Internship Assignment D

Holly Osborn

This is London magazine

Julie and Beth Jones

Part 1:

1.       In numbered sequence of complexity and importance, list your major duties during the intern period.

1.       Go to press viewings at exhibitions

2.       Write reviews on plays and exhibitions

3.       Do research on and write reviews comparing shopping areas in London

4.       Subbings (converting long press releases into interesting bits for the magazine)

5.       Collecting leaflets from concert venues and mailing them to the advertising department

6.       Proof-reading the magazine for errors

7.       Sending bills to advertisers

2.       Were you able to fulfill any of your educational objectives? Describe how your duties contributed to this.

a.       I definitely fulfilled many of my educational objectives, these included: have my work be published in the magazine, learn as much as I can from Julie and Beth about teamwork and running a magazine, to use my status as a visitor to London to help the magazine appeal to tourists, and to continually improve my work ethic. A lot of things I did were published in the magazine, which was a great feeling. I’ve done as much as I can to observe how Beth and Julie run the magazine. I understand the process of production from start to finish and know what goes into each issue. Although sometimes things were challenging I continually strove to improve my work ethic and teamwork.

Your Supervisor:

·         Although technically Julie was “my boss” Lucy and I worked mostly with Beth. She would text or email us our tasks, and if we had a question we would usually ask her. They really trusted us to get things done once they told us, which often meant going a week or two without seeing them in person. The office is kind of far, so sometimes it was nice to work from home but sometimes challenging to get motivated. We have developed a great relationship with Beth and Julie, they are great business-women as well as supervisors. When they made corrections to our writing they would explain why and tell us how to fix it. One thing that I would suggest for improvement is a more set schedule. It was often very frustrating to have to wait until 11am to figure out what we were doing for the day. I know that a magazine needs to be flexible, but I think that knowing a schedule would have helped me organize my time better.

Your Co-workers:

·         My only co-worker was Lucy, so we spent a lot of time together. I think that we worked really well as a team to get things done. At first it was good to have someone else with me when we’d go out to do errands and go to unfamiliar areas, but by the end we were able to split up and get things done even quicker. We would pick up on different things at plays and exhibitions, which would help enrich our reviews.

Yourself:

Was your academic preparation for this internship appropriate?

·         Yes. As a communications major with an English background, writing was something that I am used to. In addition, my time working with our school paper gave me a foundation to do well with this internship.

2.       

Evaluate your work performance and the value of work assignments to yourself and to your employer.

·         Personally, I think my performance continued to grow throughout the semester. I continually learned more about the style of writing used in tourist magazines. Since we did so much it was hard to excel in one area, except subbing…we did a lot of subbing. At first it took me 20 minutes to do one, but now I can do one in five.  Although sometimes my work assignments seemed tedious (collecting the same leaflets that I did the week before) most time it really felt that what I was doing was making a difference towards the magazine.

3.       Describe how this experience has helped you professionally and personally.

·         This experience has helped me both professionally and personally. Professionally, I have learned so much about magazine publishing. I now know a new style of writing that will help me in the future professionally. I have gotten to experience being a member of the press at the press viewings at the exhibitions. I learned how to act at press viewings/what questions to ask/what to pay attention to, that readers will be interested in. Personally, this experience has given me a lot of confidence. I know that the work I did made a difference to the magazine, even if it was in a small way. I know that the what I do can make a difference.

Central College’s Programme Organization:

1.       Evaluate the application process and information provided to you. Include any suggestions for improvement.

·         I think they application process and information provided to me were sufficient. The visa process was a nightmare, and it didn’t seem like anyone really knew how to help. I would also suggest updating the money program, it is way out of date.

2.       Was the goals/self-evaluation method beneficial in providing structure and self-guidance to your learning process? Would you advise any changes?

·        Yes. I liked to set goals for myself and write them down. It’s neat to go back and see how many goals I have fulfilled while abroad.

3.       Did you expect, or want, the Central staff or director to play a different role than what was provided? Was the contact enough or too little? Suggestions?

·         I think the director role is perfect the way it is. We know that they are there to help us if need be, but they let us have our own freedom to learn and grow by making mistakes.

4.       What recommendations do you suggest for future interns?

·         With this internship, be flexible and open to suggestion. A lot of it you learn as you go, and you have to be willing to make mistakes. 

*Attached is a video to future interns.