Everyone says it and I promise it’s true– connections are the key. But more importantly, it’s about being open to opportunity, observant, and resourceful. You most likely have more professional connections than you realize. I landed my internship at Sparkling Soirees, Orange County event company, from simply being open to any opportunity that came my way.

Sparkling Soirees Logo

In September 2018, I saw a Facebook notification pop up on my phone and immediately recognized the name of the woman who posted. Within seconds I clicked on it and saw a recent Chapman alum who happened to have been in the same sorority as I had just launched her own company and was offering an opportunity to intern with her. Minutes later,  I reached out to her expressing interest in the position and then followed up with an email including my resume. A week later I interviewed with her and got the job! While getting an internship or job is not always as quick and simple as this, it is always beneficial to be aware and observant of potential opportunities that could pop up at any moment.

As an Assistant Event Coordinator, I did a variety of things ranging from working weddings to writing blog posts and brainstorming marketing strategies. On a weekly basis, I was tasked with coming up with creative and engaging concepts to write about. Additionally, I would have marketing meetings with my boss to discuss possible marketing strategies to brand and further grow her company. We accomplished this through different types of outreach on social media and on her website. However, my favorite aspect of the job was getting to be a part of people’s special days.

Event Invite Online Banner

Working weddings was one of the most educational, challenging, and exciting aspects of the internship. This fits into my passion perfectly as I was pursuing a career in event coordination. After a few months interning with the company, I was trusted to take on a larger task- assisting in the planning of their first-ever bridal show. This entailed months of planning, research, outreach, branding, and more planning. To watch this event come alive after months of it just being a concept was one of the most fulfilling moments of my internship. I got to see my direct work and effort pay off during this largely successful event while also helping grow the company.

Sample table setting for an event

SCC, COM, and GWC are all majors you can take in a lot of different paths depending on where your interest lies. I found through involvement with my sorority that I had a talent for event coordination. I chose to cater to every professional and academic endeavor to this focus. You can make your major what you want it to be whether that is taking it in a marketing, business, public relations, graphic design- or like me event coordination- direction. As a Strategic and Corporate Communication major, I felt my internship really pulled on the strategic communication aspect the most. When helping my boss grow her company I knew how and when to be strategic with certain marketing strategies (blog posting, branding, social media) that would communicate with potential vendors or clients.  

As I set out on my job search this January, I knew I had a clear idea of what I wanted to pursue. After months of application after application and interview after interview, I landed a job with a company called, WeWork, as a Community Associate. After receiving the job offer, I asked them what drew them to interview me in the first place. They said while I was clear about event coordination being my passion I showed diversity in my skill set on my resume through my differing professional experience. The role I will be stepping into this June requires someone who can pull from all areas of expertise to multi-task in their performance. Having had an internship in wedding coordination, corporate development, and a customer service heavy job, this made me the well-rounded candidate they needed. While I ended up landing a job in a different field the professional work experience I got through this internship is what helped me get the job.