Summer internships in Abilene and the DFW metroplex

It may be the final week of spring semester classes at ACU, but it's not too late to secure a great internship for the summer. Here is a sampling of newly posted opportunities in Abilene, Fort Worth and Dallas. To find more internships, check job boards on your pre-professional organization's website -- including PRSSA, AAF, BEA and SPJ, as well as other industry-specific sites. Don't forget to monitor the university's Career Link site too.

• Milsoft Utility Solutions, a software company based in Abilene, is searching for a technical writing intern. This is a paid internship that requires a student with good editing and proofreading skills, plus good grasp of grammar, punctuation and style. The internship runs from May 17 to Aug. 13. Interested candidates should send a resume to Chandra McFarlen at internships@milsoft.com. For more information on Milsoft Utility Solutions, visit http://www.milsoft.com.
• Alcon Inc., a global health care and consumer products company, is recruiting for a public relations and external communications intern in Fort Worth. Key job responsibilities will include media relations, including the monitoring of trade and general media, and writing projects such as fact sheets, backgrounders and senior management bios. Interns may also assist with the photography library, online press room and the crisis communications plan. To qualify, students must be a junior or senior. For more information and to apply, follow this link.
• Brinker International, one of the nation's largest restaurant chains, is looking for a content and design intern for their Chili's Training Department at their world headquarters in Dallas. This intern will help create communications directed to Chili's employees, including written materials and social media. Both current students and recent graduates are welcome to apply. Work experience in training, advertising, public relations or online marketing is preferred. For more information, visit Brinker's job site.
  

Listen up! Great advice for young job seekers

This article, from the PR-Squared blog, can help you avoid some of the most common mistakes job seekers make when interviewing for jobs. Titled an "Open Letter to Millennials," the article focuses its advice on helping college students and recent graduates understand the pitfalls not only of getting your first job but keeping it.

Take time to read it. You'll be glad you did.

Here' s the link: http://bit.ly/aIGEuc.

PR agency, WNBA sports internships in Dallas, San Antonio

Two public relations agencies in Dallas and a professional sports team in San Antonio have announced summer internship programs.

Cooksey Communications, in Irving, Texas, is looking for an intern with strong writing, research, event planning and communication skills. Duties may include writing news releases, pitching the media, managing editorial calendars, researching speaking engagements and community involvement opportunities, assisting with event planning and media events. This is a full-time, paid internship, running from May through August. If interested, please send your cover letter and resume to Karen Berlin at kberlin@cookseypr.com. For more information on the firm, please visit www.cookseypr.com. The agency requests no phone calls, please.

Tucker and Associates, a Dallas public relations agency with a satellite office in New York, is advertising for a summer "trainee" with experience in public relations, communications or journalism. Tucker and Associates specializes in travel, lifestyle and consumer PR. This is a paid, 20-hour-per-week position. Please send resumes and writing samples to Pam Tate at pam@tuckerpr.com. No phone calls, please.

The Silver Spurs, a WNBA professional basketball team in San Antonio, is recruiting for an intern with an interest in sports public relations. This position is a paid, 20-hour-per-week internship that runs throughout the WNBA season, May-September. Applicants must be able to work the entire season, and must be willing to work nights and weekends when necessary. Applicants should be juniors or seniors or enrolled in a master's degree program. Duties will range from media relations to community events and may include photography. Students with experience in sports public relations will be given preference. For more information and to apply, please visit the following: http://nbateamjobs.teamworkonline.com/teamwork/r.cfm?i=29076&source=Indeed.com&sourceType=PREMIUM_POST_SITE.

Don't let social networking sites derail your job plans

My nephew, Tommy Hogan, a journalism major at my undergraduate alma mater, the University of Memphis (Go Tigers!) recently wrote a page-one feature story for the school's newspaper, The Daily Helmsman, cautioning students to think twice about what they post to their Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites. Employers often view these sites when considering who to hire for internships and jobs.

Have you looked at your own Facebook page recently from the perspective of a potential employer? What would an employer find there, if anything, that might prove detrimental to your job prospects? You can read Tommy's story at http://bit.ly/9y246k.

TV, newspaper media internships available

It's not too late to secure a summer internship. Here are some new opportunities for students interested in interning with a newspaper or TV station:

** Abilene's KTAB-TV and KRBC-TV are looking for six summer interns, and some of these interns may be appropriate for Ad/PR and electronic media majors as well as journalism majors. The categories include: reporting, producing, writing, assignments, Web writing, Web design, social media, sports, anchoring, videography and video editing. Interested students should e-mail Austin Kellerman at akellerman@ktab.tv.

** The Austin American-Statesman newspaper is looking for a photo intern for this summer. This is an 11-week internship that pays $450 per week and includes apartment style housing at a nearby university. Our interns routinely produce more than 100 front page and section-front bylines and credits during a summer. Additional
information is available on the newspaper's Web site at www.statesman.com/internships.

** The West Texas Tribune, an African-American community newspaper based in Abilene, is seeking a summer news intern. For further information, visit the newspaper's Web site at www.westtexastribune.com and call Floyd Miller at 325-829-5585.

Myra Dean shares tips from employers for interns, new employees

Note: Myra Dean, development director at KACU-FM, recently spoke to the JMC internship class.  She shared a survey of employers about their expectations for interns and entry-level employees.  What follows is a summary of Myra’s remarks.

Managers in the broadcast industry were asked, “If you could give soon-to-be-graduates some key pieces of information that would make their professional lives better, what would you say?  What should graduates do to make them more successful from the start and make the transition easier?”

Here are a few of the most common responses; some may be surprising:

• Listen and ask questions.  You may have new answers and approaches, but listen first.  When you’re talking, you’re not listening.  People, especially bosses, notice. 
• Understand the appropriate use of electronic media and technology at work.  
• It’s not OK to text at work.
• Don’t answer cell calls during meetings and don’t carry it in your hand constantly.
• It is not OK to Facebook or chat during office hours.  Check in during breaks, not business hours.
• Using texting and messaging slang; lol, idk, btw, etc. is never appropriate when work related.
• Don’t write anything negative on your Facebook page.  It WILL get back to your boss.  Be aware, e-mails are forever.   
• Communicate:  with bosses, co-workers and clients.  If there is any confusion, confirm by e-mail.  Document problems by e-mail and copy to yourself. Don’t wait until deadlines have passed to tell your supervisor you’re overwhelmed. 
• Dress Code:  See what your supervisor is wearing and dress accordingly.  Dress for the job you WANT, not the job you have.  Cover tattoos and remove piercings. 
• Stay out of office politics; take a course in conflict management; if you have anger issues, seek counseling and get past it. No competent manager tolerates a ticking time bomb in these days of workplace violence.
• Show up early, stay late, clean the office microwave; i.e. do more than is expected. 
• And finally, keep your work and personal life separate.  Avoid gossip and be careful what you say and do in the office.  When on company business, be careful how you act in public.