31-Year-Old Accepts Literary Agent Role After Unpaid Internship and 80 Networking Calls

Jackie Garcia-Morales resigned from her full-time position as a publishing associate in April 2025. A headline shortly afterward announced that her former company was closing. She accepted an unpaid internship at a literary agency in the book-publishing sector.

At the time she began the internship, she was 31 years old and the oldest intern in the office. While serving as an intern, Garcia-Morales supported herself through freelance gigs and seasonal jobs. She contacted 145 people working in roles she aspired to and completed more than 80 networking calls over approximately two months.

By the final portion of her internship in 2026, she received multiple job offers without submitting formal applications. She accepted a position as a literary agent with a team she described as nurturing and high-performing. Garcia-Morales stated that people were applying to hundreds of roles without hearing back during her job search.

She said the traditional hiring framework was broken and that ghost jobs were on the rise. She said she used her intern status to lead outreach and that people were interested in her background and unusual career path. She said the tables turned and she was interviewing them.

Garcia-Morales is an author, publicist, and literary agent based in New Jersey. com/in/jackie0garcia/.