Top students snag top media internships

By Jennifer Tobia, KRT Campus

Every year 10,000 students apply for a mere 700 positions at MTV. The draw? The priceless opportunity to make connections and gain job experience.

But MTV intern applicant Sheila Keys is undaunted: “Someone has to get it.”

Most people figure that in order to land that dream job at Rolling Stone magazine it’s going to take a lot of time and resume-building before you can get a byline.

But internships are created just for that reason. You’re not up against that guy who has been covering rock and pop at The New York Times for 10 years. Instead, your only competitors are other 18-to-22 year olds.

The applicant pool for these unique internships has become extremely competitive, with unpaid positions in the entertainment industry going to only the most qualified. With jobs in Hollywood as scarce and coveted as they are, it should come as no surprise that ambitious young people should see these internships as an opportunity to make the contacts to get ahead.

Since January, Columbia College of Chicago student Michael Hogan has interned at “The Daily Show with John Stewart.”

Hogan, 22, got the internship one of about 10 a semester by writing to the show, including a cover letter and resume, and saying he was interested in interning for them. A few weeks later Hogan was called for an interview.

“ The experience is a lot more than what I thought it was going to be. I’ve done four internships in Chicago before I moved to New York and there were a couple of places where all I did was get coffee and lunch for people,” Hogan said. “I do my share of answering telephones and stocking refrigerators, (but) ‘The Daily Show’ staff really gives their interns a look at what it’s like to work at a television show.”

Half of Hogan’s time at “The Daily Show” is spent working in the post-production department. “I help find footage for segments, pick up tapes from other news sources and sit in on edits. I find it really fascinating to see how it all comes together before the final product is put on the air.”

Hogan is studying television production but focusing more on post-production such as editing and graphic design. “I’m not exactly sure what’s next for me,” he said. “I may get something in Los Angeles, but I would really like to stay in New York at ‘The Daily Show’ if a position happens to open up.”

If you live in or near any major city New York or Los Angeles especially applying for an internship with your favorite late night talk show, magazine or radio station may not be as hard as you thought it would be. Of course actually getting the internship is another matter. And getting paid is almost unheard of.

The Princeton Review online gives contact names and internship information for more than 50 internships available throughout the country. The site also gives a detailed description of “the work,” “the perks,” an “FYI” and information on the amount of people who apply verses the amount who are accepted.

Julie Gordon, 21, a senior at The George Washington University, got an internship at the USA Today New York bureau last summer. Gordon said the internship was quite fulfilling.

“ On my second day, one of the reporters asked me to cover a memorial service for IMG founder Mark McCormack,” Gordon said. “I was extremely excited. This was what I had wanted, to cover city events. I went to the service and interviewed colleagues and friends of McCormack’s. I also covered (last) summer’s shooting at City Hall, which was really intense. I went behind police lines near City Hall and interviewed people who were inside the building at the time of the attack and city council members. I called my editor and relayed the quotes I collected and my observations to her. It was real on-the-spot coverage.”

Gordon also got the chance to write about entertainment, books, the New York smoking ban and school dress codes. She was the only intern hired for the summer. She admits there was some grunt work, but Gordon said that is an understandable part of being an intern. She was not paid, but received 3 college credits.

Shaneka Stuckey, internship coordinator for HBO in New York, receives thousands of applications for various departments each semester. “We hire based on the needs of a department usually about 15 college interns a semester.”

How can she distinguish one resume from another with such a huge pool of applicants?

“ We realize that, in college, students may not have had the ability to really stack their resumes. A lot of our decision is based on an applicant’s area of interest. We are pretty flexible as well; we’ll hire a business major for a human resources position.”

Thirty to 50 people are invited back for interviews, where Stuckey says she can get a much better feel for the candidate. Once hired for a position in original programming, marketing, production, media relations, finance, accounting, human resources or film programming, interns at HBO receive college credit for their 10-week program.

“ We invite interns to meetings and give them hands-on training,” Stuckey said. So what are the chances you’d get a job there after your internship is over? According to Stuckey, who has been at HBO for three years, “We’ve hired 10 of our interns as full-time staff.”

Jeff Dagley, career center adviser at George Washington University, tells students seeking these competitive internships to “be creative. Do something that sets you apart from the rest. If you are applying for a spot on the Conan O’Brien show, send in a tape of your best Conan impression. Make yourself seem like the perfect fit.”

The possibilities for internship opportunities are endless.

Said Dagley: “It’s unpaid labor; everyone loves to hire interns these days. You just have to get out there and apply.”