The New Guy

Hi, I’m new here.

I’m Owen Sexton and I’m a few weeks into my final semester of undergrad at Oakland University. I’m a journalism major with a minor in marketing.

So what? That doesn’t sound very impressive.

Well, you’re right – it’s not.

So what makes me qualified to intern at Eisbrenner?

I can tell you that my major and minor have very little to do with it. Don’t get me wrong, the fundamentals are important. However, when it comes time to find work, your experience is what counts. Before I had any experience, I often wondered what would I talk about in an internship interview, what do I have to offer?

I learned that it’s a lot easier to talk about yourself when you have something worth talking about. Your experience is what sets you apart from all the other recent graduates or soon to be grads. My short list of experiences gave me plenty of writing experience and something to talk about in those interviews.

I followed a fairly traditional path at my university. I got involved with the student newspaper. It was the best decision I’ve ever made in college. Let me repeat, it was the best decision I’ve ever made in college.

Working on a newspaper gave me real and practical experience in journalism. I gained an appreciation for a deadline, copy editing skills and most importantly writing experience. I’m going to go out on a limb and say, I learned more about writing while working on the newspaper then I did in class. Did I mention it was the best decision I’ve made in college?

Aside from the newspaper gig, I found an on campus internship with the School of Nursing. I worked as a public relations intern with their administrative staff. Contributing to their alumni newsletter was one of my more prestigious achievements. I would highly suggest checking out on campus internships. The experience is well worth the time commitment.

My one piece of advice, start looking for experience as early as possible. The more you have, the better you will be.