Sarah Sikora (B.A. 2018) Marketing Intern, Cosmetics and Fashion, New York
Sarah Sikora (B.A. 2018)
Marketing Intern, Cosmetics and Fashion, New York
It can be stressful not knowing what you’ll do after graduation. That’s why during the summer before her senior year Sarah Sikora got herself two amazing internships in New York City, positioning herself well for future jobs in public relations (PR) and marketing.
Sarah interned at a beauty PR firm writing ‘pitches’ for various cosmetic products and brands. Pitches are creative product descriptions, like what you see “on the back of a shampoo bottle,” says Sarah. She and her manager edited her pitches back and forth, and then sent them, along with product samples, to ‘influencers’, an industry term for people with large audiences—such as celebrities and YouTube vloggers. Sarah says “it was really fun” applying her English skills to write pitches with personality.
Also that summer Sarah interned with a fashion PR company and was “running clothing literally all over the city” for photo shoots at magazines like Vogue and Elle. She enjoyed how this work “was really fast paced” and how the interns were entrusted with significant responsibility. The best part about both internships, says Sarah, were the industry connections she made: “I met so many people that worked at so many different companies.”
How did Sarah land these New York City internships? Through an agency called Dream Careers. The agency placed Sarah in internships connected to her PR marketing interests; arranged for housing and metro cards; and helped her with her resume. About the whole experience, Sarah says, “It’s really, really worth it.” Once she got back to California, in fact, her internship background helped her secure a paid position at the cosmetics company Glossier in San Francisco.
The PR writing in New York was also key to Sarah building a professional portfolio. She saved the “piles” of cosmetics pitches that she wrote and has attached some to job applications. Employers, she says, can then “see what I’ve written, how I did it, and even the design and layout. . . . I have all that to show.”
Sarah received her B.A. in English (Creative Writing Track) in 2018. Although she started at CSUSB as pre-med, she eventually switched to English because, she says, “I love to read, I love to write.” She knew she didn’t want to be a teacher but was interested in PR and marketing, both viable English paths. With her English major, Sarah’s gotten “a lot of interviews.” She’s found that companies “want someone who’s intellectual,” who can read and write and “bring stuff to the table.”
Sarah’s advice for current English majors: “Get an internship.” Doing so will help you figure out what you want to do professionally. And “go outside the box” and consider the varied career possibilities with an English degree—not just teaching. As Sarah says, English “is a really inspiring major, and it opens up a lot of different doors.”