CareerPlanit - Internship Journal

Internship Journal

Designing a Career

Posted January 2000

Before she even began her summer internship with the federal Internal Revenue Service in Washington, D.C., Sekayi Brunson was learning plenty about the value of hard work and flexibility.

Brunson, now a senior creative arts and technology major at Bloomfield College in New Jersey, landed the graphic design internship through The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars. To qualify, she had to fill out an application, supply a resume and two or three letters of recommendation, and do lots and lots of writing. First there was a 100-word statement about the activities she hoped to be involved in. Then there was a 250- to 300-word essay about her academic, personal, and professional goals for the internship. Finally, there was a 1,000-word essay on major issues in her chosen field.

Brunson, who had learned about the unpaid, for-credit internship through Bloomfield College's career development center, sought help from Lynn Mertz, associate dean for student affairs.

"It was a lot of work," Brunson says. "The essays had to be really good to be accepted."

Brunson was accepted into the internship program, but didn't get confirmation until less than a week from her June 1 start date. She quickly packed, arranged transportation, and headed south for the summer. Fortunately, she says, The Washington Center had arranged housing—an apartment she shared with three roommates.

In her first week on the job, Brunson realized she'd need to add assertiveness to her list of new skills when she learned that the department she'd been assigned to wouldn't give her the prepress design experience she sought.

"I talked to my sister at night and built up some guts," she says, explaining that she also spoke to Mertz about the situation before asking, very politely, to be transferred to the graphic design department. "I knew it was something I had to do."

Brunson says she knew almost immediately that she'd made the right decision.

"I came at the perfect time," she says, explaining that several staff members were on vacation and she was given the opportunity to work on several projects right away. "I had my own cubicle, my own computer, all the software I needed, and access to tutorials. There was always something to do...Everyone in the department was my mentor."

By the end of the summer, Brunson had helped design workbook covers, posters, publications, and a card containing the IRS jobs hotline telephone number. She had sat in on meetings with outside firms that were working with the department on an advertising campaign for the IRS' new electronic filing system. She had attended evening classes and lectures by media professionals and cabinet members that were part of her Washington Center program. And, finally, she had produced a portfolio containing samples of her work and information about her experience.

Brunson says she hopes to find work as a graphic designer after graduation in New Jersey, Maryland, or Washington, D.C. And, she says, she feels confident that she has both the skills and the experience to succeed.

"On-the-job experience is the best experience," she says.