internship spotlight
Frances Welch
Graduation Year
May 2017
Major
News-Editorial Journalism
Hometown
Champaign
Campus Activities
Daily Illini, buzz Magazine
Hobbies
Music, concerts, writing, photography, biking, gardening, cooking.
Twitter
@fran_welch
LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/frances-welch-b850ba84/
Employer
Consequence of Sound
Internship Title
Editorial Intern
What were your duties?
- Assist editors with writing, editing, managing and creating website pages, album/concert reviews interview musicians, and long-form stories
- Gather content trends and weekly/monthly statistics, create spreadsheets to organize website content, transcribe interviews, research and organize music history on website.
- Create website content, meta descriptions and page titles in support of SEO strategies.
What did you most enjoy about your internship?
I learned so much from this publication, and even though I worked remotely, I felt like I was right there with them. It was really cool to be able to have a behind-the-scenes viewpoint of a major music publication and to interview really talented people and musicians, and go to shows!
What was the most difficult aspect of the internship?
There are several different duties that come with this internship, but nothing too unmanageable. I would say that the most difficult part of this internship was understanding SEO writing. The whole process was very ambiguous and really different from anything I've ever done before.
How did your experience at ILLINOIS and in the College of Media prepare you for your internship?
Learning how to be a good writer and already having experience with interviews really prepared me to be as hands-on as possible for this internship.
How has your internship prepared you for a career?
All of my editors have been really terrific in giving me advice, whether it be with a future career or personal work ethic. They've shown me practices that I otherwise would not have gotten in class and it prepared me to be as professional as possible when interviewing really famous people! Learning how to have a poker face when star-struck has been my saving grace from this internship.
What recommendations do you have for other students about doing an internship?
Always apply, even if you think the internship is beyond your reach, and then be extremely persistent in following up. I never thought I would have an internship at a music publication as prominent as CoS, especially without a direct connection. But I applied anyways, and kept bugging my editor with emails to make sure he hadn't skipped over my application.
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