Students can set themselves apart with hands-on job experience, yet internships surprisingly aren’t as encouraged these days as they should be. I interviewed Jimmy Robertson, who has been the Inside HokieSports editor for 17 years and has also worked at The Roanoke Times. During the interview, he stated that the most valuable thing for a college student to do is get experience. “You’ll learn so much by doing internships at TV stations, newspapers, even in communications offices. You learn where your strengths are and what you like,” Robertson said. The question now is: how do you get one of these limited and valuable positions? Network, network, network.Meet as many people as you possibly can in your field, or even in other fields. You never know who may pass your information along. Give everyone your information, send thank you notes after interviews and stay in contact with the connections you establish via social media and email. Showcase yourself.Some organizations hire volunteers to be the next intern because that person has dedicated their skills and services, shown what they are capable of, and already has a good understanding of the organization. With that said, pre-professional student organizations will often have databases or listservs with internship opportunities. One such example is our very own PRSSA Internship Center. As a dues-paying member, you have explicit access to this resource. Simply create an account, upload your resume, and search for internships immediately. If you have any trouble logging in, ask for help from an executive member in your chapter’s PRSSA. Build relationships with your professors.Professors know about on-campus internship opportunities via word-of-mouth and colleagues. If you ask your advisor or professors about internship opportunities, they more than likely will have a few recommendation. If you’re doing well in their class, they just might recommend you. Start small if necessary.The internship you get may not be the one you’ve dreamt of but everyone has to start somewhere. At smaller corporations you are given more responsibility and get more experience doing things you wouldn’t necessarily be exposed to at a larger, more well-known company. Unpaid positions can also be great investments. Struggling to find an internship opening? Pick a business you love and offer to do free, professional PR for them. Most businesses, especially local and smaller ones, will let you help! Apply.Apply for lots of internships! Every interview that you apply for increases your chance of getting an interview or, better yet, an offer. Even if you don’t think you will get the job, you become more familiar with the application process and the company will have your information on file if another position opens up. Try out multiple internships.Jobs are a lot different in practice than in theory and different internships might give you insight into the kinds of work that you want to focus on...or avoid. On top of that, employers like to see diverse experiences on your resume because it shows that you are a well-rounded person. Take this time to test the waters. Now that you have a few basic tips about landing an internship, do yourself a favor and get one. Come senior year, you will thank yourself. Search, apply, and don’t hesitate to ask a PRSSA officer, Career Services counselor, or professor for help! Edited by Melanie Ford, Webmaster and Editor-in-Chief 2013-2014
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From 1998 to 2013, football games at Lane Stadium sold out 93 consecutive times. The sellout streak ended on September 7 against Western Carolina, and is most likely a result of the team’s poor performance in 2012. Despite this, it is safe to say that the Virginia Tech football team has some of the most loyal fans of any program in the nation, but tens of thousands of people did not start following the team over night. It takes years to develop such a strong following, and a lot of work is required to maintain that following. So how exactly does a college football team put 65,000 fans in the stands 93 games in a row? First and foremost, the best way to develop a following in any sport is to win games. The Hokie football team played in the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) National Championship Game in 2000 and had eight consecutive 10-win seasons from 2004 to 2011. The more a team wins in any sport, the more exposure they get on national networks such as ESPN. It also helps that the team has been a mainstay in the BCS Top 25 rankings for the better part of the last 15 years. Although winning plays a big part in developing and maintaining a loyal fan base, there’s more to relationship management than just getting the result on the field every Saturday. The Virginia Tech Athletics Communications department plays a big role in managing the public relations between the team and the fans before and after every game. Nowadays, more and more fans are using various social media platforms to keep up to date with team news and to interact with the team and its players. For example, for the latest updates on the football team, fans can follow @VT_Football on Twitter. There they will find information pertaining to upcoming games, injury reports, quotes from players and coaches, statistics, and plenty of other news items. In addition to being able to keep up with the team through Twitter and Facebook, fans also like participating in the game day experience. The stadium crew provides various opportunities for the fans to get involved during the game. For example, a handful of fans submit photos of their tailgates hoping that the other fans in the stadium will vote their photo the “tailgate of the week.” During every home game, Virginia Tech also likes to honor its football history with the “Legends of Lane” segment. During this time, younger fans get a chance to learn about some of the standout players from Tech’s past who helped to make the program what it is today. Special events also help to bring the public’s attention to Virginia Tech’s football games. For example, every year the annual white out and maroon and orange effect games help to foster a stronger sense of unity between the fan base and the team by having everyone in Lane Stadium wear the same color. The football team has also managed to grab headlines by using their uniforms to honor a special cause. For example, every year one of the home games is designated as the military appreciation game. During this game, the team will usually wear a uniform with a camouflage design in order to honor those who have served in the United States Armed Forces. Additionally, during the Russell Athletic Bowl in December 2012, the team paid tribute to the victims of the both the Sandy Hook and April 16th tragedies with wearing a sticker of a memorial ribbon on their helmets. Earlier this season, the team wore helmets that were painted to resemble Hokie stone in order to honor the university and its core values. Despite the success of the program over the past two decades, Virginia Tech has had more trouble filling Lane Stadium to capacity this year than in past years. The Athletics Department has played its part in trying to get more fans into the stadium. For example, freshmen were able to buy season tickets this year, and the department has been handing out tickets that have gone unclaimed in the student ticket lottery in order to increase attendance. Associate Head Coach and Running Backs Coach Shane Beamer even sent out a tweet reminding fans that the sellout streak was at risk in an effort to motivate fans to attend the game against Western Carolina. Despite the efforts of the Athletic Department, the streak ended, and home games at Lane Stadium are not always guaranteed to sell out as they once were. There are several potential reasons why fans are not attending home games at the rate that they used to. One potential reason is the quality of the non-conference opponents that the team plays at home. It could be that fans want to see the team play against stronger non-conference teams than they have been playing over the past few years. It also doesn’t help that there was no Thursday night game scheduled at Lane Stadium this year, as had been custom over the past decade. The Thursday night game was immensely popular with students, and many were upset to see that the Thursday night game was played away at Georgia Tech this season. Also, the performance of the team over the past two seasons has most likely made it so that casual fans are more inclined to just watch the game on television, especially when the games are at noon on a Saturday. All in all, it’s easy to see how Virginia Tech managed to sell out consecutive games for over a decade. The publicity that they garner from their performance on the field, along with the manner in which they manage their fan base relationship, makes it so that fans want to go out and support the team every week during the season. Edited by Melanie Ford, Webmaster and Editor-in-Chief 2013-2014 |
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