Ashley McCaffrey: From Internship to Dream Job

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Ashley McCaffrey

FULTON, MO (12/19/2013)(readMedia)-- For William Woods University senior Ashley McCaffrey, a summer internship paved the way to her dream job. McCaffrey, who is from Olathe, Kan., spent her summer as a graphic design intern for a women's professional soccer team, FC Kansas City.

A graphic design and business administration major and WWU soccer player, McCaffrey always knew she wanted to merge her interests. This internship, she explained, help set her mind on working in the soccer industry after her May graduation.

"My passions are soccer and graphic design, and combining those would be my dream," she said.

While working in Kansas City, she designed several items for the team, including programs, sales decks for potential sponsors, tickets, information brochures, schedules and pocket schedules. She was even given the opportunity to pick the team's font of the year, which goes on all of its marketing and branding items.

McCaffrey also completed projects for Missouri Comets, the men's professional indoor soccer team. With both teams, she assisted in game day activities such as setting up and tearing down the field, selling tickets, promoting sponsors and working in the press box. She even helped the women's team set up for an autograph session.

Not only did she get to live a graphic designer's dream, she learned lessons she can take with her anywhere. This experience gave her confidence in her skills and ability as a designer. She also applied her classroom skills to real-life situations, a necessity for successful designers.

This job started as a big risk for McCaffrey. She wasn't sure whether the job would work out or benefit her in any way.

"It was something I really wanted to do, so I took the chance and it turned out to be better than I could ever have asked for," she said.

Today, internships are becoming more and more prominent in a college student's life. A survey from Forbes suggests that students who interned with a company have a 70 percent chance of being hired by that company. In addition, more than half of companies polled stated they expected to hire more interns this year than last year.

When it comes to finding a dream job, McCaffrey believes internships are the best way to go. Her advice? "Don't get discouraged. I applied for several and wasn't successful. Just keep applying to different places and eventually you will find one that works out."

It has been said that if you find a job that you love, you'll never work a day in your life. To those looking for their dream job, McCaffrey recommends to "think about the things you're passionate about."