A Definitive List of ALL of the Internships I’ve Gotten Through USC

By (the intern-extraordiare) Kelly Kinas ‘16

Everyone who knows me knows that I’ve had my fair share of internships. How many do you ask? I’ve have 7 internships in my time at USC, starting second semester freshman year and one every summer and every semester following. I know. I’m kinda crazy. I accept that. But I do not like sitting, doing nothing. I like have things to do and those “things” often include me, sitting in traffic to and from an internship 2-3 days a week, each semester.

I have been through all of the trials and tribulations in internship finding and I’m currently doing it right now. But as of now, I am going to list the internships I have received through USC and tell you a little more about how I found them, what they were like, and more fun stuff like that.

LET’S DIVE IN

Like I said I’ve had 7 internships but I didn’t get all of them through USC. I got some through my dad and his friends, like a lot of other people. 4 of my 7 internships I’ve gotten through USC and USC people, all of them during the school year. Just as a disclaimer, this list will only be 4 because those are the 4 I got through USC, which makes it possible for everyone. WEEEEEEEE

GOING IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER

SPRING 2014- Downtown Women’s Center- Volunteer Management Intern

This was back when I thought I wanted to go into philanthropy and charity work. Additionally, this was my VERY FIRST INTERNSHIP. So truthfully, it was not their fault that I did not love this internship. I found it through ConnectSC and a girl in my sorority was the intern the semester before and helped me with my resume and cover letter. I applied and was notified with an interview time. I was inexperienced in working in an office, had only had worked an job helping with birthday parties in high school. I had no idea what I was doing but I really thought I did. I should have been like…

This was also an unpaid internship, which was unfortunate, but I didn’t have any experience so I understood. The worst thing for me, at the time, was that I didn’t have a car. The internship was at the Downtown Women’s Center on Skid Row. I took public transportation and it was extremely unreliable. My train was rarely on time and my buses sometimes came 15 minutes later than scheduled. I was constantly late to work, which looked bad, and was constantly late to my night class, for which I had to be back by 6pm. It was really a mess. My first evaluation really struck me because it wasn’t positive. I worked hard and ended up doing a lot better by the end of the term but it was a real life learning experience.

TAKEAWAYS: Be confident in your skills but be open to learning new things at new jobs. They are each going to be different and be run differently. Take time to adjust. Make sure you give yourself enough time to get to and from work. Don’t pack everything in too tightly.

SPRING 2015: UN Women USNC- Walks & Runs Intern (Assistant)

I was more experienced at this time. I had 3 internships under my belt and felt a little more confident going into ConnectSC to see what was open for a spring internship. I had time so why not fill it with something great? Enter UN Women USNC. My now-mentor Kristie Holmes is a professor at the School of Social Work at USC and she was my boss for this internship. I had weekly lunches with her to discuss what was happening and what I needed to do. The internship was work from home, which was a nice change for me, who still didn’t have a car. I was the liaison between the Walks & Runs Chairs and all of the USNC chapters across the nation. I was on late night Skype calls and google hangouts. I updated the website and created logos and graphics. It was absolutely lovely experience. This one was paid, another nice change, and I ended up going to the UN Women USNC National Conference in June of 2015, where I got to meet a lot of the people I was working with all semester long. 

TAKEAWAYS: Just because an internship is “remote” doesn’t mean it will be less work or teach you less. You should seize every opportunity you get and try to learn as much from the internship along with getting all of your work done.

I don’t especially want to go into doing work for charities or charitable organizations but both of these internships gave me a lot of experience and a couple nice things to put on my resume. Neither of these resumes were getting people coffee or anything like that. There was no Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada.

~~NOW FOR MY INTERNSHIPS THIS PAST YEAR THAT ACTUALLY COINCIDE WITH WHAT I WANT TO DO WITH MY LIFE~~

AND UPDATE:

FALL 2015: Blaze PR- Social Media Intern

I love social media. My *dream* job after graduation is to do social media for a company, creating content, creating campaigns, and possible blogging about my experiences (lol). Now, I applied for Blaze PR in August of 2015, 3 weeks before the school year started. I got a Skype interview because I was in Austin, TX and not in Santa Monica. Spoiler alert, I got the internship and started on September 1st. It was a Public Relations firm, a place I had never worked at before, and it was pretty damn cool. Everyone was friendly, I got to create content for 7+ clients, 3 on a weekly basis, and it was a great way for me to really expand what I knew and put into practice.

It was slightly awkward timing because my direct boss was fired during the third to last week of my internship. You’ll never know how you’ll react that situation until to comes upon you. Be ready for anything in an internship. You’ll never know what will be thrown at you, once your boss gets fired. You take on some of that work and that can be a little overwhelming. But like I said before, everyone was super super cool and really helpful when I didn’t know what to do or did something wrong.

TAKEAWAYS: Don’t be afraid to do what you love in a new space. New work environments are sometimes scary but it can be a great experience. Also talk to the people you work with and be nice to them. You’ll make friends! Who are cool! And in the same boat that you are!

LAST BUT NOT LEAST:

SPRING 2016: INCLUSIVE- Social Media and Brand Strategy Intern

Well, you see, I’m currently working here. So obviously, I like it. I’m about a month into the internship and it’s already been really rewarding. I’ve come up with social media campaigns that have been pitched to clients, worked on content calendars, and *BONUS* I think I finally know how to work the coffee machine (score). I’ve worked on 5 clients at this point, sit in on weekly phone calls, and do community management for all of the clients. 

I applied in mid-January because I found them on one of Annenberg’s daily emails about internship opportunities. I got a phone interview (my internship at Blaze was a plus for them), had to do a test project to prove I can create engaging content, and then had a in-person interview. Two days later, I was offered the internship and I started the following week. It was really a whirlwind.

To all of those people who have never had an internship, do not judge yourself based on me. I’m crazy. I am definitely not the norm in this situation. If you actually have free time during your week, do me a favor and

But if you want an internship, I would highly suggest getting one! I can’t stop applying for them. There are a lot of opportunities; all you have to do is find the one that fits you. If you need help getting ready definitely look at Trojans 360′s Work on It Wednesday posts.

Fight on!

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