Internships

Philip Merrill College of Journalism students regularly land school-year, summer and winter internships at prestigious media outlets, and they get extensive career support to find just the right internship. 

Are you a current student? Learn more about your internship requirements

Where Students Have Interned

Students land internships in our local area across Maryland and Washington, D.C., and across the country: 

Student Support to Find Internships

While Merrill College doesn’t directly place you in an internship, it helps in many ways: 

• Our active student listserv for opportunities. The internship director regularly sends out listings of opportunities for journalism majors to consider — internships, jobs, scholarships and more. Many of the internships are eligible for JOUR 396. Delete these messages at your peril.
• Posts about jobs and internships. Join Twitter/X and follow @merrillcollege and @MerrillWorx.
  Follow Merrill College on Facebook for posts about journalism jobs.
• Fall Internship and Job Fair. Held each October, it is attended by dozens of employers from all types of media, large and small. Some are looking for interns, others for entry-level employees. Even if you don’t plan to seek an internship in the spring semester, you should still go — you will meet employers and learn a lot about the industry. These employers come to campus to meet you — it can’t get any easier than that. Dress as you would for a job interview and bring a dozen or so copies of your resume.
• On-campus interviews. Some employers come to campus — especially in the fall — to interview prospective interns and employees one on one, separate from the career fair. Students apply for interview slots. Information on these interviews is shared by the internship director on the listserv.
• Journalism bulletin boards. Great to peruse while waiting for class. Fliers and other documents about internships and scholarships are posted there. See especially the two boards in the waiting room of 1100 Knight Hall, as well as the first-floor bulletin board closest to that office.

You can also:

• Search the web yourself! Many students locate their own internships this way. Try this: plug in the name of the news organization and the word “intern” into Google. That will often pull up application information.
• Ask your peers! Many have had internships and can pass along tips and contacts.

Our Annual Career Fair 

The Philip Merrill College of Journalism's annual Career Fair helps hundreds of journalism students land fall, spring and summer internships as well as job prospects. 

Why is it so successful?

• Attracts dozens of recruiters and media professionals. Media organizations include local and national broadcast organizations, general interest news outlets, trade and business publications, and more. Representatives from intelligence, government and sports organizations also attend.
• On-hand Career Center representative. A representative from the university’s Career Center is usually on hand as well to offer advice and resume tips.

Are you a recruiter?
This event is held in the journalism building, Knight Hall. Please email Karen Denny (kdenny12@umd.edu) with any questions or to express interest.

Get a Scholarship For Your Internship

The Philip Merrill College of Journalism offers several scholarships for interns. Read about the scholarships below.