• Embed Doc
  • Copy Link
  • Readcast
  • Collections
  • CommentGo Back
Download
 
Peepas, Job/Internship Handout, Updated Fall 2008 1
Everyone starts somewhere.
Internships & JobsProduction II Handout
If you are interested in an internship, make an appointment with Lyn Pusztai, 312-369-6727,lpusztai@colum.edu. She is the internship coordinator for the Film & Video Department.What to bring to the meeting with Lyn:
•
 
Your resume – even a basic first draft of it listing jobs you’ve held before and dates.
•
 
Your references – former bosses, teachers who can give you a good recommendation.Reach out to them and ask them if they will be a reference for you.
•
 
Ideas on where and what you might like to do.You can register for an internship for 1-3 credits. Someone at the job will have to write anevaluation of you before the end of the semester for you to receive the credit. There areinternships in post houses, casting agencies, ad agencies, interactive media, and sometimesfeature films. You can also check with the local trades (Ruth Ratny’s Reel Chicago is a goodsource, as is Mandy.com, Craigslist, and the Chicago Film Office) about upcoming productions.Lyn can set you up with many resources, but you should do your homework and seekopportunities on your own.Due to employment laws, most companies want youto be registered for an internship credit. So whyshould you pay to work for free?
•
 
Resume experience – This is a chance for youto try out a job in your chosen career. Yougain a line on your resume and a chance towatch professionals in action and learn fromthem.
•
 
Contacts & Mentors – people who can giveyou references, job leads, recommendations,and career advice. Hold on to emailaddresses of people you worked closely withand who liked you.
•
 
Work Samples - Check with your supervisorbefore taking any media or printed material outof the office, but think about gathering video orsound clips of things you worked on, writingsamples, press clippings about an event youorganized, a mailing you did, or any graphicdesign work.
•
 
Ideas – For research topics, for a business, for a blog post, for an article, for a next stepin your career, for things you are interested in and excel at and for things you might notbe interested in.Notice that nowhere on this list does it say “a permanent job.” Treat the internship as a learningopportunity. If it leads to paid employment, that’s a bonus.
 
Peepas, Job/Internship Handout, Updated Fall 2008 2
Peggy Olsen always does her homework.
Internship and Entry Level Job SkillsBelow are some basic lessons about findingand excelling at your first industry job:1. Research: Before you interview or start aposition, do some research on the company.What are their major projects? Who are theirimportant clients and staff members? Readtheir bios to get an idea of where they comefrom. Take a look at the company website andread any articles you can find. Practiceanswering questions like “Why do you want towork here?” Practice asking questions like“What has your career path been like in thisindustry?”2. Keep Your Commitments: Know your schedule going into the interview. Most internshipsrequire 10-20 hours/week, during normal business hours. If you need time off for a schoolproject or family commitment, you should arrange it well in advance. Otherwise, you must workevery day you are scheduled to work.3. Job Skills 101: Stuff You Should Learn On Your First JobHere are some basic skills you will need at your first job in the entertainment (or any) industry:
•
 
Make a great pot of coffee.
•
 
Take an accurate Starbucks order.
•
 
Photocopying: Know how to collate, staple, make 1-sided into 2-sided copies, add thepaper, clear the paper jam, change the toner, reduce, and enlarge.
•
 
The Printer: Know how to add paper, print on letterhead, change toner, and clear jams.
•
 
Learn how to answer a telephone and make a business phone call in a professional way.
•
 
At minimum, you should know how to use every program in Microsoft Office plus a littlePhotoshop and some HTML. Know how to do a mail merge and format a business letter.Know how to make a document into a PDF. Know how to attach a document to email. Knowhow to do a Google search and narrow down exactly the answer you need.
•
 
Learn how to use the office postage machine and how to fill out a UPS or Fedex shippinglabel.
•
 
Be the AV Squad! Learn how to hook up a laptop to a projector for a presentation, how toadd a network printer, etc.
 
Peepas, Job/Internship Handout, Updated Fall 2008 3
Rolling your eyes is not a good long-term career plan.
•
 
Read the trades – Keep up on what’s going on in the business. Read Industry news,business pages,
Variety, Advertising Age, American Cinematographer, Crain’s Chicago Business, industry blogs.
These are available in the college library for you to read for free.What magazines or newspapers does your office keep around for your bosses andcolleagues to read? Read them.None of these are particularly glamorous tasks,and none of them require the expensiveeducation and intellectual brilliance that you willsurely bring to your job, but all of these are skillsthat can be traded for money while you work yourway up. As an intern I have gotten the boss’s dry-cleaning, sealed 1,000 envelopes in a single day,sprayed bug spray on John Stossel’s feet, andcleared the dog doo from a public park so that theSteadicam guy wouldn’t have to walk through it.Interns start out doing the work that no one elsewants to do. However, as the excellent
Feminist Finance 
blogger
1
points out, “You do not have tolike your job to act like you like your job.” Doingthe grunt work with a smile will put you in line formore interesting and challenging work.4. Job Skills 102: The Unwritten RulesHere are some social skills that you need in your first job in the entertainment (or any) industry.They are even more important than the basic job skills described above.
•
 
Be polite and friendly to everyone – ABSOLUTELY EVERYONE – you meet. Today’s coffeeminion is tomorrow’s Head of Development.
•
 
On Time = 10 minutes early. The first time your train/bus/ride/traffic is slow people mightforget it. The second time, you will become The Late Guy Who Is Always Late.
•
 
Keep your personal life personal. No one at your place of work should know about your lovelife or anything about how “wasted” you got last weekend. When someone asks you “howare you?” the answer is some variation of “Excellent, thank you.” It is not “tired” or “hungover.”
•
 
Dress neatly and professionally. That doesn’t mean wearing an itchy business suit andcarrying a briefcase, especially in the creative fields, but it means paying attention to thedress code of your workplace. Your clothes should fit you. There should not be any holes,
1
Recommended reading: “How Not To Lose Your Job Before You Have It: Notes for Interns,”
http://www.feministfinance.com/2008/06/how-not-to-lose-job-before-you-have-it.html, accessed11/29/2008
 
of 00

Leave a Comment

You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...
You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...