Communication Internship Information | Apply for COMM Internship Credit
Avery Gavornik ’21
Hometown: Tewksbury, NJ
Major: Communication
Minors: Hospitality and Tourism Management, and Marketing
The breadth of communication academic studies offers a number of potential careers: public relations, journalism, political campaigning, social media, event coordination, advertising, and marketing are just a few. Avery recognizes this and uses experiential learning through internships as a way to help narrow down to her true passions and strengths. When the coronavirus pandemic impacted her first choice of internship this summer, she quickly researched other available options and secured a remote position in the same city. Overall, this is Avery’s 3rd internship while at the College of Charleston.
After a couple months in this extended internship, Avery is already a big believer in working remotely. She advises COMM students to take advantage of the current influx of remote opportunities. With more being posted all the time, the physical location of the company/organization is now eliminated as a major factor in decision making. This gives out-of-state students like Avery more options than when they were previously limited to a particular geographical area. Keep scrolling to check out Avery’s perspective on working remotely and her advice for students who are applying or interested in starting the internship process.
Avery’s Summer 2020 Internship During a Pandemic
Organization: CharlotteBergerPR
Internship Title: Public Relations, Social Media, and Influencer Marketing Intern
Location: Remote, with monthly intern meet-ups. (company based in Charleston, SC)
Hours Per Week: 10-15
Paid? No
Academic Credit? Yes, towards the Hospitality and Tourism Management minor (HTMT 444).
What do you do for your internship? I started officially on July 13th. Right now, I don’t have an end date and I hope to keep interning here throughout the school year! I am doing a lot of social media and community management for our clients’ social media pages, influencer marketing reports for these platforms, and helping with any special events our clients’ are hosting. CharlotteBergerPR has an emphasis on hospitality and nonprofit organizations here in Charleston, so we have been working with a lot of restaurants and nonprofits. I report to Charlotte Berger, the founder of the PR firm, and I work with two other interns.
What is your favorite part of your internship? My favorite part has to be interacting with the clients and really getting to know how they want their brand represented to the public. Helping them build that brand image is really cool to be able to do. My least favorite part is probably having to check client social media pages all day because it requires me to constantly be on my phone which I like to take a break from.
What is it like being remote? My internship is remote, but the interns meet in-person monthly to catch up on tasks and discuss how things are going. I didn’t mind doing my internship remote because a lot of the work doesn’t require me to be in an office, an event space, etc. A pro is that I can do a lot of work on my own time (I also have another job) and in the comfort of my own home, but a con is missing that face-to-face interaction that I really enjoy, such as being in a office surrounded by people. All I really need for this internship is my phone and laptop (and wifi of course), and then any software or apps that I can use to edit photos, make excel sheets, etc.
Was it hard to find a summer internship? I know some people had trouble finding internships this summer due to COVID-19 but I did get really lucky with mine. I had a different one lined up when the summer started with an event space, but it fell through because of the pandemic. Shortly after, however, I saw that CharlotteBergerPR had advertised for an internship position and I took full advantage of the opportunity.
Do you experience difficulties completing your internship during COVID-19? The only thing different about my internship during this pandemic is that all of our meetings, as well as my interview, have to be over zoom. Personally, because of the field I am in, I am able to complete the majority of my work at home, pandemic or not. However, a lot of our clients are restaurants in Charleston, so the effect that the pandemic has on their business in turn affects our company as well.
What is your advice to COMM students looking to take a Fall 2020 internship during a pandemic?
- Find something you can do remotely, instead of having to risk getting those around you sick from going into an office or building every day. There are so many new opportunities that are remote now, and there’s always something you can do.
- Taking multiple internships is some of the best advice I can give a COMM student. In the communication field, there are so many different areas you can go into, so being exposed to as much as you can really helps narrow down what you want to pursue.
- Any related experience is good experience. Just having that on your resume is something employers really look at. Look on the CofC website (Handshake, The COMMunity Network, etc.) for opportunities that they post, look on LinkedIn, or approach a company that doesn’t necessarily advertise for an internship, but is a company you’re passionate about. Finally, always tweak your cover letter to match the specific company you’re applying to work for!
Communication Internship Information | Apply for COMM Internship Credit