If you're looking to land worthwhile experience and sample what may be your dream job, be aggressive and contact the agency's manager directly to ask for a short-term job shadowing opportunity. For example, if you're looking to get into the hospitality field, you can ask a hotel convention and special events department, an independent restaurateur or the city's parks and recreation department. Do some research and request to speak directly to the manager or director in the position. Expressing your desire to monitor her day-to-day procedures likely will impress and flatter her and serve as the foot-in-the-door that can lead to other opportunities like a full-time internship, part-time job or career employment.
Every city has some event, program or function for which you can request to serve as a volunteer, no matter if it's directly related to your major or not. Often, volunteer ventures teach skills such as teamwork, patience, administrative skills, customer service and creativity. Community-based events and volunteer hours look good on your résumé and will help you build active skills to show a range of experience. If you are a physical-therapy major, partner with an event planner for a fitness event. If you're focusing on getting a pharmacy degree, you might spend the weekend at the local drug store's elderly appreciation day giving out free services. Even someone who's majoring in English can blow up balloons at the local safety fair for young kids in the neighborhood.
Finding professional internships is as simple as asking the right person or company. For organized internship programs, you often will need to apply through the school internship office, or you can find them online. But if you are serious about landing an internship to build much-needed experience, target businesses that are doing what you want to do and simply ask. Depending on the demand for one company, you may need to consider smaller businesses or learn from independent contractors like entrepreneurs, new businesses or businesses looking to build a new department or open a new location. Instead of looking to work for a large agency, you should ask small videography companies to fulfill broadcast and public relations tasks. If law is your area of study, seek out a young lawyer who has recently opened a practice. The key to getting the opportunities is being the early bird by applying and asking for a chance to learn with enough advance time for companies to prepare for the help.