Getting a Foot in the Door : Internships provide a taste of a career and help many move from school to the real world of work.

For those interested in jump-starting a career--or getting a foot in the door in a hard-to-enter field--internships can be productive eye-openers.

Heather Petitt, a senior at CSUN, is holding down two internships--one as an on-campus public relations assistant preparing press releases, helping organize events and pitching stories to local media, and the other assisting press managers at NBC in Burbank.

“Without the internships, all I’d have is a B.A.,” she says. “Now I have a year of experience on my resume.”

In today’s tight job market, high school and college students--and even older adults bent on switching careers--are increasingly using internships to check out a field and gain valuable hands-on experience, said Sara Dulaney Gilbert, author of “Internships,” (Macmillan, 1995).

The opportunities are wide-ranging, from no-pay options to salaried positions in social services, government, health care, small businesses, sciences, communications, museums and charities.

Gilbert’s book lists more than 25,000 placements nationwide, while others also name thousands of internship sponsors. Interest in internships is growing--the National Society for Internships and Experiential Education, based in Raleigh, N.C., sees a 37% increase in the number of internships offered, compared to five years ago.

Some internships can be snapped up at the last minute, while others are highly competitive and require serious advance planning. For example, Petitt was lucky in landing her CSUN internship. She walked over to the public relations office in jeans and a sweat shirt after complaining to a college counselor about a disappointing internship at a Chamber of Commerce. She got the new position immediately.

Other internship processes can be complex and competitive. Elizabeth Stanley, administrator of the Directors Guild’s Producers Training program, based in Sherman Oaks, receives about 1,200 applications every year for eight to 12 spots that involve interns in feature film, pilot and television show production throughout Los Angeles. Intern candidates must be at least 21, take a challenging written test followed by other assessments of their interest and ability to solve problems and work with others.

Stanley said the two-year paid internships are almost a free ticket into the field. Graduates of the program are placed on second assistant director lists at the Directors Guild of America, making them eligible to work as production organizers in the industry.

Price Hicks, director of educational programs for the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in North Hollywood, receives about 1,000 applications for 28 positions that focus on everything from legal issues to syndication projects, all related to prime-time entertainment television. These full-time summer internships are designed for college students or recent graduates, run for eight weeks and pay $1,600.

“I would have killed for one of these,” says Hicks. “They serve as bridges into the career in an industry that’s very hard to get into unless you have a good internship.”

Many internships also are available with social service agencies and community centers. For example, Catholic Charities in Van Nuys places interns in a wide range of arenas, said Beverly Frank, intern coordinator for the organization’s counseling department.

Experts and interns recommend looking for internships that offer a true opportunity to learn the field and have direct contact with the work. They also suggest making sure there will be expert supervision, and a person with whom the intern can talk and ask questions. Even if the experience is unpaid, they recommend getting a contract that spells out what is expected and what will be given in return.

Internship books are useful resources because their listings are vast and just browsing through them can spark ideas. Most colleges post intern opportunities and some businesses advertise for interns in the classified section of newspapers or trade publications.

The bottom line for most interns is the valuable chance to get real-world experience and test-drive a career.

“This experience at CSUN has been wonderful,” said Petitt. “In class, the work you do is not real, but here, as an intern, it really matters.”

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WHERE AND WHEN

What: “Internships,” (Peterson’s, 1995), $28.95, profiles more than 35,000 opportunities in 1,700 programs nationwide.

Call: (800) 338-3282.

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What: “The National Directory of Internships,” (National Society for Internships and Experiential Education, 1994-95 edition), describes internships in 75 fields.

Call: (919) 787-3263.

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What: Catholic Charities’ information on unpaid internship opportunities.

Call: Lupe Macker, adult services, (213) 251-3480.

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What: Academy of Television Arts and Sciences internships. Applications due March 31.

Call: (818) 754-2830.

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What: Directors Guild Producer Training Plan. Applications due in September.