7 Reasons You Should Apply for Sigma Tau Delta’s Journal Internship

I worked as one of two interns on Sigma Tau Delta’s journals, The Sigma Tau Delta Review and The Sigma Tau Delta Rectangle from May 2016 through January 2017. It was an amazing opportunity that allowed me to practice the skills I want to develop as an editor: reading submissions, copy editing, proofreading, and designing layout. I enjoyed this internship and I think you will too! Here’s why you should apply for the journal internship.

1) Gain Experience Working and Editing Remotely

Many freelance editors and writers must learn how to work remotely and communicate through email, text messages, and Skype. This can take some adjusting if you’re used to working in an office or on a campus where you can talk face-to-face with people. This internship provides over six months of experience to develop your telecommunication skills.

2) Learn Multiple Stages of the Editorial Process

Maybe you’ve edited articles for your campus literary magazine, but you haven’t designed an entire project using InDesign. Maybe you’ve worked with InDesign before, but you’ve never read submissions and helped with the selection process. This internship gives you experience in all of those things, which means you’re learning how to do new things, or you’re practicing things you already have some experience in. Real-world experience is something you can’t gain in the classroom, but an internship like this allows you to practice these skills in a friendly and helpful environment—if you have questions, the managing editor is ready to help, and you’ll learn helpful tips from your fellow intern as well!

3) Learn to Pace Yourself and Meet Deadlines

This internship is spread out from April through December, but each stage of the publishing process has deadlines you must meet. The work comes in chunks—reading submissions for a few weeks, copy editing selections, fixing citations and quotes on critical essays, and designing layout. You must be able to prioritize the internship work to meet deadlines. It’s hard, especially when you’re balancing other internships, jobs, schoolwork, and extracurricular activities. However, learning to manage deadlines and possible setbacks during various stages of the publishing process is worth it!

4) Broaden your Sigma Tau Delta Network

Although I’m involved in our campus activities, I hadn’t been involved in anything Sigma Tau Delta-related beyond my campus. This internship gave me the opportunity to work with others in the Sigma Tau Delta network, like the other intern and our managing editor. I also read submissions from Sigma Tau Delta members from across the Society. Connecting with members outside my own campus and participating in Sigma Tau Delta’s journals both were such beneficial experiences.

5) Beef up your Résumé

This internship looks amazing on your résumé! It spans more months than a typical semester- or summer-long internship, which looks impressive because it shows you were able to commit to a long-term project. It also indicates you gained experience in several aspects of editing, which means you’re versatile, flexible, and willing to learn new things.

6) Money, Money, Money!

It pays $1,500. That’s right, it’s a paid internship in the publishing industry! That’s incredible. What’s more incredible is that the pay is more than most paid internships in the publishing industry, and you don’t even have to go into an office every day—you can do this internship in your pajamas. The generous payment for this internship makes it one of the most worthwhile experiences I’ve had so far as I begin my career in editing.

7) The Journal Internship Is Fun

I loved reading all of the creative non-fiction essays, fiction, poetry, and yes, even critical essays from Sigma Tau Delta members. Some of it was really good and some of it wasn’t great, but it was enjoyable. I also loved copy editing and proofreading the selected pieces, and working on layout was challenging but enjoyable. If you like reading creative and academic writing, if finding a misplaced comma excites you, if perfecting the formatting of a poem leaves you satisfied, you’ll love this internship.

So, what are you waiting for? Start drafting your cover letter and tighten up your résumé because applications are due March 20.

Resources

Sigma Tau Delta Journals
Journal Internship Description and How to Apply

Carolina VonKampen
Sigma Tau Delta Journal Internship Recipient, 2016
Rho Omicron Chapter, Chapter President
Concordia University, Nebraska, Seward, NE