My First Internship Experience in U.S.
Internships provide exposure to the real-world scenarios and enable one to apply the knowledge gained during an internship to future workplaces. My search for my very first Internship in U.S. and my Internship experience itself has taught me a lot.
Pre-Internship
I was a protected child at home and, was not allowed to work / take up a part-time job until I completed my studies. That didn’t work much in my favor when I was trying to secure my first Internship abroad while studying at American University, Washington D.C.
Getting an internship in a foreign land without any experience in the related field was not an easy task though the Graduate Student Services team at our university did give us an orientation about ‘how to approach employers’. The department organized a career fair on campus for all the media students by inviting companies from across D.C. Many top media companies like Discovery Channel etc. were present at the fair apart from many other local ones. I was excited as well as nervous too, when I approached all of them. Many companies looked at my CV and opined that, I was in school for too long. Before going abroad for my Masters in Film Studies, I already had a Masters in English Literature from Osmania University, P.G. Diploma in Journalism from Bhavan’s, Diploma in Mass Communication from AIIMAS and also a Higher Diploma in Software Engineering from APTECH .
After hearing the feedback from majority of the recruiters, I was not sure what to expect or if I would even get a call. Some of my classmates got a call after a week to intern with top companies like Discovery Channel, National Geographic, Public Broadcasting Service, Voice of America etc. Two weeks passed since the career fair. I was not sure if I should expect any further calls or if I should try applying to other companies from the media directory which I received after becoming a member of WIFV (Women in Film & Video) Washington D.C. chapter. While I was flipping through the pages of the directory, I suddenly received a call from my Graduate Office that I would have to attend an Interview at one of the local production companies in D.C. I was excited though I wasn’t sure what to expect as it was my first interview call.
I prepared well and went dressed in formals for my first interview at Ventana Productions. I was interviewed by the Chief Producer for more than half hour about my interests, future plans etc. I was not sure if she was convinced with all my answers as she said she would inform our Graduate Office about the status. After 2 days, I received a call from our Graduate Affairs department that I was selected for the Internship but it was an unpaid one. I accepted the offer as I needed the work experience. My joy knew had no bounds.
Internship Period
On the first day of my Internship, I was very nervous and of course excited as well. The Chief Producer of Ventana Productions introduced me to their admin. person who took me around and showed me their equipment room, video library, edit rooms etc. Though the set-up or the work environment of their production company was not new to me as I having been observing the same hustle-bustle since my childhood in my father’s media production company in Hyderabad; I was still nervous as it was my first work place and I had to prove myself.
I had the opportunity to visit ‘The White House’ to shoot an interview with the congressmen and was also a part of many other such interesting events whenever I accompanied the senior cameraman at the production company. It was a very good learning experience. I was expected to carry equipment as an Intern and help with any / every job assigned to me. But, looking at my physical capacity; the DOP always engaged me in helping him with just some basic stuff like setting up the equipment and clearing everything from the place after pack-up. He was always very patient in answering all my questions concerning lighting, framing, choice of lenses etc. and that did add to my learning a great deal.
Ventana company had let out their office space to two independent filmmakers Sharon and Susan. I was asked to help both of them when they required me and if I wasn’t assigned anything by the Ventana team.
One of the two independent filmmakers, Sharon was producing a series for Discovery channel about jail inmates on death row. I helped her with the logging of the entire footage and marking the ‘okay takes’ which she could use while editing. It was quite interesting listening to stories of different kind of people on death row. But, it was also quite a laborious task emotionally as few people on death row were not hardcore criminals.
Another filmmaker stationed in-house at Ventana; Susan was the U.S. representative of RAI Television (an Italian Television) which was back then jointly owned by Washington Post and New York Times. I helped her with gathering information (both from print as well as video news clips) for her ‘Business Economics Review Show’, which used to be aired on all major domestic airlines in the U.S.
On the whole, my internship of two months was a memorable one. I discovered eventually while working at Ventana that all my apprehensions about the company which I had before joining the internship were not true. Ventana is a local leader till date in providing video production staffing to federal and corporate clients. Their services include multi-cam broadcast shoots and full-scale video productions from concept to completion. Their technical team members are awarded Emmys, Tellys, The White House Press Photographer award and more. So, it was totally an enriching experience as I got an opportunity to learn from professionals in the field including two independent filmmakers.
Post Internship
I stayed in touch with both Sharon and Susan even after the Internship. I was happy that Sharon got an extension to her series on Discovery Channel and Susan’s company, Voyage productions got a proposal approved by IMF (International Monetary Fund) for producing news stories about organizations in India who were financed by IMF.
Susan attended my graduation and also offered me a job offer to work part-time with her when I started my OPT. Once I started working, Sharon connected me to one of the members of WIFV who got me a lead at VOA where I was hired for three months as a reporter for their Hindi division. When I was almost finishing up the VOA assignment, I got connected to a consultant who helped me in finding work at Discovery Channel until the completion of my OPT.
My associations with contacts I made during my first internship didn’t end even after returning to India. I had the opportunity to work as an ‘Associate Producer’ for Susan’s series of news stories based on people and organizations in India. The series were funded by IMF and I supported the project by working from India.
Considering the fact that I had a tough time in securing my first Internship abroad; I feel students aspiring for careers abroad must work on developing and showcasing a good portfolio or prior work experience in the field unlike me. Also, networking right from the time one lands on-campus with fellow classmates as well as local media groups does go a long way in establishing meaningful and long-lasting relationships both in the personal as well as the professional space.
About Post Author
About The Author
pratima jaidev
Head - Internships & Portfolio Development Pratima Jaidev is a media professional with 18+ years of work experience across various industry verticals which include the corporate (IT) sector, media houses, educational sector and more; both in India and in the U.S.