This shouldn’t be news to anyone: internships are hard to get. For me, it’s been one heck of a long grueling journey, sending resumes, cover letters and portfolios to different placesĀ needing a graphic designer. On every opportunity, I hope to have the small chance of landing an interview or at least get the courtesy of a letter telling me why I don’t fit for them. Most don’t bother doing this and searching for internships in the past. The almost year-long odyssey took me to various places, each time bringing more self doubt and shame to myself with the conclusion of every interview.
OptimisticĀ at the startĀ of my journey, I could barely hold my excitement to work in something related to my field. When I first heard of a job’s fair held last April at Long Island University’s Brooklyn campus, I was stoked and immediately registered. I made sure that my friends would join in as well. A few weeks later, it was time and I was dressed in my Sunday best, ready to impress and hand out resumes to all the organizations and design companies there looking for new talent. I checked out twenty different places but never got a response from any of them, save for an assurance to try again next year.
Try again, next year. That must have sounded so easy to say coming from them. I was disappointed, if not a little angry that nothing came out of it. My father took notice and said that he had a business card of someone from three years’ back that he was looking for young designers to come and intern at his shop, even if they were a little inexperienced. I had more than enough experience practicing through freelancing and student work so I presumed it would’ve went well and I would build a rapport with the owner and the other workers. Things went smoothly on the first day, redesigning a menu for a butcher shop in the area. On the second day, I came to find the shop closed without the owner telling me he was out for the day. He called me after I tried contacting multiple times and told me that he’ll look me up as soon as he’s in the need for someone.
I was crushed and wasn’t even compensated with the work I did that day. Immediately after that episode, I searched online for an internship via internmatch.com and found something promising in a Brooklyn-based marketing agency. I applied to several others but they were the first ones to respond to my resume. After being disappointed twice, I held out hope that I would find success this time around. The hiring recruiter and the company head appeared enthusiastic when I visited their office at Greenpoint, dressed in my Sunday best. The recruiter’s office was a small, glass cubicle, with a Mac and a mes of papers laid about a thin wooden table.
Going by standard procedure, I shook her hand and introduced myself to her before sitting down on the chair by the table. With my resume in her hand, the interview began. We discussed the past work that I’ve done for school and some clients. She seemed to be satsified and made no indication that I said or shown anything that upsetted her. I felt like I was a shoo in for the position and after the half hour long interview, she promised she would call and tell me if I got it or not in a week’s time. Young and naive, I did not doubt that she would give me the courtesy of calling. I believed she would keep that promise.
I waited and waited. Soon a week had passed and I had yet to receive a response. I tried to be patient and waited another week. No response from her. I tried reaching her through phone calls and email but no one responded to me. The company’s Facebook page of which I was the only follower was deleted. I gave up and realized that it was a waste of time attempting to reach them. I figured that I hadn’t been getting much luck because my resumeĀ at the time mentioned my freelancing experience and lacked formal work experience relevant to the field to attain an internship.
Through a friend, I found some work at a print shop at Washington Heights owned by his mom and operated by his older brother. I learned through observation on how to operate the printers and designed an assortment of print-based advertising from posters to business cards for clients operating in the area. In contrast to assignments and projects at City Tech, the deadlines were tight and I only had at most, an hour to two hours to complete them. It was strenuous initially but I learned to adapt to the work culture. I spent four hours every day on Tuesdays to Thursdays, for the next ten weeks. The job gave me formal work experience to put on my resume. I felt ready to find and get an internship.
I found an opportunity in a poster I saw in the school advertising that a representative from the Aqua Design Group was coming to interview people from several majors, including the communication design department, for work. The interview went a lot better than the previous ones I’ve had and we reviewed I presented to him. I gave him feedback on the redesign of the company’s website and right before the interview ended, asked me if I would be available this semester or later. Due to my schedule, I gave him an honest answer and told them that I would be available for spring. We ended things with him shaking my hand and telling me that we’d be in touch.
Three months later, I received a call from the Aqua Design Group representative saying that he would love to have me come in to the office for a second interview. I had a feeling that the interview was not going to turn out well because the hiring recruiter took his sweet time doing stuff in his office while I was waiting. I stuck through nonetheless and shown my portfolio and resume to the hiring recruiter and one of his employees. The interview did not last too long. They looked displeasedĀ when I said I couldn’t commit to the internship full-time due to school despite them only wanting full-time students. I was disheartened but I knew better than to expect any response from them.
I had no internship when the class started and felt embarassed of not having one. Once I learned that a good chunk of the class on that second day did not have an internship, I did not feel so alone and felt a little empowered. More so upon learning that fellow student designers that I looked up to like Bryzeida and many others had difficulty finding internships, I felt a little better about myself. I didn’t have so much self doubt and through my sheer will and encouragement from Professor Goetz, I began looking online at websites like Craigslist and indeed.com, applying to everything.
It took several weeks internship-huntingĀ for something to come up but it finally did, and from an unlikely source: et al collaborative. They were an architectural firm who needed a graphic designer to work alongsideĀ Manu Garza, a major figure in the firm and a part-time professor in archiving student work and creating a visual presentation. As soon as class had ended, I took the train and came to their office near Bedford Avenue. Unlike my past experience, the interview went well and both me and my interviewers had the opportunity to ask each other questions. The interviewĀ ended after an hour and ten minutes, and one of the interviewers, Meigan, giftingĀ several bags of pita bread. I was grateful and sent them a thank you email shortly after for the opportunity and the bread. A week later, they responded to me with an email, confirming that I got the position.
What I’ve learned in the year of internship hunting is that nothing comes easy. It did not come easy for me. I’ve been through numerous interviews, applied to dozens of placesĀ both in person and on the Web and worn out all my formal business clothing. Also, opportunity comes at the place you least expect. I did not expect that an architectural firm would need a graphic designer nor would my boss be a professor at my old school. For those who still lack an internship or yet to find one, never give up and apply. You never know.
