Despite Economy, Internships Still Available and Recommended

Major courses. Minor courses. GERs. Electives. As Commencement looms closer, students at Washington State University have many graduation requirements to worry about. Students in the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication have one more prerequisite to concern themselves with: internships.

Students in the Murrow College are required to either complete an internship or take six credit hours of upper-division communication courses. Many students may be left asking one question: which path should they take?

“It’s really an individual choice,” said Lorraine A. Nelson, Internship Coordinator for the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication. While taking upper-division courses may be easier, Nelson noted that doing an internship has numerous advantages. “Internships are a good time to test if the field you have chosen will satisfy you,” said Nelson. “An internship in your chosen field allows you to experience the work you will be doing before you actually get out into a paying job and do it. It’s also a good time to make contacts and get to know someone who can be a reference for you in the future.”

Students may also wonder when they should do their internship. The Murrow College requires students to complete certain courses depending on their communication sequence before they can do an internship. Nelson said this requirement is designed to ensure students are ready for an internship before they take it on. Aside from course prerequisites, if a student does their internship in fall, spring, or summer again comes down to personal preference. Students can even complete their internship after they walk through the graduation ceremony, Nelson said.

While students may worry that it will be difficult to secure an internship in the unstable state of the economy, this is not the case. Both Roberta Kelly, Journalism Internships Coordinator for the Murrow College, and Nelson have said they have not seen any decrease in the amount of internship offers they receive. “There tends to be more people that want our interns than we have interns to provide. I think that speaks very highly of our students and our program,” Nelson said.

Internship providers also attest to the high quality of interns which pass through the Murrow College. KREM 2 News provides paid internships for interns, and has used WSU students before. “Many WSU students have gone on to be employees,” said Noah C. Cooper, Executive News Director at KREM 2 News. “Most interns from WSU work out very well.”

Students in the Murrow College receive credit for both paid and unpaid internships. However, finding paid internships with the economy in a slump may be difficult. “I’ve been contacted by a couple of journalistic employers that are very apologetic because they can only provide unpaid internships,” Nelson said.

While students can find many internship opportunities through the Murrow College, they can also choose to instead create their own through contacts they may already have. Students who choose to go through the Murrow College can be assured that intern employers are qualified to be good mentors and will assure they get the experience needed in communication jobs, said Nelson.

The Murrow College is not alone in its demand for interns. “We have not noticed a downturn in internship postings,” said Anne M. Scott, Experiential Education Manager for the Center for Advising and Career Development at WSU. Scott said she has not seen any noticeable change in the amount of paid and unpaid internships.