Question by Mizz G: What internship should I take?
In September, I start my final year and am expected to do a 3-month internship between then and next March. I am majoring in Performing Arts Communication – which is 80% similar to communication management and PR, plus 20% stagework.
As much as I genuinely love the performing arts, my program is disappointingly choppy, disorganized, and did nothing to develop my skills as a performer. Therefore I am rather convinced that I will not end up working in showbiz. My grades are good, but I know that it’s not enough to qualify myself into the industry’s standards. However, I’ve been doing very well in the 80% communication and social sciences subjects; and am happy enough if I could start my career in that direction.
I am still undecided about two initial career paths: the first is journalism, and the second is brand development. Whether I’ll focus my career in journalism or brand development will depend on where I end up scoring an internship. However, in the long haul (about 20 years from now) I want to gear more and more towards education, and use my career in either journalism or brand development to start a new and progressive education movement.
I’ve shortlisted about 15 companies to apply for internships; consisting of newspapers, magazines, TV, PR & advertising companies, and media consultancies. However, recently my university signed an MOU with a new film production company, which promised to prioritize our students to intern there. I caught myself feeling really enthused when the company director mentioned some international projects and Hollywood collaborations; and how they’re open to interns in the promotional and marketing department who are interested in learning the art of branding a film and the actors involved in it.
However, I’m trying not to quickly buy into my campus’s offers because I know all too well its history of pretention. It calls itself “London School” and pretends that it’s in the USA while it is obviously in Indonesia and has no ties with London, UK. I’ve been involved in campus projects collaborating with embassies and international universities and well reputed companies only to find the whole thing pointless, not worth the effort, and failing to get an audience excited about it. Even my major’s a joke, because most of the kids taking it aren’t genuinely interested in learning the art and discipline of true showmanship, but are rather forced by their parents to get a bachelor’s degree and therefore resort to seeking a major which they thought doesn’t require serious work.
The problem with this film company which just signed an MOU with us is that no one’s ever heard of it; it’s only done one film which scored a lukewarm success; it’s planning to recruit as much as 80 student interns with no previous experience for their next film project later this year; and its parent company is an oil and gas company. The director is a charismatic motivational speaker who boasts of splitting his time between Jakarta and the U.S., and brags about the Hollywood people he’s “good friends with” and allegedly works with. Its website is a mess and the director’s claims are unproven. It sounds very much like a failed business venture I tried to embark on not too long ago.
But at the same time I also wonder, “What if this company does make it big and I miss out?”
So what do you think? Should I go for it and apply for an internship in marketing and promotions with this company? Right now it looks to me that that’s the closest I could get to training in brand development in a context that’s actually relevant to my major, and I am very concerned on actually focusing on one thing at a time. However, having read the signs, I also worry that by doing so I might be conned into a commitment that I’d only end up regretting. I know all too well that I can only build tomorrow on the foundations that I lay today, so I really don’t want to be careless in choosing the kind of foundation to start with.
Or should I just stay away from this company altogether and apply to the other companies I shortlisted? What other things should I pay attention in building a successful, solid, and satisfying foundation for my future career? It is very important for me that my future career will provide intellectual challenge, creative outlets, a large potential network, plentiful income, and a platform on which I can influence the masses for a good cause. And finally, how do I convince media publishers and media consultancies that I’d make a good intern for them, while my major says “Performing Arts?”
Thank you!
Strangely enough, this company’s website has disappeared. By the way, would you trust a production house called Wasita Film? (get it? Was It A…) They still have a Twitter page that was last updated in February, with lot’s of emphasis on HOLLYWOOD. It features the picture of a smiley Caucasian woman, and yet this is a Southeast Asian company… why not feature the company director’s photo instead (who’s a local man); or better yet, a proper company logo as any serious business would?
Best answer:
Answer by headruch14
Apply to that internship, but others also. From what you’ve told me, it sounds like a scam. I wouldn’t put all my trust in it. Perhaps if you gave the name of the company or the movie they put out, it would help. But you sound very competent. I’m sorry about the school’s poor job of improving you showmanship. That’s unfortunate. I think that brand development sounds interesting. I wouldn’t go for journalism, something that I used to be interested in, because it can be hard breaking into the business and the written media is dying. Television is still very strong, so going into that would be a wise choice. Radio is okay too. But PR is a really interesting job. My uncle owns a PR Firm and I have helped him many times in brand developement and in elections. It’s pretty fun! Also, advirtising sounds interesting. I think you pursue brand developing or journalism. Do more research on this film company. Have fun and try your best. Your plans sound amazing and ambitious. Ambition will get you far! And to convince media publishers and media consultancies that you would make a good intern for them whilst your major says “Performing Arts” say that your degree focused 80% on communication and PR and 20% on stagework. Say that the stagework helped you learn presence and give you an ability to talk to people and come up with creative ideas, while your work in communication and PR helped you understand the business and to be businesslike and practical. You seem very well spoken, so you should have no trouble impressing them with your intellect. Good Luck.
What do you think? Answer below!