquarters alone, I never felt like I was “just an intern.” I was able to get a hands-on experience every day, and I always felt like my opinion was valued. Both my capstone class and this marketing internship have been a core part of my undergraduate journalism career. I loved being in the marketing department and I still miss all the people I worked with!

Working with such a large company was a really different experience compared to my previous internships, but this was my favorite experience I’ve had so far. I definitely was able to get the full Populous intern experience (as shown in the projects I worked on listed above). By working with a larger company, I also had a lot more opportunities for networking within the company. I made a lot of contacts with people in the company that also have contacts in the sport industry, which I know will pay off later.

Working in sports

I was also a photography intern this summer for Sporting KC, my local MLS team. I love soccer and I’ve followed Sporting KC for a long time, so I loved being able to work with them. Since I had 40-hour work weeks with Populous, I only had time to photograph home games for Sporting but it was still a unique experience that allowed me to shoot a different sport and in the professional soccer realm. I can’t speak much to this internship because I didn’t have much hands-on time in that environment.

Not only do I have all these summer intern experiences, but I also have experience with school internships (look for a post on that soon!). If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment below, email me or tweet at me – I’d love to hear from you!

xo, Hannah