The Beginning…….
My search for an internship started July of 2015. I knew that I would have to take this Internship course in Spring of 2016 and I didn’t want the pressure of looking for one by time I started the class. Unfortunately that’s what happened, after months of searching I am still Internship-less and now faced with my worst fear
I started my search on Indeed, from there I moved on to Monster and Hunter College’s Alumni Career website. I have access to their database system because my sister is an Alumni of Hunter, within the last year I found my last two jobs through their career website. When I looked on their website, I narrowed in my search to; graphic design, paid (when I first started looking), and part time. There were a lot of internships that came up for large companies such as; Scholastic, Zerve, XM Radio, Viacom etc. The search seemed endless at the time, I came across Re/Max and secured an interview with a man named Max. He asked me to bring my portfolio, I went to Remsen to get fresh print outs of my best work (at the time), and re-ordered my portfolio. My interview lasted four minutes, he was very brief, after introducing himself he forgot my name, and did not ask me anything pertaining to graphic design. When the interview was over I already knew that he; did not know how to interview for this position, he also gave off this “I’m too busy to even sit down and try to get to know you” personality. I did not get my hopes up, and by the next day he sent out an email stating that he went with someone else (which was a complete lie because my friend interviewed for the same position the next week she also didn’t get hired).
After that interview I was contacted by a start up technology/ graphic design company (I do not remember applying, this happened more than I thought it would). They informed me that I had made it pass the first round and phone screening was the second round. The internship lasted three months and had a stipend of 1000! When the associate asked me my availability I informed her that I attended school for 3 days. My Fall 2015 semester was already set, at the time I attended school on; Tuesday, Wednesday and one mid day class on Thursday. After that I did not hear back from her.
Graphic Designer vs. Fashion Designer – Journal 2
From September to November I put my heavy search for an internship on hold. I had a school schedule filled with design projects, I no longer had electives so I just had to focus on my last eight art classes. In October I applied to a men’s fashion wear company called Church & Dodge that posted “Graphic Design Intern needed”. I looked over their requirements and saw that they needed their intern to have knowledge of the basic Adobe systems, help with magazine layouts, possible change of their logo etc. I looked up their company and address on Google (I tend to do this with smaller companies that are unheard of) and I found no address or even any trace of the company. I became a bit alerted but decided to keep my options open.
Two weeks passed and I was contacted by Indeed email by their company. The email was an email user name, there was no company stamp attached to it (another sign). I asked the individual I was corresponding with to tell me about the company, they informed me that it was a new men’s brand. That possibly explained why it was not on Google. However the individual then proceeded to ask me if I had an samples of flats or cads. I was not familiar with the terms, and decided to look it up. I found out that it was a fashion designer term, and realized that I did not have that. I informed the associate that I did not have any samples of flats or cads. She then sent me an email showing me what it was, and explained that they are really looking for a fashion intern. I kindly let her know what I had experience in and that I was a student majoring in Graphic Design. At that point all emails ceased. From that experience I learned that some individuals just associate the word “design” with all kinds of design. A graphic and fashion designer are two vastly different occupations. They had also posted a false description of who they really wanted to intern for them.
When One Door Closes- Journal 3
Unlike I planned I started my last semester without an internship, at this point I am now on a time limit. I was beginning to worry because this class is significant to my graduation. My mother contacted a friend and asked if her daughter (who works in advertising) could possibly help me. She started helping me by building up my Linked- In Profile, and informed me that I should look for internships through Linked-In. Lastly she told me to make a pitch for myself and call around to different companies I was interested in and sell myself. I focused my internship search through Linked-In and applied to companies such as; SoundCloud, Corcoran Group, and Bloomberg just to name a few.
After I applied I researched the H.R. of their graphic design or media department and took down their contact information. After a week if I did not hear back from them, I emailed them with my pitch, resume and cover letter, in hopes of hearing back from them. To my surprise it worked for the Corcoran Group, the next day I was contacted by the H.R. of the Graphic Design departments’ assistant. She informed me that they received my email and were putting me under consideration. Unfortunately I have not heard back from them since then. A few days later I went back on Hunter’s career website and saw two new internship postings. I applied to both of them. One was for a high ends men fashion line called Paul Stuart, and another was for a non profit organization called Cityarts. Within an hour I was contacted by Paul Stuart, they wanted to schedule an interview as soon as possible. I immediately cleared my schedule and told them I would be available to come in the next morning. Two hours later the head of HR called me and asked for my online portfolio ( I attached the link in my original application email however it was not passed on to her), after getting off the phone with her I was sent a confirmation email for the interview.
By 5 pm I was sent an email by Paul Stuart, stating that my interview was cancelled because they went with someone else.
…………………….. suspect
I was angry and I couldn’t understand why they would cancel the interview after confirming it twice, and I honestly thought that their reasoning was an excuse. I called back the number and explained my frustration in a mature manner, and explained to them that I had to reschedule my online class to come to their meeting. I was given a sincere apology and told that the Art Director didn’t check his assistants candidates and decided to make a decision on the spot. Although I was dismayed, I continued to search for an internship. Ten minutes after getting off the phone CityArts sent me an email saying that they were interested and wanted to set up an interview with me.
The Interview- Journal 4
Before going on my interview at CityArts I decided to do some company research. Through my research I found out that CityArts is a non-profit organization that helps children express themselves through art to better their community. They allow children to create murals, that can take up to three months on school or abandoned lot walls. The children are from lower income communities, the goal is to have them express themselves and do something positive with their lives. Therefore the negative influences in their community will not affect them. CityArts has been around for 45 years and continues to flourish even internationally.
I wasn’t nervous going into my interview, it was a colorful interview room and had children’s art work on the walls and decorating the tables. I was asked to watch a ten minute video on CityArts, I was glad I did my research because it would later come in handy. The interview went well and the Office manager, who interviewed me liked me. She explained that the board had the final decision, and if they decided to I would be the only graphic design intern. They would ask me to remodel their magazines, and brochure for their annual event in May. After the interview I had to write a three paragraph essay, describing what I knew about the company before my interview, what I learned from watching the video (good thing I payed attention) and lastly what I could offer CityArts.
I am still waiting to hear back from them, but I am hoping they pick me. In the mean time I am still on the search.
