We stumbled upon Courtney Parham’s Brazen Careerist profile when conducting research on “How to create your own internship”. Our interest in the subject originated from a Wall Street Journal article that featured students who crafted internships to fit their interests. A google search led to one of Courtney’s blog posts concerning her internship experiences. Through reading the article we discovered that she created two of her internships!
When the idea of Intern2Incharge came to fruition we knew that we had to interview her. She not only created two of her internships, but used her internship experiences to start Young Blacks By the Bay, Renascence Magazine, and to start consulting for companies. She did this within two years of her last internship. You can too, if you think beyond the entry level!
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1. You’ve had 5 internships, two of which you created. It seems like creating your own internship is a new trend. How were you able to recognize and secure those opportunities?
My PR internship started in a similar way. I had been involved in a music video project for the 2008 election, and I was so excited about the end result that I immediately spread the word to my friends and even secured press in various media outlets. Naturally, I continued working with the music group as their publicist.
To summarize, people can create their own internships by stepping up to fulfill a need within organizations they care about. This also may help them identify to their career interests—in my case, I discovered that I enjoy marketing and creating buzz!
2. When you first started interning, were you already envisioning self-employment or becoming an entrepreneur one day?
No, not really. I was very motivated in college, but I didn’t have that much foresight! When I first started interning as a Leadership Programs Intern and Peer Advisor at University of San Francisco, I knew that I would gain leadership skills and management experience that would greatly benefit me in any career. That internship also guided me in selected future employment opportunities. Basically, one of the most valuable aspects of participating in an internship is that it helps people to determine what they want to do in their career by engaging in hands-on experience.
My five internships, especially those that involved that leadership and management, gave me the confidence to step up to leadership roles and start Young Blacks of the Bay, Renascence Magazine, and being my own boss as a consultant. Furthermore, interning with organizations related to my passion for social change reinforced that I wanted to continue making a positive impact on my community in the future.
4.You wrote a great advice article for Ms. Career Girl last year concerning the difficulty of the job search even with an impressive resume. How did the tough job market influence your entrepreneurial pursuits?
That’s a great question. The job market heavily influenced my entrepreneurial endeavors. In a terrible economy where I did not find people handing me employment opportunities, it encouraged me to be a self-starter and grow my own opportunities, especially since my internships gave me the skills to do so.
5. What advice do you have to help students/interns think beyond the entry-level while interning?
I think there are a couple strategies to think beyond entry-level. First, it’s extremely important to engage in a variety of experiences, working or not. For instance, beyond my internships, I had diverse bunch of jobs throughout high school and college. Also, despite financial limitations, I made it a priority to study abroad (I did it twice) in order to learn more about other cultures than a textbook could ever teach me. So, I always stress that young people should take advantage of the offerings on their college campus and in the community such as study abroad, campus clubs/organizations, volunteering, and just pursuing one’s interests in spite of what critics may say.
Moreover, to accomplish anything, it’s crucial to find mentors and surround yourself with positive people. I probably would not have been able to follow through on any of my entrepreneurial endeavors without the advice and unconditional support of my parents, family, and friends.
Finally, as Hill Harper wrote in his book Letters to a Young Sister, “Dream BIG”. He said that like an architect, sketch out all your dreams as if there are no limitations on what is possible. Then pursue those dreams with vigor and courage.
Many of the greatest innovators and leaders in the world have emphasized two things as the keys to success: being yourself and believing in yourself. If anyone—particularly students or interns—embraces those ideals, I believe that the world is their oyster.
