Internship Journal #2: The Interview

At IFCC and the other CUNY programs in the building my internship is, I am the graphic designer anyone can call upon to make whatever they need. I mainly make fliers for them but I also take on projects they need for their company. The main company I intern for, IFCC, has a director who is the head of the program. Her name is Angelica Velazquez. I found out about this company through my professor when she was telling us about places where they are hiring interns. The place was close to school and they were looking for design interns so I decided to try it out. On Sunday night, I sent an email introducing myself and saying I was looking for an internship and would love to work for their company. Then, the next day I called her once in the morning and once more in at lunchtime. I didn’t hear anything from her until Tuesday night when she emailed me, asking to call me about the internship. We made plans for me to call her the next day after class.

On Wednesday, after class was over, I called her. She introduced herself and started asking questions about myself. She asked what was my major, where I go to school, when I was graduating, how did I found out about the company and what were my skills in terms of graphic design. I told her I was a Communication Design major at Citytech graduating next fall. I had found out about her through my professor and I knew how to use Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator. She then told me about herself and what she did and what she would ask me to do if I were to intern at IFCC. She was the Director of IFCC who specialties in helping family child care providers through workshops they hold at IFCC. They would have me do flyers for the most part but a project they had in mind was a photo journal of a program they have called the Caring and Responsive Engagement Program (C.A.R.E.). It was a program that helps child care providers of children from birth to five years old. It gives them the knowledge they need to take care of the children through weekend sessions and workshops. Angelica’s vision was a photo journal of all the people and children in the program that can be given to the people who participated. In order for this to become a reality, they would need someone who knows how to take visually pleasing photos. She asked if I have any photography skills to which I said I did since I have taken photography courses at Citytech and knew the fundamentals of photography to know how to achieve pleasant pictures for the book. After asking me her questions for me, she said that the space is small and that it is share with everyone on that floor. She asked me if it was okay if the space was a little tight. I said that was fine with me. With that, she said she would let me know if she would take me as an intern before the week ended. We said our goodbyes and that was the end of the call.

The next day, I get an email from Angelica say she will take me in as an intern and told me to email her my free time and she’ll make a schedule for me out of that. She also said she would like to see some of my work and if it’s physical to just bring it when I come in. I was very happy but also confused as to why she hired me so quickly after a phone conversation. I was expecting to go in for an interview before being chosen. It wasn’t until I told my professor about it and she asked if I did it through phone interview that I was being interviewed when I called her. I was used to interviews being stiff and professional. I’ve done phone interviews before but they didn’t sound as human as when I talked to Angelica. It was a nice change of pace for the interview to feel like a natural conversation instead of a strict by-the-rules interview.