KWM – Final Duties / Completion

I’m done with my internship at KWM! Before I say my final thoughts, I do have some small updates that I want to jot down.

One of the last tasks I was given at KWM was to interview the potential future intern. I was honestly nervous. I’ve never been on the other end of an interview before and Trish was trusting me to ask the right questions to see if the new person would be a good fit for KWM. Although I was reluctant, I took the opportunity as I knew this would be an experience I could add to what I did at the company (and to the resume). It was pretty fun talking to the intern! I honestly didn’t prepare as much as I had wanted to but they knew exactly what to do and had already been used to the tools that I used while working for KWM. Following the successful interview, Trish had also asked me to be a mentor for the intern if I’m available. That way they can get a better understanding of OpenReel and the workflow I have set up. I jumped on board and during the month of January, I did 2 meetings that helped the intern be caught up to speed. After doing the meetings, I told the intern that if they needed any help (as long as I have the time) they can reach out to me and I’ll do my best to get back to them. I think I did good!

After getting the intern settled in, I was also finalizing the onboarding video. It’s taken a much longer time than I thought to get the video out but the quality and professional feel of the video made it worth the wait. I wish I could present the work but I know that most of the information present is confidential. Trish was super excited when I showed her the final cut of the video. She wanted to deploy it out ASAP. But before doing so, she said that it would be a good idea to showcase the video to the owners of the company. I was a bit nervous about the idea as this would be the very first time I would meet them as well as showing them my work but I couldn’t say no to this. It would be the perfect time to showcase all of the work I did for the company! Trish invited me to a meeting with Curtis and David and it was fantastic. I was able to talk to Curtis and David about what I accomplished for the company as well as showcase the video me and Trish were really proud of. It all paid off! They loved the video just as much as Trish did. Curtis even went as far to say that it’s on the same level of quality and professionalism as their 15 year anniversary video; which they had to pay a creative TEAM to do. David asked what I planned on doing after college is done (which to be frank I’m not too sure yet but I’m very hopeful for the future) and had told me to search up a company called Flicker Lab. He told me that him and Curtis had heard a lot about me from Trish and wanted to let me know that if Flicker Lab was up my alley, he could see if something could be worked out. I was super surprised about this offer let alone everyone’s response. It was such a great way to conclude my time at the company.

My final thoughts on KWM are that it was a fantastic first internship experience. I managed to learn a lot about starting up a video production section of a company as well as a new software I’ve never used before. I also was able to learn more about carrying and presenting myself professionally through emails, meetings, and shoots. I’m super thankful and grateful for Trish who helped me secure this position. I’m going to miss being part of the team. We’ll see what the future holds for now but at least I know I can thank KWM for helping me get here.

KWM – Fix it in Post + Establishing KWM

Ever heard of the saying “We’ll fix it in post?”. I’ve heard it many times in movies and shows. While working for KWM, I actually am part of the other end for once.

The biggest project that I’m working on for KWM is an onboarding video. It’s meant to give a brief showcase of the team along with some information on how to contact them. At first, me and Trish thought it would be something done quick and it’ll be easy and simple. A few weeks passing, it’s actually taking much longer to get this video secured. This was mainly due to having to re-shoot and getting some other tasks done on the side. But here’s a look at some of the big things I have done for KWM thus far.

I had to learn more about after effects in my internship than I thought. It’s definitely paid off though. The first thing I had to learn about was Noise Reduction. This is a process that is done to make super grainy videos look less grainy. I thought I could do this in Premiere but it turns out that this is an incredibly taxing process for your computer because it has to analyze each and every frame for Noise patterns in attempt to eliminate it. I’d end up doing this for a shot in the video that although on shoot looked good, actually turned out to look a little too nasty for my tastes. It’s a fairly easy effect to learn but it took hours to process. I’d have to do this for 3 separate videos from the same shoot.

Original VS. Noise Reduction Image | You can notice the sides of the person being different

Another thing I had to learn in after effects would be something I knew I wanted to learn but never had the chance to. Trish had told me that a certain shoot ended up looking too boring for her tastes. She had asked if I thought if it would be possible to place a piece of art on the wall behind the subject or to change the color of the wall altogether. I told her it might be difficult but I’ll see what I can do. It turns out it was pretty simple and really fun messing around with. You use a tool called the RotoBrush to do a process called Rotoscoping. This means selecting something from a video and masking it out to separate it from the footage. It allows you to do nearly anything and is a complete game changer. I was able to alter the colors of the background really quickly and accurately with this process by masking out the subject. This effect, like Noise Reduction, is also taxing on your computer but in a different way. Noise Reduction uses your CPU to compute the effect. Rotoscoping in after effects is done using your CPU but more importantly your available RAM. This dictates exactly how much after effects can render and playback frames in real-time. This also allows your computer to run multiple processes without any of them killing your overall performance. So while Rotoscoping, my computer ended up running out of ram quickly: which is something I never thought would happen considering I’m using 32GB of ram and the standard is roughly 8GB. Either way, with the effect being successful, I managed to change the subject’s wall from a plain beige to a nice blue.

Rotobrush used to separate the subject from the seat and background. Allowing me to change the beige BG on the (left) to blue on the (right)

Some other things I did for KWM would actually be a complete introduction and lower thirds package. KWM had used a package like this for their 15th anniversary video. It came out looking great but when asking Trish if the company had a blank “non-15 year” introduction, she realized that we didn’t. The same went for the lower thirds graphics used in the same video. I took this opportunity to make an introduction and lower thirds for KWM with the knowledge I have in illustrator and after effects. After a few hours, I managed to get a really clean result that mimics the style of the 15 year introduction and lower thirds pretty well. I also noticed that the people who had made the 15 year video included the intros they used as “Black BG, White BG, and Transparent” although the last one wasn’t true. So I made sure to export everything in the right BG colors as well as a proper transparent version that used the right video format (they rendered it out in .mp4 when in fact .mov preserves transparency).

Because I’d be the first person to help establish an official video production side for KWM, I also wanted to go out of my way and make everything as friendly as possible for future interns. I made a file naming scheme which is displayed on an image as well as though an illustrator file. I also did my best to make project files in both premiere and after effects as easy to understand as possible. These things would never have gone under consideration had it been another intern. I made sure that I went the extra mile to do these things because I wanted to make things easier for both me in the present and anybody else in the future. While talking to a future intern for KWM, I made sure to let them know that what is there is always subject to change on their terms. But if they ever wanted to follow it and add their own spice to it, the choice is there.

I’m nearing the end of my time with KWM and I have to say it’s been a great time so far with all of the research and development I’ve been doing. Even going the extra mile feels worth it when I know how this will help shape the future of this company’s workflow.

KWM – Research, Research, RESEARCH!

One of the biggest things I’m beginning to understand within my internship is the importance of spending time to research. I do intensive research for projects all of the time. I base a lot of my outcomes on things depending on the amount of research I can gather for a subject. But when it comes to timing the work you do for a company, research is something I didn’t expect to fill the hours as quickly as I thought.

Most of the time, I’m given a project scope and need to handle most of the research and presentation on my own. In KWM, I’ve been assigned one project but it’s lead me to research and present information as many times as I need to. This type of information isn’t only about figuring out how a program works. It includes making sure that for the type of video we’re going to put out will be successful through editing and shooting standards, being able to understand OpenReel and the upcoming changes, and it even includes learning more about the things I already know.

The biggest and most important research that I’ve been doing so far is in relation to OpenReel. When joining the company, I expected OpenReel to be a software that I can learn once and remember it for a lifetime. This wasn’t the case. Although the material that OpenReel starts off with doesn’t change much, what does is something that I’d need to understand by doing research and going to webinars to get a better idea. After doing my best to understand the software and being confident at a point, they then decide to drop an entirely new UI update that switches many of the things around. This isn’t bad if you had the option to choose and it you’re more than willing to undertake this change. But in my case, I had to make sure that the version of OpenReel is the most up-to-date and relay any of the changes to Trish to make sure that she’ll know exactly what to do if we were to be forced into this change. I’d do this by going to 2 webinars that highlight the differences and quality of life updates that, although are for the better, meant that it would be a new system me, Trish, and any new intern (who may be stuck in this update limbo like us) needs to comprehend to make future shoots as smooth as possible.

Another thing I’ve been doing for KWM research wise is finding out information on services to make managing the video production division a bit better. I’d find websites, report them to Trish, and then follow up the reports with extensive research that highlighted the pros and cons of using a specific service. Although it’s not my money being used, I’m still considering the price it costs to get things running as smooth as possible. I wanted to go through this process in the most professional direction possible: by acting as if it WERE my own money. Why spend money on 5 different websites when you can spend money on 2 and get all of the features of 10?

Stock Footage Website Research done for KWM

I’ve shown this chart before in my presentation but this is one of the research projects I’ve done. When I do research for things like this, I do it out of my own expense. I want to make sure that the work I give is the same work I do on my own time: including presenting information. This specific image highlights the research I went through to find a good stock footage site that would give us music, photos, and video to use for this future video and any ongoing videos. I did something similar with researching about possible file hosting websites (Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.) that would allow the video producers (interns) to offload and download projects while also letting Trish preview rough cuts and other footage.

Remember that research is important not only to you and the company, but also for the time dedicated at the company. I came in the internship wondering how I’d manage to fill up as many hours as I needed to with the varied work I’d be given. Little did I know that this method I was already using would equal to so much down the road.

AIGA Readings

Reading through parts of the AIGA Design Business and Ethics, I’m beginning to have a better understanding of how to carry myself and my future (and current) work. I didn’t realize how important licensing was on specific steps behind the design process but I’m glad that AIGA managed to put it together in one concise place.

Back when I began designing pieces, I would use other artist’s work to get messages across. I was lucky enough to learn about the importance of copyright and trademarks in high school. I’m happy that these restrictions exist mainly on the commercial end where profit can be made and not through the personal end (at least not completely). It saves a lot of time to select and use assets on the internet; especially as a student who is learning how to get into this type of field. Most of the time when using other’s work in the past, I would credit their ideas and pieces on a document, the side of the piece, or within presentation. I hate the idea of someone’s hard work going unnoticed so any chance I get, I try to promote who the person is and where I managed to find the work.

In relation to the piece “Hope” by Shepard Fairey, I believe that this was the wrong way to go about showing inspiration and appreciation of art. The issues that copyright brings to artists are some that can make or break a name. Due to how much digitalization we have available to us, it’s very easy to look at a piece of art and try to mix it on your own. What tends to happen, though, is that the artists don’t go out of their way to check if the reference they used is available for commercialization. This happens a lot more than we even think. Sites that allow people to upload their own artworks and put them on clothing/furniture/paintings don’t have any way of protecting the original artist unless the artist themselves were to find out. Otherwise, the person who found the piece would make profit without any credit to the original producer.

This is the same case that ended up happening with Fairey. In one light, it’s seen as a complete transformation and should not have been struck with any copyright issues. But, unfortunately for Fairey, they had been asked about the source image which had not only been referenced from the owners of the original image but also was fought by Fairey who said that this was one image and not another (when in fact the image referenced is the exact image Fairey said they used). This mistake took everything to a whole new level and had taken the issue from a transformative piece to a piece that has been declared by the artist and original owners as a copyright situation. Luckily the outcome doesn’t seem as stifling on the artist or the producer but it does bring to light the (honestly already placed) limitations artists have when using other artist’s work.

KWM – AIGA Ethics Guidelines

In relation to the AIGA guide on Design Business and Ethics, I believe my company has done a pretty good job in keeping things in line.

KWM handles getting images through licensing. They obtain most of their photography, stock video, and audio from external stock media websites. I’m not 100% sure where they sourced the images for their website or for their 15th anniversary video but when asking Trish about the subject during one of our calls, she told me that she had hired people to construct both the website and the video. They had to use company accounts in order to source out images and videos as the company is a financial firm and understands how integral it is to own the content you push out to the public.  I’m not 100% sure how the trademark and logo came to be but I believe they hired a graphic designer to make a logo and then had a message trademarked on top of it.

When signing up with KWM, I did have to sign a NDA. The Non-Disclosure Agreement was to ensure that I would only use company assets for and only while working with the company. The NDA also signed off an acknowledgement that whatever project I were to be working on would be kept within company grounds until the final release. It’s the first time I’ve ever had to sign an NDA but I knew that this type of internship with this type of company would have me sign off on this as most of it is confidential information. I don’t believe that this had placed any grand limitations on what I could post on my journal as I am very reserved on the information no matter what. When working as a designer, if you want to uphold as much anticipation on a project as possible, you simply just keep it in private. There wasn’t much for me to post onto my journal within the first few weeks and even when there was, I didn’t want to (not could) post any company projects.

To finalize, while working KWM, I had made sure that any stock photos, footage, or music were to be sources through a stock website. As a student, I sort of grab things whenever I can and use them as I know it’s not going to be commercialized in any way. While working for KWM though, I need to uphold keeping a professional image and that means preserving rights to content regardless of where it comes from. Luckily stock sites allow me to use watermarked content, make sure it fits and is approved, and then allows me to pay a subscription to use the items. This saves a lot of time and money by finalizing what is truly needed before paying for anything. While working for KWM, I sourced my items through Envato Elements as it’s cheap, has an insane amount of content, and is easy to implement into the workflow needed to work for KWM.

KWM – OpenReel

One of the first responsibilities I have while starting my internship is learning about this program called OpenReel. I’ve never heard of this program before I began. When doing a bit of research before actually training, I found out that this was an online software that helps people and companies do remote video shooting, selecting, and editing all in one area. This fit perfectly with the previous experience I had working within Moving Pixels. I just had one question: how well does this translate?

I spoke about this in my internship presentation as the future of video recording. It allows people who understand the ideas behind managing a video shoot to accurately use the same information through the internet. This same software allows people who are familiar with in-person camera handling to also translate their skills digitally by giving them the tools to do so. OpenReel allows people to set up cameras, invite subjects, showcase a teleprompter on the same device, and view/download/manage the footage afterwards.

In practice, this translated perfectly. Everything is within its own area on the screen. It’s a bit difficult getting used to where everything is, but as long as you practice and do your best to understand, you’ll be able to remember everything in no-time. One of my favorite features (before the actual tools that I use) would be the amount of technical detail available. I love having the ability to see the ins and outs of the devices used on a set. Being able to get all of this information before a shoot helps be understand exactly how much can we achieve before putting anything into practice.

OpenReel Interface Pre-Shoot | Camera Tools (Left)

The tools that I would need to come to understand and use during each shoot would be near the bottom. Being the video producer for KWM, I’d have to understand how to set up the camera, teleprompter for scripts, and file management to download and edit the footage on my end. It sounds like a lot but it was a pretty linear experience. In the photo above, the bottom left tab is all dedicated to camera controls. This meant having control over the exposure, ISO, focus, and temperature; all of the thing’s I’d have to control on an actual camera. Then the tab on the bottom right is dedicated to the teleprompter. I’d be given scripts and format + upload them before the actual shoot happens so we can guarantee an almost flawless shoot each time. Then the window underneath the camera settings is where I would manage video files recorded during shoots. It allows me to upload footage during shoots, after shoots, and allow them to preview them in real-time. This saves a lot of time when deciding if another take is required.

OpenReel Interface During Shoot | Teleprompter (Right), File Management (Left)

Some of the best things about OpenReel is the fact that we don’t need to have the subject connected to download footage. In the came of time, we could have it upload automatically while they go and do anything they need to. Although OpenReel comes with many positives in terms of translating in-person shoots to online, it does come with a few caveats. One major thing to keep in mind is that they charge you over recording time. Each year, you subscribe to OpenReel and they give you a set amount of hours that belong strictly to recording. Luckily, when a subject joins, you don’t use up recording time. Meaning you can spend all of the time needed to get things set up (such as camera, script, backgrounds, lighting, script rehearsals, etc.) before actually pressing the record button; what actually counts towards the recording time. So we have to be mindful when recording (even though the first few shoots used merely a few minutes of time in total).

Overall OpenReel is an interesting and great software to use. I try to recommend it to as many people and students as I can because I believe it truly IS the future of recording. Using it during the first few shoots with KWM has proven to me how integral this software is during these times. I can’t wait to see what else is in store for the internship.

KWM – On/Off Shoot Etiquette

After one of my first meetings with Trish, I learned how important it is to develop and apply a sort of etiquette when it comes to pre-shooting, during shooting, and after shooting. During this internship, I’ve had to adjust to using emails as my primary form of communications before Zoom and even before OpenReel. Learning how to carry yourself and applying a routine to each conversation you have is just as important as the job itself.

It might seem a bit out of place to talk about this but I found it to be something that I learned, applied, and will continue to apply to all of my future endeavors. Etiquette doesn’t mean redefining the wheel or having to learn an entirely new system but it instead means to refine what you already do and know. In most emails, I used to just say a simple “Hello” followed with any specific information needed and then my name at the end “- Jonathan Baez”. This works fine if all you do is quickly reply. In my case, I did this for a long time and knew that at some point, because all of the work and talk that I do is digital, I’d need to change this into something better.

What exactly is better? Better is attaching a bit of life within the response. In a few emails with Trish, I noticed that she starts off with a greeting, then asks if things are good along with the tasks at hand. This is then ended with a time frame of a response and a “Warm Regards” before her signature. I’ve never really seen an email structured this way before. I’d always see a structure built within an email when professors send emails out but nothing very personalized beyond this. I took what I noticed and what I did before and tried to apply it to my workflow.

It was important to conduct this sort of change through the internship because this is the place where I’d have to talk to the most strangers within the same place. Nobody but Trish really knew me and I’d have to conduct shoots with several people that I have yet to meet. The first thing I decided to do was based around a small question Trish had asked me: “Would you be able to email the subjects the link to the OpenReel shoot?” and I said of course! I took this opportunity as a way to improve my first impressions and requests. I essentially made a template email that included a friendly introduction of myself, my position in the company, and a message that went along the lines of “I’m looking forward to working with you! Feel free to email be if you have any questions or concerns!”. Step 1: complete.

Step 2 would be to introduce requirements. I didn’t want to just tell people what to do without them understanding exactly how to do it. I changed what I used to do before (writing them out with expectations) to something that was more friendlier and easier to get through. I would include a “Here’s a few tips to follow before tomorrow’s shoot:” with instructions that were needed to make sure devices were set on Do Not Disturb as well as making sure they’re charged all the way to avoid any strange interference during shoots. I also hyperlinked the text to redirect to official OpenReel videos and tutorials just in case they needed more information to follow. After providing the tips, I then included information on the shoot which included a case sensitive password (I made sure to tell them it was) as well as an ending message that let them know I’m excited to work with them and I’ll see them soon.

It might not be much but this proved to be successful. In the following shoots, subjects would already know my name and what I’d be there to do. They would also have all of their equipment ready which is integral to having a flawless shoot. Following the email etiquette, it’s important to carry the same message through the shoots. This means making sure the subjects are comfortable and understand what’s going to happen + what’s needed from them. I’d also use this same time to adjust for background issues and making sure that everything on my end was ready to record as long as the subject was comfortable with their script.

After doing the recordings, I’d say thank you and let them know what the next steps would be in terms of downloading and offloading the footage. This time would always be great to tell subjects how well they did during shoots. Even if certain subjects do bad, positive reinforcement always proves to be key as it lets them understand that they’re heading in a good direction but it needs a bit of tweaking. Afterwards, I’d say my thanks and goodbye and move to working with footage.

Research and Success – Securing the Internship

After applying to a hefty amount of internship positions, I was offered a time for an interview soon after. Around a day’s worth of time. It would be the quickest turnaround I’ve ever had so far in terms of job applications. I emailed the person back and then did extensive research.

If there’s anything that I think people should do once they get some form of acceptance for a position, it is to research that company meticulously. It’s good to know what you’re getting into and what you could bring up as talking points in interviews. This is exactly what I ended up doing. I went to the company’s LinkedIn, checked out their website, and more specifically, I browsed through the content they released through LinkedIn and their own blog. The position that I was going in for was Remote Video Production. This meant that I’d need to know how to format content in order to fit their image. From the first glance, I was pretty anxious.

Most of the published content had a big amount of motion graphic work as the primary video content. Now, this isn’t that bad considering I wanted to go for a motion based internship in the first place but… have you ever seen work in the field you want to be in and wonder how it was ever done? Most of the work posted looked professionally done. It was work that had a lot of great pacing and style. Comparing it to the work that I recently put out, I felt like I may need to train my skills a bit more before doing anything else. Yet, I remembered that my main role was as a video producer and not motion artist. It was still a good decision to look into that work as it gave me an insight to the type of content the company allows itself to show to the world. It means that in terms of structure, style, and pace, I had to learn how to match it with different media. It’s a challenge but it’s one that I called upon to conquer.

The grand day arrives. Our meeting is at 11am and I end up sleeping at 5/6am. My sleep schedule is always crazy whenever I feel nervous about something. It wasn’t any different this time. I wake up at 10:40 to make sure I look good, adjust my webcam and lighting, and then practice looking into the camera along with preparing some information that I might be questioned on. I’ve been adjusted to interviews for retail positions but never something related to my field. It would be a new experience to me and I didn’t know what to expect. 11am strikes and I join a Zoom meeting with Trish. Trish is a practice manager for Krietzberg Wealth Management. Just as the meeting was going to begin, my camera bugs out and I become unable to show my video without Zoom crashing. She understood the complication and said it would be alright. We then introduce ourselves to each other and I get asked about my interest in the position. I brought up points such as how I’m mostly used to in-person camera shooting and editing but after seeing this position I was interested to see what it would entail. She told me that’s great and had asked for more information on what I am used to. I bring up the SoHo Memory Project and how that has won a few notable awards along with some other projects that I have worked on in the past. She thinks that this information is fantastic and had asked to see some form of work for what I do. Although this is where I show her my site, this is also the point where I freeze inside.

This whole entire time constructing my resume and website, I had formatted everything to fit the role of a motion designer. I made it my mission to advertise myself as this artist who only focuses on motion design so heavily that I forgot how to properly advertise myself in other focuses. I didn’t have a video reel to show which could have been a potential ice breaker. I showed her a snippet of the SoHo Memory Project and then we continued talking about the position from there. But it bugged me that it took this long into the process to realize that I did not have an accurate reel of work to show for this specific position. I was lucky enough that this did not impose itself as an issue but in the future, it would be best to be 100% prepared even by having other reels of work presented.

After showing Trish some of the work, she told me that everything looked good and that as long as I’m willing to, I could start as soon as possible.  I told her that because I’m in an internship class and I am in need of an internship immediately, I was available ASAP. There were just 2 problems:

  1. This internship was intended to be for Spring 2021. The LinkedIn listing did not specify this but Trish had meant to find a spot for this position early to then properly plan out work later.
  2. Because the internship was intended for a future semester, it would mean that there may be less work as she would need to construct and have scripts become approved in order to move forward with videos.

Aside from these two issues, she said if I can talk it over with my internship professor, I could still secure this position. I felt pretty confident and happy about the opportunity being presented even if it came with its own risks. But that’s what I’m here for: Taking risks in the name of learning.

We concluded our meeting and I got straight to sending emails to both Trish and our internship professor. It would become a busy week soon after but I felt much more confident in myself and my ability to improve as an intern for Krietzberg Wealth Management.

Picking Up Speed – Searching for an Internship

Once I had my portfolio and my resume completed, it was finally time to start applying to internships. The only question is where do I find internships and would they even hire me this late into the semester? I had a ton of questions and doubts about this up until I put my foot down….and watched a video on Notion.

The start of the school year was incredibly tough for me. I felt like I didn’t have any idea what I was going to do and each day I found myself disliking the things I spent time on more and more. These thoughts were clouding my judgement and even my favorite hobbies took a toll. I didn’t want to stay this way and realized that if I wanted to do something, I needed to do it fast. I mainly wanted to change how I went about the things that mattered to me most. Relationships, hobbies, habits, you name it and there was most likely something I wish were different. I started listening and following a few youtubers who focus on self development. I’d listen to a few videos and talks here and there to motivate myself to get out of the rut I was in and to start working on something grand. One notable youtuber would be Matt D’Avella. His videos showed up in the recommended section and after watching a few, I grew to like the way he describes processes, his personal encounters with failures and how he overcame them, and I also favored his editing style (along with how he’s a filmmaker on the side).

The first video I have ever seen by Matt that I try to integrate into my life as much as possible

Watching a few of his videos made me want to change even more. I liked the way he thought about doing certain things and specific tips he would introduce ended up becoming information that guided my perspective on handling change. Another youtuber who encouraged me would be Matthew Encina. Not only is he part of The Futur but he is also a designer himself. Seeing a designer’s perspective from the inside, from a place of success, really made me want to do as much as I can to shape my practices better. His Notion video specifically had me jump to action as him speaking about his personal projects, work related projects, and personal tracking made me want to try it out.

Matthew’s Notion Video that persuaded me to get on the platform that same night

I jumped on Notion the same night Matthew’s video came out. It took some getting used to but I managed to create a spreadsheet that was not only quick and easy but also really nice to look at. This would then help me start applying to internships and keep track of everything on a platform that I can use on any device.

This is how my internship page was setup. It included tabs for super important things to keep in mind as well as some color coating to help me know what worked and what didn’t

After setting up my internship application page, I began searching. I’ve been saving internship positions on LinkedIn ever since the beginning of the summer but have never decided to apply to any of them until I got my act together. Now that I have all of the things I need, I started mass applying. These were an odd range of jobs too. I mainly wanted to become a motion design intern but had applied to graphic design and even video/photo production. I had no idea how that would even work but I wasn’t trying to waste time by asking. I also went on sites such as Internships and Indeed which had more options than LinkedIn. In total, on the very same night that I signed up for Notion, I applied to 9 different internships. That’s more than all of the job applications I’ve ever applied to in my whole life (and I’ve had 2 jobs in the past).

I applied on Sunday night expecting to hear back from a few places by the end of the week. May luck have it, the very next day I was approached with an interview via zoom for Tuesday. I responded “Thank you for your consideration! I’m available for the meeting!” and prepared for possibly the quickest turnaround on any application I have ever submitted in my entire life.