Internship Application

The CAJ has updated its internship program to provide a dynamic, project-based placement that allows successful candidates to provide both themselves and our organization with a tangible deliverable that can be used by both parties for years to come. This internship program aims to provide students with not just a place to fulfill their hours requirement for their degree/certification, but also develop soft skills needed in the workplace and an in-depth learning opportunity about the journalism industry from the career/profession perspective, helping them to better understand the journalism field in Canada.

Selected interns will:

• Work on a mutually selected project, with the expectation that a complete and polished item will be delivered at the end of the internship
• Join 3 committees to build their knowledge in the industry, one of which relating to the selected project
• Attend weekly staff meetings to understand the day-to-day operations and program management that takes place within the organization

All work is conducted remotely and, aside from scheduled meetings, hours are flexible. All internships will report to the Operations Manager but some may also report to directors of the board.

For their time and work, interns will receive:

• A $500 honorarium
• A free one-year CAJ membership, which provides access to all professional development and networking opportunities
• A CAJ membership card
• A guaranteed match with a mentor as part of the mentorship program

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis and only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

If this sounds like the kind of internship that fits your work style and goals, please continue on to the next sections of this page.

Aside from the usual demographic info (name, email, etc), we want to know about you. Who are you? What are you about? What kinds of lived experience(s) do you have? What is your knowledge background? Learning happens in many ways and journalists come from all walks of life. Our internship program reflects this by encouraging applicants from everywhere, not just journalism schools, to apply.

Project Proposal

What kind of project do you want to work on? What kind of deliverable do you think would be valuable to the CAJ? Though we’ve made some suggestions in the form below, we encourage you to also provide your own ideas, and we’ve given you a comment box to do so. You can select more than one, and if you are a successful candidate, we can work together to decide which will be the project you complete. When proposing a project, please keep in mind the hours needed to complete the project. Does it meet the requirement for your internship when you also factor in the 1-2 hours per week you’ll need for attending the necessary CAJ meetings? Most importantly, is the project something you’re passionate about? No one wants to work on a project that bores them. Tell us what excites you and let’s see if we can make a mutually beneficial project out of that.

Video Cover Letter

Filling a cover letter with things that AI can write makes no sense. We want to see a more dynamic version of you! So in no more than 3 minutes, tell us about yourself! What drives you? What gets you out of bed in the morning (besides your alarm)? Why are you pursuing journalism or working in student journalism while you pursue some other lofty goal? What challenges have you faced in life that led you to this point? What are you known for? We look forward to being entertained, regaled, brought to tears, or driving some other emotion in us that makes us want to choose you!

Resume

Sure, we want your standard resume, but make it skills-focused. What have you done in your past jobs/work? What skills will you bring to the project and our team? Is there some skill you have that we won’t find anywhere else? Will we want to find some way to keep your unique skill(s) around long after the internship is over, because we couldn’t live without it? How will we know about this amazing skill unless you tell us in your skills-based resume?

Writing Samples

The obvious is true: journalists are writers (mostly). But they’re also fact-finders, story tellers, and historians. Give us your three best writing samples that truly make you shine. These can be articles you’ve published or school assignments you’re most proud of.

Graphic/Visual Design Sample(s)

We live in a visual world, especially online, and young folks are developing graphic/visual design skills as early as grade school to keep up with this visual element of modern life. A project-based internship will include some graphic/visual elements and so we need to see your skills! Show us your best work! It doesn’t need to be published, it can be a casual endeavour from Canva for an invitation to your BFFs birthday, some elaborate Adobe Illustrator work of art for a major publication, or anything in between. We just need to see what you’re capable of. Please submit 1-3 samples.

Here’s where you upload and fill out everything we just told you about. Let us know if you run into any issues or have any questions: monique.durette@caj.ca