Contributors Bio

 

Name:  Bowen Beyer-Johnson

Company:  Horizon Media (summer and winter 2010) Los Angeles, CA

Position:  intern with both traditional and digital planning departments (focus with digital)

Advice for prospective students:

For me there are two pieces of advice that I give to any student looking to intern at a media agency. The first is, make sure you really know how to use Excel. Not just understand what it is as a program, but know how to really use it as a time saving tool. Know how to quickly use formula, understand formatting, and if possible I would suggest learning how to use macros in excel because they can be a real time saver. The second, and more important, piece of advice I would give is never ever be idle when you’re at the job. What I mean by this is even if you finish the work that is assigned to you, don’t stop working. Talk with your boss and see there are other things you can help on. You might end up doing work above what is expected from an intern because your boss just needs the help (These projects are the real projects that you learn applicable industry skills on anyways so you want to be working on them even if it is extra work). If your boss is having problems with something like a program on their computer and you know how to fix it, fix it. They love that and will come to you whenever problem like that happen again, and this allows you to really build a personal relationship with your boss. Lastly, if your boss really has nothing for you do (trust me this almost never happens), email other people in the company and see if they would like to your help because there is always someone else who could use your help.

 

Name: Caleb Zimmerman

Company: Arnold Worldwide, Boston, MA (Spring 2011)

Position: Account management intern with Jack Daniel’s and Southern Comfort teams

Advice for future interns: Motivate yourself to talk to as many people in the agency as you can. Just because you are an account management intern does not mean you should only talk to other account management people. Ask your supervisor to set up short chats with producers, copywriters, business managers, art directors, media planners, project managers, strategic planners, etc. Talk to anyone and everyone that is willing to give you 20-30 minutes of their time. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by how friendly everyone is and how willing they are to introduce you to other people at the agency and their friends at other agencies.