Are you looking for a way to practice your editing skills and get paid to do it? Look no further than the Sigma Tau Delta journals internship. I worked as one of two interns on Sigma Tau Delta’s journals, The Sigma Tau Delta Review and The Sigma Tau Delta Rectangle  May 2016 through January 2017. It was an amazing opportunity that allowed me to practice the skills I want to develop as an editor: reading submissions, copy editing, proofreading, and designing layout. I enjoyed this internship and I think you will too! Here’s why you should apply for the internship.

1. You get experience working and editing remotely. 

Many editors and writers who work as freelancers have to learn how to work remotely and communicate through email, texting, and Skype. This can take some adjusting if you’re used to working in an office or on a campus where you can just go talk face-to-face with the people you’re working with. This internship provides over six months of experience to develop your skills of communicating with other professionals through the internet. 

2. You work with the journals throughout several stages of the editorial process.

Maybe you’ve edited articles for your campus literary magazine, but you haven’t designed an entire project on InDesign. Maybe you’ve worked on InDesign before, but you haven’t ever gotten to read submissions and help narrow it down to the selected pieces. This internship gives you experience in all of those aspects of editing, which means you’re learning how to do new things, or you’re practicing processes you already have some experience in. Real-world experience is something that you can’t get in the classroom, but an internship like this allows you to practice these skills in a friendly and helpful environment—if you have questions, the managing editor is ready to help, and you’ll learn helpful tips from the other intern as well!

3. You learn how to pace yourself to meet deadlines. 

This internship is spread out from April to January, but each stage of the publishing process has deadlines you have to meet. The work comes in chunks—reading submissions for a few weeks, copy editing selections, fixing citations and quotes on critical essays, and designing layout. You have to be able to prioritize the internship work during those weeks when you need to meet deadlines. It’s hard, especially when you’re balancing other internships, jobs, schoolwork, and extracurriculars. However, learning to work toward deadlines and getting experience in the types of setbacks you might run into at various stages in the publishing process is worth it! 

4. You get to glance beyond your campus chapter of Sigma Tau Delta to the vast network of creative minds submitting pieces. 

I was the president of my campus chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, and while I was involved in our campus activities, I hadn’t been involved in anything Sigma Tau Delta-related beyond my campus. This internship gave me the opportunity to work with others in the Sigma Tau Delta network, like the other intern and our managing editor. I also got to read submissions from Sigma Tau Delta members from all over. It was beneficial getting to connect with members outside my own campus and participating in Sigma Tau Delta’s journals.

5. It looks good on your resume.

This internship looks amazing on your resume! It spans more months than a typical semester or summer-long internship, which looks impressive because it shows you were able to commit to a more long-term project. It also indicates that you gained experience in several aspects of editing, which means you’re versatile, flexible, and willing to learn new things.

6. It pays $1,500.

That’s right, it’s a paid internship in the publishing industry! That’s incredible. What’s more incredible is that the pay is more than most paid internships in the publishing industry, and you don’t even have to go into an office everyday—you can do this internship in your pajamas with a mug of hot chocolate. The generous payment for this internship makes it one of the most worthwhile experiences I’ve had so far as I start my career in editing.

7. It’s fun. 

I loved reading all of the creative nonfiction essays, fiction, poetry, and yes, even critical essays from Sigma Tau Delta members. Some of it was really good and some of it wasn’t great, but it was enjoyable. I also loved copy editing and proofreading the selected pieces, and working on layout was challenging but enjoyable. If you like reading a creative and academic writing, if you get excited about finding a comma that doesn’t belong in the middle of a sentence, if you feel satisfied after getting the spacing on a poem right, you’ll love this internship, too.

So, what are you waiting for? Starting drafting your cover letter and tighten up your resume because applications are due March 16.

A version of this post was previously published on Sigma Tau Delta’s society blog, WORDY by Nature.