Think you can tell what someone is like from a resume and cover letter?
Sometimes you can. I recently interviewed someone interested in public affairs who had a 3.7 GPA from an Ivy League school and a 3.8 GPA in a Master's program at USC (not the good USC, but the one with some Greek mascot...Go Gamecocks!).
Predictably, she was bright, well-spoken and very accomplished. But would she make a good public affairs person? I wanted to find out what made her tick...much like we do for our interns.
What are some of the things we look for?
Initiative. In our short experience with interns in the office, I think the most significant predictor of how successful and how meaningful the experience for interns and the staff will be is someone who, when given a starting point and a little guidance, can go out on their own to tackle a story, research a new media distribution channel, or follows-up with a task without prodding.
A willingness to fail. We don't expect our interns to know anything. What I hope we get is someone who tries, wants to do a good job, and is willing to accept coaching on how to improve their performance. Especially in editing. It is a fact of life in this job that your words are going to be edited...a lot. Our interns have to understand that -- understand and embrace, really -- and not take it personally when your document comes back to you and you can't read it without getting a headache because it's so red. (Better living through chemistry is sometimes appropriate.)
Those are just two qualities, but a good start.
What is going to happen to the Greek, Ivy League lady? We'll find out in October!
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