Students can get course credit by doing a formal internship organised as part of their studies. But before students are ready for those formal internships they are strongly advised to volunteer their time with student organisations or in charitable organisation to build up a portfolio of workplace and industry skills.
Popular placements for RMIT journalism interns, for example, are at the Herald Sun, The Age, Broadsheet Media, ABC, and SBS. However, interns can go to any place where their skills can be put at use, including in-house publications and internal communication roles.
It does not really matter if you are interning in Australia or overseas, it is important to have done the research on your host organisation and to be ready to show your skills.
And here’s something that another student wrote about the experience of being an intern.
Alexandra Wake has been a journalist for 30 years. Although initially trained in print, she has adapted to other technologies and now boasts a career spanning radio, television and on-line. Alex has worked in Ireland, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, as well as Australia. Alex worked for three newspapers: The Rockhampton Morning Bulletin, the Mackay Mercury and The Star (Ireland). Alex spent seven years working for the ABC in Queensland. She has spent time training working journalists at the South African Broadcasting Corporation and three years as a journalism educator at Dubai Women’s College in the United Arab Emirates. Alex also spent three years working as a senior media advisor for a Queensland government minister. Alex still tries to work as a broadcast journalist when her academic work allows.
Alex completed her PhD at Deakin, MA (Research) at QUT, holds a Graduate Certificate in Tertiary Teaching and Learning from RMIT, and a Certificate of English Language Teaching to Adults from Cambridge.
View all posts by Alexandra Wake
International Internships 