My Internship in a TV Newsroom
Though there are many ways to land an internship, RIC junior Raymond Baccari was able to find his by simply Googling local news stations and checking their websites to see if they offered internships.
After mailing in his application, which included a résumé, a letter of recommendation and a cover letter, he got an offer from ABC 6 News (WLNE-TV).
“I'm learning a lot of skills through this internship,” Baccari says. “Things you couldn’t learn in a classroom, like what a day looks like for news anchors and reporters and how to write for TV news and how to use the cameras and other equipment.”
Along with giving him a real-world experience into his future career in TV news, Baccari is using this internship to take every opportunity to ask questions of the anchors, directors and reporters to learn more about what they do. He’s also getting tips from them on how he can get their job.
“When you’re applying to become a news anchor or reporter, the station will ask for a reel,” he says, “which is a two-to-three-minute video of your work that shows how you look and talk on camera, along with clips from stories you've reported on. They also gave me pointers on how my reel should look, and I got opportunities to film content for my reel. It’s great because it’s giving me a jump start on my career.”
Baccari’s advice for other students seeking an internship:
- Start searching as early as possible.
- Polish up your résumé.
- Make use of the resources on campus such as the Career Development Center.
- And start putting together sample work from what you've done so far at RIC, whether it’s projects you did in class or freelance work.
See how the Career Development Center can help you nab an internship:
“4 Tips for Landing Your Dream Internship”