Internships – MEMORANDUM

Alumna Spotlight Interview: Allison Underwood

By Natalie Pagan

Allison Underwood, a UAB graduate, sat down with me to discuss how the Professional Writing program can help students reach their career goals. Underwood currently works at Good Grit Magazine here in Birmingham, Alabama as a digital media coordinator. Good Grit focuses on an elegant and progressive reflection of southern heritage.

Underwood said, “I’ve lived here my whole life, but it wasn’t until I started working with Good Grit that I fell in love with the South. Good Grit brings the Southerner out of the box—there’s a place for everyone here!” This August will mark Underwood’s two years of employment at this magazine.

Underwood started off at Good Grit working as a paid intern before becoming a part-time staff member and currently the person in charge of running digital and social media. Some of the job activities include posting on social media sites such as Facebook, managing social profiles, emailing newsletters and creating graphics for profiles. Underwood mentioned having taken UAB’s Digital Media Capstone course, which brought about the unpaid internship. This allowed them to receive a job offer to be a part-time employee at Good Grit Magazine.

I asked about the experience that Underwood had prior to working at Good Grit. They gave credit to a professional writing background and how the degree has helped thus far. Underwood mentioned that they are thankful for having been introduced to the major early enough to pursue and finish the degree. Underwood went on to promote the degree by saying, “A person who chooses this major can do whatever they want with it.” Underwood listed technical writing, teaching, social media and coding as a few of the jobs that are relevant in the professional field.

The interviewee explained that in their particular job, there is not only writing involved, but coding, designing and editing documents. Although Underwood does not code for Good Grit Magazine, they have done some coding as a freelancer.

During the interview, Underwood explained that the required courses for their Bachelor’s degree provided an opportunity to gain the experience needed for the job at Good Grit Magazine.

Because the internship was geared primarily towards digital media, they were able to use what was learned throughout courses such as Developing Digital Documents to better analyze the material that was going to be distributed or posted onto the internet.

This course allowed them to learn how to compare different font choices, colors and proximities on different documents, making sure that the magazine is sent out looking its absolute best. This course allowed Underwood to become familiar with programs such as Adobe Illustrator, InDesign and Photoshop which many magazine companies work with, including Good Grit.

Although these skills have helped Underwood reach a stellar career goal, Underwood admits that they have also made it difficult to not feel the need to analyze every document or advertisement they see. Underwood unabashedly stated, “I’ll look at a billboard and think about what I would change to fix it.”

As someone currently taking the Developing Digital Documents course, I had to agree with Underwood that nothing can possibly look the same once you’ve figured out all of the tricks of document design. The interviewee agreed and said that this was in fact the gift and the curse of learning all of these skills. “Once you know how to do it correctly, you notice that the rest of the world does not.”

The interviewee strongly encouraged current English majors to look into the professional writing program. Underwood is the proof that with the right experience and education, your dream job can be the one that you land and thrive at.

Days after interviewing Underwood, they have just obtained a new position at Good Grit Magazine. While keeping most of the same responsibilities, Underwood’s new position now includes managing interns, gift guides, developing campaigns for magazine subscriptions and curating sponsored content.

While still being actively involved in scheduling Facebook, Instagram and the email campaign, Underwood has begun delegating a lot of these responsibilities and tasks to interns to be able to focus on the bigger picture. Good Grit is always looking for hard-working students to fill internship roles.

On behalf of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, we wish Underwood the best of luck in continuing to further their career.

From College to Career

Bella Tylicki, Account Coordina
tor with Peritus Public Relations

By: Laura Jane Stallo

Graduation can be an equally exciting and daunting time for some students. After years in the education system, it can be a welcome relief to be done with classes, though finding a career can be challenging for some.

While many students have a strong idea of the career they want to ultimately have, it can be difficult to figure out where to start, or even how.

Bella Tylicki, a recent UAB graduate, offers some insight into how she landed her job as an Account Coordinator with Peritus Public Relations.

“I started interning there (Peritus) the summer after my junior year,” Tylicki said, going on to emphasize,

“Get as much hands-on experience as you can before you graduate.”

While many students’ experiences will look different, it’s important to start as early as possible, and those first experiences can be as simple as shadowing someone for a day, or joining a club or reaching out to a professor.

There is a growing misconception among students that the only ‘good experience’ is paid positions or internships. However, there are far more ways for you to learn and gain skills that are applicable for a variety of positions.

“You can spend an afternoon doing something that is worthy of adding to your resume,”

Tylicki emphasized, going on to say, “It doesn’t have to be a super-organized, 30-hour a week internship, it can be a project that you assist on." The idea of ‘good experience’ is not only entirely relative, but most of the time, categorically incorrect.

There are a variety of ways that students can gain different experiences and skills, and how relevant those skills and experiences are to positions or careers they are interested in, is entirely relative. This just means that there are more options out there than you might be aware of.

If you are interested in more structured experiences like internships or paid positions, your professors are a some of the best resources.

“Get internships if you can, if you can’t, get connected with professionals in the field through your professors, through LinkedIn, and just reach out,” Tylicki said.

While it may seem daunting to some, your professors and department heads are the best starting place. Your professors may not only have previously worked in the industry you are interested in, but they will know people who are currently working in that industry or other people they could direct you to.

“Your network really is everything, who you know really matters,” Tylicki added, emphasizing not to “be afraid to tell people what you’re interested in, don’t be afraid to put yourself out there.”

Intention really does matter, and if you express a desire for something and show that you are intentional about achieving that goal, the people you talk to will see that and do their part to help you achieve that goal.

How my Professional Writing Classes Prepared me for an Internship

By Lainey Hardiman

Four years ago, I never imagine I would graduate with a degree in English, let alone anything to do with writing. I wanted to be a high school math teacher and inspire students to love math. Writing wasn’t supposed to be my thing—until I found Professional Writing.

Like you’ll read throughout this magazine, someone with a Professional Writing degree can achieve more than just writing. Students can choose a career in digital design, coding, social media, marketing, publishing, editing, etc.—there isn’t a limit to what you can do with a degree like this.

GirlSpring (https://www.girlspring.com/)

This semester, I interned with the non-profit organization GirlSpring, an online magazine curated by teen girls, for teen girls. I wasn’t just writing copy; it was an editorial internship where I read, edited, and published articles into the organization’s online magazine.

But it wasn’t about an individual article. When editing each one, I constantly referenced the overall design of the magazine: the colors, the layout, the headings, and the images. It was more about the overall; each one had to be cohesive with the whole magazine.

Developing Digital Documents and Digital Publishing are two professional writing courses offered at UAB that I took and loved. Developing Digital Documents introduces students to technologies like Adobe’s Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop. Each heavily used in the design world and very helpful for any college student.

Digital Publishing introduces students more to the digital world and provides a basis for how websites are built and designed. It introduces students to Adobe Dreamweaver, HTML, CSS, and WordPress. Coding is a big part of this course, and it is by far my favorite thing I have learned.

In each class, there are specific rules for everything. We stress contrast, repetition, alignment, and proximity, or how we like to call it, “CRAP.” Of course, my mathematical brain loved the rules and how each perfectly formulated line of code or combination of design elements and text joined to create a seamless, overall design. All these choices combine to help viewers engage with and read the page or document we design and write.

At GirlSpring, I utilized CRAP every time I edited an article; I even coded a few links in the captions of images. My Professional Writing classes taught me how to write concisely, and I am constantly editing for clear and concise language in articles to ease readability. Subheadings have become my best friend over the semester because of how much they improve readability and overall flow of the document.

I couldn’t tell you how many times I would preview one article and then change bullet points or numbered lists just to allow for easier eye movement down the page. Just like we learned in the classes, I think about how a viewer would experience each article. How would they receive the information? Would it be engaging enough to keep them on the page and keep reading?

According to those questions, the decisions I make about the text and design stem from Developing Digital Documents and Digital Publishing. Without these two classes I wouldn’t have started my internship with a leg-up in navigating and utilizing WordPress or recognized how valuable simple design changes are to a website or magazine.

The knowledge I had regarding the digital space before these classes was terrifyingly close to nothing. I gained the confidence I needed to succeed in my digital and remote internship from my experience in both Developing Digital Documents and Digital Publishing. Without them, I don’t know what I would’ve done.

Random Job Experience at Random Logic Games

By William McCormick

screenshot of random logic games apps — Random Logic Games apps

It is important for all college students to find an internship or job that they feel is relevant to their major. These can be important in helping someone find what they want to do with their degree post-graduation.

This is especially true for English majors, given how vague the career options for English majors can be and how varied the skills possessed by them tend to be. That is why in September of 2016, I applied for and accepted an internship with a local mobile game development company: Random Logic Games.

Random Logic Games is a game development company based in Birmingham, Alabama and founded by alumni of UAB. One of its alumni is even a former English major. Their games are, as the name implies, mostly logic and thought-based.

But why would the field of software/game development need English majors, and what could English majors really contribute to this field? At the time, reaching out to them for an internship seemed a bit odd and I did not believe I could really have a place at something even vaguely tech-related.

My main responsibility during this internship was writing up the descriptions of apps they published in the App Store or Google Play Store, and testing out the apps in question. There were also a few times when I was instructed to write and schedule posts for social media, or compile data for usage in one of the company’s apps.

This is a good example of what English majors could expect to be doing when coming into the software development field, unless they have some other form of experience that may be deemed more useful. Much of it fell into the realm of marketing, a field that many professional writers may find themselves thrust into.

This internship served as a good look into what English majors can contribute to the tech field. While they may lack the technical skills possessed by those who studied or specialize in the field, they can contribute their writing and reading skills to help those in the tech or software industries promote or improve their products. More English students should seek out these types of internships so as to get an idea of what they can do after graduation.

My Role as a Social Media Intern

By Erica Turner

screenshot of the UAB Twitter page — Screenshot of UAB’s Twitter page

During the summer leading into my senior year at UAB, I decided to pursue an internship within the Professional Writing career field. I chose to apply for a social media internship posted by UAB’s University Relations for the fall semester. University Relations manages and creates content for the UAB website, UAB News, GreenMail, UAB Reporter, and UAB’s social media platforms. Luckily, I was given the opportunity to partake in this internship. Continue reading “My Role as a Social Media Intern”

Providing Peace of Mind

By Michelle Love

University Writing Center sign — The UWC, located in Sterne Library

As a student’s academic career progresses, the amount of research papers and related stress follows suit. It does not help that the list of rules when writing research papers seems to always be changing.

Thanks to UAB’s University Writing Center (located on the first floor of the Mervyn Sterne Library), students no longer have to feel alone.

How We Help You

By using face to face and online counseling, the University Writing Center helps students create polished papers to get the best grade possible and in the process teaches students helpful writing tips that will improve their overall performance.

UAB professor Jaclyn Wells is the Director of the writing center and also one of the many tutors offering guidance. “We have three types of folks [offering services]. We have adjunct instructors from the English department, we have grad students from the English department, and we have undergraduate students that serve as friendly greeters when people come in.”

No One Left Behind

While some younger students may believe they do not qualify for the center’s resources, Dr. Wells wants them to know that is simply not true. She said the center is open to students of all levels, whether freshmen or graduate students, and all majors. Students are also encouraged to bring in their papers no matter what stage the assignment is in.

“Some people have this idea that they can’t come to the writing center until their paper is finished, and that’s not true. We encourage people to come to the writing center during any stage of their paper writing. They can come in with an idea or they can come in in the middle. It really does not matter. We just want to help you.”

Providing Opportunities

Recently, the UWC has started offering an internship program in coordination with UAB’s internship director Cynthia Ryan. “If students want to intern here they have to take the Tutoring Writing class and then they can follow up with Dr. Ryan.”

Consultations are available by appointment and Dr. Wells wants any students skeptical of visiting the writing center to know that there’s nothing to be ashamed or afraid of.

“Everybody needs feedback on writing,” she said. “It’s not just a beginner thing. And by coming to the writing center, you’re doing what good writers do. Good writers get feedback, good writers revise. So when you come here you’re already doing what a good writer does just by virtue of coming here.”

Why It Is Important

As a Professional Writing major and aspiring writer, I feel that the University Writing Center is more than just a valuable asset to a young writer’s career: it should be considered a requirement.

It’s easy for students to feel safe with their writing style while they’re still enrolled in school and believe they don’t need help polishing their composition. But as someone who has taken the plunge into the professional writing world outside of an academic setting, I can say that going to the writing center is vital to creating a more sophisticated writing style.

The UWC staff will teach you the do’s and don’t’s of being a writer, and can help you grow a thicker skin when it comes to taking constructive criticism. I believe everyone should visit the writing center, if not for the sake of your college writing, then for any future job prospects you may have after graduation.

Good Grit Magazine: Opportunity on the Rise

The Good Grit office

By Peyton Chandler

The experience gained from internships and fieldwork is proving more and more valuable in our professional world full of high expectations and an unapologetic, competitive nature. For many, these “real world” business opportunities can be hard to come by.

However, Birmingham’s English and Professional Writing students have more access to quality work experience than they may realize. Nestled in UAB’s own backyard on 2nd Ave. N, Good Grit Magazine is a young, promising publication focused on illustrating the true character of the new south. Good Grit manifests its vision through the creation of original print and digital content.

I was fortunate enough to work at Good Grit as an editorial intern during the time of its onset in the summer of 2015, and the following fall semester as its Digital Managing Editor. Since the summer—in less than a year’s time—the magazine has seen tremendous growth: it’s now available on shelves in six states throughout the south and southeast.

Throughout my time at Good Grit, I gained valuable work experience in a sometimes hectic, but always rewarding environment. My bosses and coworkers provided me opportunities in which to utilize my strengths and improve upon my weaknesses, all while helping the magazine grow and develop.

This upcoming summer, Good Grit hopes to continue its relationship with ambitious, motivated students looking for quality experience at a company on the rise. The magazine is searching for a potential full-time digital editor to assist with the success of its website and various web outlets. Additionally, this summer Good Grit is offering editorial internships, event planning internships, art internships and web/social media internships for current and graduated students.

I strongly encourage UAB students to take advantage of these opportunities at one of Birmingham’s most promising young companies—one that molds inexperience into professionalism.

Internships & Workplace Learning Experiences

BY Shelby Morris

While college is supposed to prepare someone for the real world, workplace-learning experience comes from internships. College may prepare someone for what he or she is going to do, but internships teach someone how to act and react in a work environment. Many new relation-ships can be formed while interning, whether with employees, bosses, or the internship coordinator at UAB. Whether paid or unpaid, a student is sure to learn a lot from the experience gained through an internship.

There are many internship opportunities available around UAB and in Birmingham. English majors and minors, especially students with professional writing concentrations, have many opportunities to intern at places where their major will be of use. There are graduate and undergraduate internship opportunities within the UAB English department, including: assisting the editors of PMS poemmemoirstudy and Birmingham Poetry Review. Working as a research assistant for an English professor is also an option to be considered.

There are even writing opportunities available on campus in the medical field through the UAB research labs. These are just some of the on campus internship options for English majors or minors. There are also plenty of internships available as writers for local newspapers or corporations off campus. The Birmingham News has paid internships during the summer. There are also many internship opportunities exclusively for women. The Association for Women in Sports Media tries to further the careers of women in sports by placing female college students interested in sports media careers in paid internships.

While there are internships available for college students, there are even more available for young professionals after graduation. If one is interested in writing for magazines, then there are companies in Birmingham who publish well-known magazines. Southern Living and Coastal Living are two well-known magazines whose headquarters are in Birmingham. They offer year-long paid internships to people who have bachelor degrees. Experience like this is a huge step toward being employed by a successful magazine corporation. This experience can help land a student a good job outside of the magazine industry since Southern Living and Coastal Living are two of the most successful magazines in the south. Listing them under internship experience will really boost a résumé.

If interested in interning, one must first meet several requirements: the student must be enrolled full-time as an English major or minor at UAB and must be classified as a junior. One must also be able to work the required number of hours (10-15) to fulfill commitments to the employer. Additionally, the student must have a minimum GPA of 3.0 for an off campus internship or on campus research internship and a 2.5 minimum GPA for a publications internship.

If awarded an internship, enrollment in EH 311 or EH 411 for the internship semester and supervision from the internship coordinator, Dr. Cynthia Ryan, is required. All the requirements of either of those courses must be met in order to successfully complete an internship. All this information can be found on the UAB College of Arts and Sciences web-site under Internships in English.

Scheduling an appointment with Dr. Ryan at the beginning of the semester prior to the internship semester begins this process. Following that meeting, fill out the Internship Application Form online and stay in contact with Dr. Ryan. Make sure to enroll in the required course as well. Dr. Ryan works repeatedly with certain internship organizations and she aims to establish connections for students that best suit their interests and skill sets, placing them in a fitting work environment. She has helped a student in professional writing with an interest in health care work as an intern for UAB Health Care Marketing; she also connected a student pursuing museum studies to an internship cataloging and curating an exhibit for the Reynolds Historical Library atop Lister Hill Library. Numerous stories like these are the product of her work. She even helped a student with plans for a master’s degree in library and information sciences work in the Birmingham Public Library archives, where she wrote a successful grant for the digitization of an African American newspaper published in Alabama. If an internship is needed, Dr. Cynthia Ryan is the woman who can match students up to the internship that best suits their academic and career pursuits.

Internships can be found through an online search, but it is best to discuss these with an advisor and then the intern-ship coordinator. Completing an internship provides excellent experience to include on a résumé, networking skills and connections, and possibly job opportunities post-graduation. College is all about networking, so what better way to do that than through interning? Whether it is a paid internship or one that gives academic credit, they help build confidence in a writer’s skill and give one experience in a workplace environment.

Questions concerning available internships should be directed to Dr. Cynthia at cynryan@uab.edu.