In high school or college, journalists can begin making plans and doing things that will make their entry into the professional world world much smoother. The secret is no secret at all, but simply to start working and learning — now.

Everybody knows that journalism has writers. What everybody doesn’t know is that, besides writers, newspapers are filled with amazing (and unusual) people who do all sorts of other.

At the 1997 National Writers’ Workshop in Wilmington, Steve Twomey said that an anecdote is great under only two circumstances. First, if it is exactly right, which too often is not the case, and second, if you can segue into the story quickly and without the ever-popular ”John Doe is typical of ….”

Take advantage of interview days arranged by your journalism department or career services office. In some law and business schools, students have to bid for interviews, “spending” points just to get in to see top recruiters. J-schools make things easier than that, so take advantage of these chances.

Interviewing is not as critical in the internship chase as it is in the job hunt, but get as many as you can. One good interview can put you ahead of the pack and every interview is good practice for the inevitable job interviews in your future.