Today’s “Internship Ideas” profiles senior Communication Studies major Arianna Edwards and her internship at the Metro Newspaper Advertising Services. Here we go…
Q: Where are you interning?
Arianna: “The name of the company I work for is Metro Newspaper Advertising Services. Metro is an advertising services company which serves a middle man between the advertisers and the media outlet or platform where the advertisement will be seen. Advertising agencies pay companies like Metro to negotiate prices and place their advertisements in print newspapers and online newspaper websites.”
Q: How did you find this internship?
Arianna: “I applied for the internship in January of 2010 during the time when I was in Pabst’s internship class however they were not looking for interns until the following summer. The following August I was contacted by them and have been working there ever since.”
Q: Why did you choose to intern there?
Arianna: “Unlike my first internship, Metro is a very established company that has been around for a very long time. I had already worked in the start-up business type of atmosphere and really wanted to try something different.”
Q: What do you do on a regular basis at your internship?
Arianna: “My job at Metro is working under executive online media planners. My job is primarily to track the overall status and delivery of the online campaigns from start to finish. I work with the online newspaper sales reps of papers like the SF Chronicle, New York Times, and Tribune to make sure that our advertisements are running correctly on their sites.”
Q: What have you learned from this internship?
Arianna: “My boss has been a great teacher and mentor who has taught me a lot about the advertising business and the skills needed to land a job post graduation. Some of the things she emphasizes most are having great communication skills both through email and over the phone. She believes it is very important to able to get a message or concept across in a clear way and as straight forward as possible. She also urges me and the other interns to always ask questions. She believes it shows initiative and is the best way of learning.”
Q: What advice do you have for other students looking for an internship?
Arianna: “Do some research about the types of places or businesses you think you would want to work at. The worst thing is feeling like you are stuck working for a company that you don’t want to represent. Also, being persistent is something that has always helped me when applying for a job. Companies get hundreds, sometimes thousands, of resumes a day that are overlooked. Because of this, I have found that following up with a phone call or an email after submitting a resume can go a long way.”
Arianna recently went on a trip to New York City as part of her internship. Yes, you read it correctly! Here is what she had to say about it: “This past December I got the chance to travel with Metro to New York City to visit their national headquarters and attend their annual holiday party. It was my first time visiting New York and have completely fallen in love with the city. Traveling to New York with my company, I was able to meet a lot of people who are currently working in advertising, it was a great way to meet people and gain insight into what working in advertising is really all about.”
Arianna, smiling because she is in NYC as part of her internship with Metro
Arianna may look familiar to you because when she is not interning, she works as a student assistant in our department office. Arianna is also on the USF track team, and we wish her good luck this season!
Do you have an internship that you enjoy? Contact me at edoohan@usfca.edu to be profiled in a future edition of Internship Ideas. You know you want to…
Nice job Arianna! and good luck this season with track!