By: Renee Radzom, DePaul University graduate, former University Internship Program (UIP) assistant

DePaul Diaries is a day-in-the-life blog series written by DePaul students. The series unveils DePaulians’ experiences as interns in their field of choice. Students share their honest thoughts about their experiences, what they learned as an intern and advice for students who are interested in the same field.

Have you ever wondered who’s behind the scenes on all of those social media accounts for your favorite brands and companies? Have you ever wanted to be the one creating all the funny and captivating posts you see on your timeline? Well, James Breslin, a Digital Cinema and Business Marketing major had the opportunity to be a social media manager during his internship at Facets Multimedia.

James originally found out about the opportunity to work at Facets during his freshman and sophomore years at DePaul, but finally decided to apply on Handshake this year as a junior. James’ official role was Social Media/Marketing Intern, but he spent a lot of time running the companies’ Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr accounts. He gained valuable experience in the social media world, as he spent much of his time writing copy for the accounts and other advertising initiatives. James said this experience was crucial to honing his practical skills, since, “[he] was given a lot of freedom, allowing [him] to set his own goals and problem solve in ways that worked for [him].”

While James said he really enjoyed his experience as a Facets intern, he was initially hesitant to accept the position because it was unpaid. However, he said, “I felt as though I was getting a good experience out of it, especially working for a nonprofit, and so I never felt as though I was putting in less effort just because I was not getting paid.” James’ experience with Facets shows that while unpaid internships aren’t for everyone, if you can afford to, they are still just as worthwhile.

I felt as though I was getting a good experience out of it, especially working for a nonprofit…

Along with the skills he worked to develop through the internship, James also worked on his professional development through the UIP 250: You, Your Work and the World class. James really enjoyed the class, as it gave him perspective on the professional world and helped him identify and apply the skills from his internship into a professional environment. He also said that the biggest thing he took from the course was the ability to market himself; James said he learned how to do this through a class assignment where he had to create a portfolio of all of the materials he worked on over his DePaul career.

Lastly, James said that the biggest piece of advice he would offer to future interns would be to “have a very positive attitude while working, as it makes all the difference in the world.” He also recommended networking with as many people as possible during an internship so these new connections can help down the line with references/recommendations and other job opportunities.

Want to learn more about DePaul’s University Internship Program? Check it out, here, or send inquiries to UIP@depaul.edu. Need help finding an internship? Visit depaul.joinhandshake.com, or come into DePaul’s Career Center to meet with an advisor.