Professionalism can go both ways...

It seems that I am the only 4th year PR student at The University of Georgia not graduating in May. So, while my peers have begun to look for permanent jobs, I am embroiled in the cut throat internship competition one more time.

I have been applying to art museums, hoping to put my PR and art history knowledge to good use. Spending a summer surrounded by artwork while honing my PR craft, what could be more exciting? I have applied to seven museums across the country, and I have only heard back from two. I have sent numerous follow-up emails and made countless follow-up calls just to confirm that they have at least received my information, and still only two responses. To get just those two responses I had to contact those museums at least twice.

The point of my long introduction? I understand that I may not be what The Art Institute of Chicago is looking for in a summer PR intern, but can't they at least drop me a line and tell me that they received my application, cover letter, resume and letter of recommendation that I so carefully crafted and sent to them? Telling me no won't hurt my feelings, but to just keep a girl in constant waiting is ridiculous! Especially after I have followed all of the professional recommendations regarding follow-up inquiries.

My career counselor sent an email regarding an internship with a certain Atlanta area restaurant group. Excited by the opportunity, I immediately sent a cover letter and my resume via email to the HR person as requested. Two days later I sent a follow-up email to confirm that they had received my information. No response. I called and left a message. No response. I sent another email. No response. A word of advice to employers, just tell me no!

After not hearing back after taking all of the appropriate steps I began to freak out. I was constantly reading and re-reading my cover letters and resume to make sure that there was not some glaring mistake that I wasn't seeing. I began having everyone around me read the stuff too, and I'm pretty sure I drove my roommates, parents and boyfriend crazy. They all confirmed that my information looked great, so then am I just a big PR dud? Is everyone else more qualified then me? I am never going to get an internship or a job, and I am going to live in a box! Okay, I'm being really dramatic, but there is something to be said for reciprocation of professionalism.

We students take the steps to be professional, yes we take these steps because we want the job, but I still feel like the same courtesy could be extended to internship applicants. Interestingly enough, the two museums that responded to my follow-up emails apologized for not responding sooner, and I have interviews this week. I'll keep you posted.

This link will take you to an article "How to Follow-up After Applying Online." I found it really helpful.
http://http://www.collegerecruiter.com/pages/articles/article250.php
This link will take you to "First Send a Resume, Then Follow Up." The article outlines how to follow up after you've sent a hard copy.
http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/resume/First_Send_a_Resume_Then_Follow_Up__2003710-1649.html?subtopic=Resume+Basics