Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Internships and Jobs

We are already half way through the month of February and quickly the semester will be over once again. For those of you who have internships or plan on applying for them for the summer and the fall I would suggest you start now. It gives you plenty of time to prep your resume and have it reviewed by the Career Center so that you can focus on cover letters and finding the right spot for you. Sometimes we think we 'want' a specific position because it seems glamorous or has more appeal than other positions but from my experience you have to play it be ear and see how each situation can work to your advantage. One of my earliest internships was for a small marketing company that had a whopping one employee and two interns including myself, and for various reasons it turned out to be profitable to me in many different ways. The most important was the connection made with the owner/operator Tanisha Nash Laird, who has hired me back as a freelancer later on down the line and was a great mentor and wealth of information regarding marketing and the entertainment business. It showed me the true value of interning: a chance to learn with someone who is doing what you want to do and opening my eyes to the various avenues I could travel to accomplish my professional goal. I interned with her approximately fifteen years ago and maintain communication with her and her husband with whom I've crafted my own friendship over the years.
There are a lot of young people who would love to get their start in entertainment as producers, engineers, rappers, singers, song writers, etc and are currently mapping their plan to achieve that goal through internships and volunteering at events in their area. Never forget that you are competing against a sea of applicants and that preparation is your best way at standing out.
I urge anyone interested to immediately respond to these postings, don't waste time by stopping me, Toriono, in the hallway with questions about the postings, do your research and apply in a swift manner. Good Luck.

Posted by Tori 'RPGEEZ' Gandy at 10:56 AM