Job & Internship

January 2008 Internship Spotlight

Name: Jennifer Schirm
Major: Jl MC
Emphasis: Magazine
Company: Pioneer Communications, Inc. Des Moines, IA

Duties: My internship was with The Iowan and Iowa Gardening magazines. Working with smaller magazines gave me the opportunity to gain experience in many areas of journalism, including writing, design, photography, researching, editing and public relations.

The Iowan is a bimonthly magazine, where I wrote a page called "Worth the Drive." For each issue I chose three unique events from throughout the state to write about. I also interviewed those in charge of the event. There really is more to Iowa than we all think, and it was amazing to listen to these people who were so passionate about what they were doing.

At Iowa Gardening, I got the opportunity to re-create or design ads for old and new advertisers. It was wonderful to be able to get this kind of professional experience with advertisers. For both magazines, I also created and sent out many subscription letters and advertising packages.

Besides design, the publisher gave me the opportunity to photograph a landscape for Iowa Gardening. It was such a rewarding experience to work with her and see my photographs published in the magazine. I was able to talk one-on-one with people about our magazine at the Iowa Gardening booth, at the Iowa State Fair.

Most Memorable Experience: I was taken to see one of The Iowan books being printed on a new style of printing press. This new press was shipped from overseas. There are only a few of them in the nation. It was amazing to see how many books it could print so quickly! I received one of the first books straight off the press, and also saw other steps, such as the trimming stage.

Special Contribution: I proposed several ideas to my editor, and it was exciting when she liked the ideas. One of my ideas will be a feature article in a future issue of The Iowan. Some of my other ideas will likely appear in Iowa Gardening in the future.

Advice to Future Interns: Don't overlook internships with smaller companies. Large companies may sound more impressive, but you are likely to get more opportunities and a variety of tasks at a smaller company. This may leave you with more experience in the end.

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