Nearly a year ago, I set out on this journey to dive into social media and learn the current tools and how they apply to PR. I started this blog, joined Brazen Careerist, hopped on Twitter and cleaned up my Facebook profile. Back story on my history in the digital space here.

The series of blog posts to follow will go through, very simply, the steps I took to get to where I am today. I’m starting at the beginning, the moment I realized that I didn’t want to be graduated and on the job-hunt. I had this light-bulb moment that I wanted to have job options lined up BEFORE graduation. If you’re already graduated, you’re probably thinking that you’re too late. You aren’t. If you have decided that you want a career, not just a job – then keep reading.

I have to preface all of this by saying that I’m just telling you what I did. How it shapes up for you could be completely different. By this time next year, these steps might not be enough to set yourself apart from the pack. Or maybe you don’t want to do PR, and if that’s the case, then shape this advice to whatever industry you’re trying to break into. I’m not guaranteeing that by following this that you’ll waltz into a dream internship which will turn into your dream job. I get it, I’m the exception to the rule, I’m lucky – blah, blah, blah.

I concluded my last post with this very simple thought regarding your future: You have to want it.

Given that you want it, when all your hard work pays off, you’ll understand why it’s not luck, it’s being prepared and creating opportunities.

If you don’t want it, save yourself the time that it’s going to take to make things happen. If you don’t want it, reading this will sound either really stupid or too difficult.

What I did the past year involved a lot of sacrifices: my dating life (I didn’t have one), my social life (extremely limited), my energy (I was drinking way too much Red Bull), my best friend (she gave me an ultimatum in Austin, our friendship or my career), and my expenses (both of my internships while at USF were unpaid, but I bartended at night and I saved every penny I made from November-March to go to SXSW).

As a result, what do I have? A fabulous studio apartment in Chicago, a full-time job at a global PR agency, and some great friends, colleagues and mentors that I’ve met along the way. If you’re still reading, I think you might want it.

So, where do you start?

I was in the first semester of my senior year and I needed to start networking, fast. I had only been in Tampa for a year and I didn’t know a lot of people on campus. So I started speaking up in class, talking to teachers about what my goals were, and reaching out for internship opportunities.

Hopefully, if you’re a senior in college in PR, you’ve already started on the internship thing. If you haven’t, then get on it! Internships.com is a great resource, and check with your school’s PRSSA chapter for other sources.

So, step one: Get an internship while you’re still in school.

1. Check out internships.com. USF had purchased a membership through the career center so any college student at USF could use the database to find an internship.
2. Ask your classmates and teachers. Fellow classmates are great resources for finding internships. Both of the internships I did senior year I found through one of my friends, and she was a year younger than me. If your friends don’t have any leads, ask your professors. Chances are they’re well-connected in the community and will know somebody that needs free help.
3. Do some digging. If both of those turn up no results, visit the career center, Google local businesses/agencies in your area and shoot someone an email saying you’re interested in gaining real-world experience. In this day and age, there aren’t a lot of people who will turn down free help if they need it.

If you realize the importance of having an internship and you’re set on finding one, you will. If you get frustrated half way through and quit – obviously, you won’t.

A lot of this business is making things happen, be it for your teams, your clients, your business, what have you. You need to make things happen for the rest of your career, you might as well start with yourself and start practicing now.

Up next: You got an interview, great, now what?