COMM student Bailey Schilling shares internship experience

by Emma Desiderio

As a student, looking for internships and jobs can be intimidating. It can be even scarier when you get your first professional position and are unsure of what to expect. One student intern shared what it’s like working in a professional setting for the first time.

Junior Communication Studies student Bailey Schilling is currently working for the New Jersey Organizing Project (NJOP) as the End Overdose Communications Intern for the spring semester.

Schilling, who is on the PR track of the Communication Studies degree, found out about the position through an email sent to Communication Studies students by Professor Rosenthal and said she decided to apply after researching the company and finding that their values aligned with her own.

“My favorite job is to look for sharable content on the Internet and create and schedule some original content for our Facebook and Twitter pages,” said Schilling.

“I also take notes in meetings with other organizations and even some legislators, construct emails and press releases to send to members, gather and organize member information, and attend training to learn how best to communicate the overdose crisis to people with different views,” Schilling continued.

Schilling has learned a variety of new skills and applied some she already learned in her COMM classes while working for NJOP. She said that one of the most important skills she has learned is scheduling and working on deadlines. When creating press releases and social media content, there is often a sense of immediacy to get important information out.

“So far, what I have liked most about this position is being in a professional environment and getting to apply the skills that I’ve been learning in my COMM classes to real situations,” she said.

“It makes me feel accomplished when my boss trusts me to write a press release or create a social media post and knows I can do it completely on my own because of what I’ve learned in school.”

Schilling said that because of this internship, she knows she wants to work in the field of communications after graduating, and she feels “much more confident” in her abilities.

When looking for an internship, or any new opportunity, Schilling says “having an open mind” is the most important thing.

“I wasn’t actively looking for an internship when I found out about this one, but after reading about the organization I knew I had to try it. It’s also been very eye-opening to see how many local opportunities there are to gain experience in the field,” she said.

“Experience is experience whether it’s good or bad, so take every opportunity you can. I guarantee you will learn so much more than you think!” said Schilling.