Searching for a summer internship? Already found one but curious about what to expect? JMU senior Julio Salinas shares his advice and experience with finding and taking on a meaningful internship.
One of the most important factors employers are looking for in candidates for hire is their past professional experience. In order to attain this experience, students are taking on pseudo career opportunities- otherwise known as internships. Internships can be structured in several different ways: long-term, short-term, paid, unpaid, full-time, part-time, etc. It is key for students to find internships that not only fit the structure for which they are looking, but also apply directly to their professional field of interest. Finding this perfect internship might be a challenge, but in the end it will be tremendously worthwhile.
Julio Salinas is a JMU senior who will be graduating from JMU this May and embarking on his journey into the real world. With his interest in grassroots marketing, creative development and execution of events paired with his passion for the music industry, he was determined to find internships that would give him the experience he would need to thrive after graduation. Salina’s first internship was for the College Marketing Department of Sony Music in NYC- right up his ally. He recalls his time with Sony as being “positive” and “valuable”. He notes,
“Many believe that all an intern is responsible for are coffee runs and mundane errands. I was lucky enough to intern for a small department and I was in close contact with all four of my supervisors on a daily basis. Needless to say, I NEVER did a single coffee run for any of them. I learned valuable skills about online marketing and field marketing, and how to maximize productivity of promotion through college students on college campuses.”
It was through this internship that Salinas found out about another opportunity to work as an intern for ‘stache media and RED Distribution. His supervisor at Sony put him in contact with the Lifestyle Marketing Coordinator for ‘stache media. A couple of months after sending his resume and participating in a phone interview with ‘stache, he was offered the internship as a Lifestyle Representative.
Salinas describes his internship with ‘stache as “very hands-on and involved”. Some of his responsibilities as an intern include creating awareness between emerging artists, JMU students and members of the local community, raising visibility for various artists and bands, and providing marketing materials to local retail outlets to spread artist awareness. According to Salinas, his favorite part about working for ‘stache media is that he has full creative control of his own marketing efforts. This enables him to be imaginative and inspired with the ways he chooses to promote an artist.
With any great internship comes great challenges, and Salinas recalls some of the most difficult parts about working at ‘stache. He explains,
“One of the challenging things about my most recent internship centers on the timing in which I scheduled it. Oftentimes students in their final year of college are focused on having as many of those traditional “college” experiences as they can before they graduate... I pride myself in always giving 110% of my efforts to everything I do. But I soon learned that 110% split three or more ways (school work, internship and job searching) left little to no time for Julio. It created a never-ending source of pressure, and yet I wouldn’t have changed it for the world.”
Salinas is confident that the experiences he had both at Sony Music and ‘stache media have thoroughly prepared him to take on the real world. He plans to build upon the experiences that he’s already created. He hopes to continue chasing his dream of working in the music industry, and to surround himself with others who are just as passionate about it as he is.
For those who are in the process of searching for an internship that is just as meaningful as Julio Salinas’s, he offers this advice:
“Be very persistent but also patient…. You’re going to have multiple rejections before one or two people offer you a shot. Don’t internalize rejection but rather use it as a motivator to push yourself and try even harder. As cliché as it sounds, everything worth having never comes easy, and if you’re truly passionate… and your heart is in the business, then you will certainly find a way."
Written by Kelly Gooch
Contact: goochke@jmu.edu
