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Application Tips
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| Our internships can be very competitive (especially during spring and summer terms). We receive hundreds of applications and select around 20-40 interns to go through our program during the calendar year. Often we get questions from intern candidates asking for suggestions on how to make their applications stronger. Below are a few helpful tips: |
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Find out more about what we do.
If you are interested in radio journalism or production, we strongly recommend visiting a Web site called Transom. It’s a great resource for budding radio producers. While we are not asking you to go out and produce a radio documentary after visiting Transom, it should give you a good idea of what can go into creating public radio. |
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Why do you want to intern with us?
This is one of the first questions we ask potential interns. Why do you want to spend three months of your life working with us as an unpaid intern? Do you want to become a radio journalist? Are you looking for experience working in a not-for-profit institution? Maybe you are looking to enhance your skills in audio production. Maybe you’re a student, and you’re just looking to fulfill your college credit requirement, that’s fine too. A thoughtful and honest answer is what we look for, and we ask this question again during interviews. |
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The type of experience we look for in interns.
We prefer applicants with some prior educational exposure or volunteer experience in their chosen area. It’s common for summer production interns to have completed an internship with another media outlet before interning with us. We do make exceptions, and applicants are judged on a case by case basis. |
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Completely fill out the application.
The application is important, because it tells us more about you than a one page resume does. You can download an Adobe pdf version of our application here (to use the application you need Adobe Acrobat Reader). If you have trouble downloading the file, contact us and we’ll mail you one.
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Keep samples to a minimum.
When including any writing or audio samples of your work, keep in mind that these are just samples. You don’t have to include entire term papers, every news story you have ever written, or a full hour worth of audio clips. Please do submit up to three writing samples, and keep your audio CD’s under 30 minutes in length. |
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| If you are applying for a graphic design internship you must include PDF samples of your work, or a link to a Web site with your portfolio. It is very important that you label your CDs with your name. |
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If you are contacted for an interview...
We will ask your thoughts about the show you’re interviewing for. After all, you’ll have the opportunity to contribute to our locally-produced programming, and we want to know what you think. Not in a “I like that one interview with that one author,” kind of way, but in a “Your suburban politics coverage has been lacking lately,” or “Worldview’s series on China was insightful because…” kind of way.
The City Room, Eight Forty-Eight, the Arts Desk, and Worldview all have extensive archives of their shows that you can listen to online. |
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