Looking Beyond Goldman

'Tis the season for bookmarking Glassdoor tabs and adding contacts on LinkedIn until your laptop spontaneously combusts. As the token English major (read: email writer) among friends of more practical concentrations, I constantly find myself hiding behind any nearby tall object when a conversation turns to summer plans. However, I recently realized that, based on pure statistics, there must be others out there who also have no idea what they are doing this summer (right?....RIGHT?!).  Hoping to convince myself of this reality, I gathered some stories of students who didn't chose traditional summer paths. Hopefully their unique experiences might remind you of the true extent of summer opportunities out there and even introduce you to a few fields you hadn't even considered. Meet Ryan Burke ('19): Media Intelligence Intern with the NFL.What particular skills or interests were useful for this internship?As a Media Intelligence Intern at the NFL, my job was mainly to report on the performance of their digital content – articles, videos and podcasts on their website. This allowed the content teams to see exactly what material was popular among fans and better allocate resources towards future projects.The most important skill I had coming in was Microsoft Excel and I improved my skills throughout the course of the summer. I also learned about several other tools, such as comScore and Adobe Analytics, that enabled me to make specific content recommendations. I’m also a huge football fan, so it was really cool to analyze articles I usually read anyways.What’s one thing you took away from this internship?The NFL did a good job of introducing interns to different departments. Every week a different group presented in front of the interns so we got a taste of what it’s like to work in a variety of areas.What would you suggest to someone looking to get into this field?For someone looking to work in sports, it’s really important to show your interest extends beyond just being a fan. Any chance you have to speak with alumni or other professionals in the field can set you apart. For me, I found out about the job at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, where I had the chance to speak to NFL Employees directly. The personal connection definitely went a long way in helping me get the internship.Ryan and some of his co-workers enjoying a company party at the top of Rockefeller Center. Meet Jane Diaz Bradley ('21), Intern on the Education Coordination team at HIAS Pennsylvania Refugee Resettlement Agency.What particular skills or interests were useful for this internship?A lot of interpersonal skills were required, as well as phone etiquette and self-sufficiency. It depends on the tasks you're assigned, but I was assigned a wide range of tasks - everything from accompanying clients to medical appointments and first days of school to calling landlords and seeking viable housing for refugee families (one thing I unfortunately learned is that there are many, many landlords who are unwilling to rent to refugees, making it quite a task to find affordable housing with an unbiased landlord). Many of the clients I worked with had arrived to America just days or weeks before I was meeting them, so I had to learn how to use LanguageLine (a translational phone service) since many of the clients couldn't speak English.What’s one thing you took away from this internship?One thing I took away is that I am definitely able to learn on the job, and I think that anyone who works in a similar resettlement agency will have this takeaway as well. Before my internship, I had never called a landlord, helped register someone for school, used LanguageLine, accompanied someone with whom I could not communicate at all from one end of a city to another...I could go on and on. While occasionally it was a little intimidating to be thrown a task and expected to complete it with almost no prior training, it really helped build my confidence about what I'm able to accomplish when I just throw myself into my work. And now I have so many more skills that I most certainly would not have built at an internship where I'd have been fetching coffee or filing paperwork, so I'm grateful!What would you suggest to someone looking to get into this field?Refugee resettlement agencies need all the help they can get!  If you're looking to get into this area, be willing to work in all aspects of the resettlement process! And know that agencies are really, really eager to take on volunteers and interns to help out with on-the-ground work, so you'll meet people from all over the world with really incredible stories. You're one of the first people some of these refugees are meeting in America, so making a good impression and helping them feel welcome has more of an impact than almost any other job you could do. Its amazing to work in a job where you're really on the "front lines," so to speak. You're not locked away in an office doing work that has an impact you never really see - you're interacting with multiple refugee families every single day, helping them get settled into their new lives in America. They've had such fascinating journeys, and working in a resettlement agency really helps put a face to the group that's bandied about in the news so much. It's such fulfilling work! Meet Monika Hedman  ('21) Assistant Editor and Production Assistant at Art Prof.What particular skills or interests were useful for this internship?Because Professor Lieu, the creator of Art Prof, taught me all of the physical skills I needed to know for the internship (video editing, sound syncing, video production, etc), my interest in the arts and film were very useful. I worked remotely for this internship, meaning I never went into an office and had to complete the work on my own time. To successfully do this, it was important to know how to manage time, and even more important to be passionate about the work.What’s one thing you took away from this internship?Prior to this experience, I had never worked somewhere that related to my overall career goals. Even though I want to work in a creative industry after college, I worked as a lifeguard and in retail through high school. Because of this, I had never worked at a place where people were really passionate about what they were doing. I had also never worked at a startup before on such a tight knit team. I did learn a lot about editing videos during my time as an intern in Art Prof, but the most valuable thing I took away from this internship was the power of passion and perseverance, and how inspiring it can be to work with people that share similar interests.What would you suggest to someone looking to get into this field?Art Prof falls into a fairly niche field, as it sits at an intersection between arts and education. Because Art Prof was small, I had a lot of varying tasks, making it hard to place my internship into a specific field. If someone is looking to work in the video/film industry, my best advice is to learn how to edit videos; Adobe Premiere is a really great place to start. Find a reason to make short videos to show your production and editing skills, as having a strong demo reel is the best way to find employment in the film industry. If you’re just looking for something in the arts, having a website and finding places to submit or show your work is great to gain exposure. No show or publication is too small; you never know where you’ll end up meeting a potential employer.Monika shooting a portfolio critique with a co-worker. Meet Nnamdi Jogwe ('19 ), Sun Hung Kai Consultant at Noah's Ark Hong Kong.What particular skills or interests were useful for this internship?Being well-read, able to work in groups, independently motivated, and unafraid to approach people were very important skills for the job. In the fast startup world we live in now, guessing what customers might like with a product, ordering factory shipments, and selling products can now all be streamlined and big miscalculations perhaps avoided. Our process of formulating an idea, creating a prototype, testing out the prototype on prospective customers, and pivoting based on feedback can help create the product that customers desire without wasting money on thousands of product shipments. Therefore, being well-read was helpful to come up with innovative ideas to continue to improve the customer experiences at Noah’s Ark, a Biblical Theme Park jointly run between Sun Hung Kai and the Hong Kong government. Being able to work in groups was vital because the work was usually split into two or three groups to complete a task, with each person bringing in a specific skill-set. For example, I had the insight to create a scavenger hunt to make the theme park more interactive; however, I lacked the artistic abilities to design a map and scavenger hunt booklet prototype, which another group member helped create.What’s one thing you took away from this internship?Failure is inevitable. If anything, fail fast to learn the mistakes and correct them as soon as possible. When not testing out a product with customers, what seemed like a good idea ended up being a waste of time. Therefore, always keep the customers in mind and get their feedback.What would you suggest to someone looking to get into this field?One must understand cross-cultural contexts. What might be a popular product in one place will be unrecognizable or a failure in another. However, utilize your different background to bring innovative ideas when consulting in different regions. Particularly, as an ethnic studies concentrator, I always focused on making the products as inclusive as possible. Additionally, network with alumni. I received the internship from Raymond Kwok, whose daughter attended Brown. Meet Bianca Stelian ('20), Development Intern at The Weinstein CompanyWhat particular skills or interests were useful for this internship?Being comfortable voicing my opinions strongly and sticking to them, as I would have to make a case why we would reject/consider/recommend a script and the execs counted on me having a strong case however I chose - so even though I didn’t have years of experience in the industry, I had to hone my taste in conjunction w understanding the Weinstein brand.What’s one thing you took away from this internship?There is no such thing as too much networking (as long as you’re respectful). I scheduled informational coffee chats with a lot of Brown alums or personal connections and learned from all of them. When you’re in college, people are more likely to be open to speaking with you because you’re not hungry for a job right away - and you’re building connections you can have for years.What would you suggest to someone looking to get into this field?Unfortunately, a lot of it is about who you know. So dive deep into Brown Connect or your high school alumni base- and if you have no luck there - although, unlikely, given Brown has a ton of people in the industry - then be active on campus in film organizations like IFF and BMP and make connections there.Image via