How did you find your internship? 

 I met with my career center counselor and he told me to visit my school’s career center website. Since I was late to start looking, I applied to a couple of internships posted on the career website and luckily this internship worked out well.

Why this internship?

Honestly, this was the only internship that still had openings. I went into the search pretty open-minded so I was willing to try just about anything. My family has a bunch of pets, 2 dogs and 4 cats, so i could relate to the website and what pet owners (our customers) really wanted and needed for their animals.

What were your general responsibilities?

To promote the website on-line and in-person. The goal was to find people and places that could really benefit from the site and to let them know what we were doing and why we could help them. I would do this by visiting social networking sites on my computer at home and visiting places like animal hospitals, pet parks, and pet stores. Once a week, we had an hour-long conference call. It was really helpful and made the entire internship more personal and I could learn more about the direction the website was going.

What was a typical day like?

Since I was interning on-line and working from home, I made my own hours. Waking up on the late side, after lunch I usually went online to work. Using templates provided by the company, I would use sites like Craigslist to find other pet owners and to promote the site and its benefits to them. On other days, I visited local pet stores and animal hospitals to distribute informational materials and to talk to managers and veterinarians about the company’s services.

Did you receive any perks, benefits, or compensation?

I received great pay per hour, plus they sent me promotional materials, like t-shirts. The best part was that since I was officially an independent contractor, my wages weren’t taxed.

Where did you live?

For my internship, I lived and worked at the same place – my home. Since I live close to New York City, it was really convenient and I had the best of both worlds.

Future plans?

Since I’m a senior in college, I plan to graduate in the spring and then continue to get my masters in psychology. My internship was a good opportunity but I don’t think that this type of company or work is right for me long-term. 

Any particular advice?

Try everything because you never know what you’re going to like until you try it. Don’t stress too much about finding an internship, even if you’re late to start looking. There are plenty of interesting internships out there.