The last time CT 399 class met, we were assigned to practice our researching skills to find some internship opportunities. Although I did find a few that interested me on LinkedIn, most of them were looking for at least 1-3 years of working experience in the animation field (Surprise… Surprise).

Luckily, I have already landed an internship so I’m confident that I can quickly stock up on some of that working experience my future employers are asking for.

I first learned about CUNY Cultural Corps through a promotional email Michael had sent out to CT students who were in need of finding an internship to complete the CT 490-Intership course. After reading the email, I quickly brushed up my resume & portfolio website and then applied to the program. I can’t tell you exactly what I did to get accepted because I really don’t know. I’m not a high achieving 3.0 GPA student so I know damn well my very low 2 point something GPA was not a key factor. However, I can tell you about the process, my personal experience and some tips I’ve learned so far because I’m still in the hiring/orientation process and have not officially started working for a cultural institution yet.

I applied to the program on August 27, ten days before the Sept. 6th deadline. The application was similar to when you’re apply to college because you had to write an 400 word response on “What does a cultural institution mean to you” or something similar, I don’t remember the question word for word.

Soon after the Aug. 27th submission, got a request for an online group interview on September 4th. The Sept. 4th interview date threw me off guard because it means hiring managers pick candidates way before the actual application deadline. So one tip I can give is try to apply to any job/internship as soon as you feel ready, don’t wait till the deadline.

The online group interview was interesting. There were about 30-50 CUNY students in the group interview via Zoom. The main goal of the group interview, in my opinion, was to test how well you work with others and how you react under pressure because the interviewer split us into groups and we had 15 minutes to do a google slides presentation on a topic related to current events. Furthermore, the group members were each responsible for a role such as researcher & etc., and had to work collaboratively to create a final presentation. Throughout the whole interview and the miniature groups we were split in, each of us were being monitored and evaluated on our leadership, teamwork, and overall attitude. We couldn’t see those who where monitoring us but we were told they were “evaluating everything we are doing”. So I guess, another tip is to always present your best self in an online interview as you would in a normal face to face interview. It’s common sense but people sometime assume the online format can be more laid back than the face to face interview.

To keep this post short, I will summarize the process after I passed the interview process and was official a member of the program. After the interview, we were assigned to attended 3 mandatory workshops and orientations to get us prepared for working at which ever worksite we would end up with after interviewing with the companies. The workshops span over a two month period. The workshops were also helpful as they thought you resume building, what to expect in an interview, and working remotely. However, one negative I can say is that this program is not suitable for someone with a busy schedule because you had to attend the workshops and the Job fair at whatever day and time it was schedule, which means you had to miss class or call in sick if you are employed. Luckily, this is my last semester (only one full day of classes) and I’m unemployed, so I pretty much stay home all day and never have schedule conflicts. Other than that, I recommend the program. It’s a great learning experience and will give you a head start in your career of interest. Lastly, one last tip is just apply to a job you’re interested in, you never know. I really didn’t think I would had been accepted because my GPA is so low, a senior, and have never participated in any school clubs or exudes any school spirit.

The worksite I will be working for is called The Museum of Chinese in America and I’ll be a Graphic Design intern. I’m excited because I plan to have a career in both Animation and Graphic design. This internship will definitely help with gaining those skills and experiences my future employers are asking for. More importantly, I can use this internship to freaking graduate already! It’s been a long, stressful, but rewarding five years…….