Application Advice

Applying For A Job or Internship

Since many summer internships have October or November deadlines for application, you should be careful to apply in time. Set your sights as high as you wish, but be prepared to take what you can get. TRY EVERYTHING. The application should take the following form:

1. Resume
Any resume should be presented in a way that is clear, uncluttered, and appealing to the eye. The Career Planning and Placement Center has a useful guide on putting together a resume. Several useful paperbacks on resume writing are also available in most bookstores.

2. Clippings
If you have published stories before, include about three in your application unless the editor or newspapers requests more. Don't swamp the editor with everything you've ever written. Clips should be copied neatly onto 8.5 x 11 paper and note the date of publication. Don't send originals or tear sheets, unless specifically asked to do so.

3. Cover letter
Your cover letter should be individually typed (or use a photocopy process that looks individually typed) and addressed to the appropriate editor by name. Photocopied form letters will get you nowhere. Neither will misspellings. One editor told us: "I throw away letters which have my name misspelled." Write to the managing editors of newspapers, editors or managing editors of magazines, editors of book publishing houses, and news directors of radio and television stations. You will find their names in the handbooks listed above. The cover letter should be brief: specify the job you want, say a few words about your present status, and mention that a resume and clippings re enclosed, If possible, state that you would be glad to visit the editor for an interviews during Christmas or Spring Break, if the job is not in this area.

4. Interviews and phone calls
You should almost never initiate an application with a phone call or personal visit. Send a written application ahead of time. But unless the employer firmly states that he will never have an opening for the likes of you, you may find it valuable to follow a written application with a phone call. Employers frequently write applicants that they don't "foresee" any openings. Many students will lose hope when they read this. Some, however, are more dogged. They telephone the editor after a few weeks; they write follow-up letters to remind the editor they still exist; they send supplementary material. These are the applicants who have success. They display the qualities editors like to see; persistence and tenacity. These qualities make a good journalist.

When Should You Send Applications?

There is no absolute answer to this question. The best time to apply for summer internships is probably late in November and December. By March, many positions are filled, but others do come up. There is no best time to apply for permanent employment. Most openings occur when an employee takes another job. In such cases, the editor is likely to need a replacement in two or three weeks. Will he remember a letter he received months earlier? Perhaps, but he may not, or he may be more attentive to a letter from another applicant who wrote last week. On the other hand, those who do not write letters until they are ready to work often discover that most of the opening have been take. Coping with this dilemma requires foresight and effort. You should write prospective employers four or five months before you will be available. The second letter need be no more than a reminder of the first. But an applicant who has gained experience or published something worthwhile since he wrote the first letter, should write a second that is more than a reminder.

Internship or Job?

Graduating seniors and M.A. students may wonder whether they should apply for an internship of for a full-time job. Although internships are generally easier to get than regular jobs at this time, many internship sponsors prefer to hire students who will be returning to school. Sponsors want to avoid the embarrassment of having to tell an intern she can't stay. Thus it is wise to concentrate on full-time jobs if you are graduating. This does not mean, however, that you should not apply for internships. Some graduating students may want to have the trial experience of an internship before heading into the real job market. If you are such a student, by all means apply for internships as well as full-time jobs.