The NY Intern Project

I’ll never forget the day I found out that I had been hired for my first PR internship in New York City. For me, the opportunity was more than just a way to earn three college credits, but rather a chance to kick start my career in what I considered the PR capital of the world.

Like millions of students across the country, working in NYC is something I always wanted. And growing up only an hour from Manhattan, I knew I would get here sooner or later. But when you live hundreds of miles away, the Big Apple dream can often end up being just…a dream.

That’s why I was extremely excited when our agency, Affect Strategies, decided to team up with Strutta, an interactive promotions company, to launch The New York Intern Project, a contest designed to help us find our next summer intern.

For the contest, prospective interns who are dreaming about starting a career in public relations, marketing and social media are invited to submit creative video or photo entries to the contest website on why they’d make the ideal intern by April 8. The winner will be rewarded with a hands-on, three-month internship at Affect, a $5,000 salary and a housing stipend of up to $5,000 to live in NYC for the summer!

To help us choose the perfect candidate, we’ve enlisted the help of three industry judges, including Guy Kawasaki, acclaimed author and founder of Garage Technology Ventures and Alltop, Jessica Dickler, a jobs and career writer for CNNMoney, and Erica Swallow, assistant editor for social media news source Mashable.

The judges will choose three finalists from the top six entrants with the most votes. The three finalists will be flown to New York for in-person interviews for the final round of judging.

We’ve already received some fantastic entries, which you can check out and vote for here: http://nyinternproject.com/entries

Here are some of my favorite entries so far:

  • Tiffany Lan, the San Franciscan ‘Foodie’, Yelper, and Facebook addict
  • Marc Phillips, a self-proclaimed grammarian and observational humorist
  • Christina Ruperto, the motivated go-getter from Quinnipiac University (shout out to my alma mater!)

Know someone that would that would be perfect for this opportunity? Send them to www.nyinternproject.com and have them upload a photo or video onto the contest web site that exemplifies their desire and qualifications for the position.

Kaylen McNamara is an account executive at Affect Strategies, an award-winning public relations, marketing and social media agency located in NYC.

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