INTERNSHIP ADVICE FROM MEDIA PROS

FTC Reporter Sean Lanigan re-caps Five Towns College's November 11th Virtual Meet and Mingle with top companies in the media industry.

By Sean Lanigan

The Five Towns College Career Services Center put together quite the lineup of media companies for the Virtual Meet and Mingle event on November 11th. Produced by Krysti O'Rourke, Director of Career Services at Five Towns College, each company came ready to discuss what they bring to the table in terms of jobs, and internships.

If you missed the event, here are the highlights:

• Sirius XM: Gaby-Flores Sanchez represented the company’s internship program, which is paid, offered year-round, and can count for college credit. SiriusXM is now the largest audio entertainment company in North America and is looking for students who have knowledge of the music, sports, and entertainment industries.

• Audio Savings: Andrew Trevino is the HR Director and said the company is looking for approximately 30 people. He described the company as a small, family-owned business where you can even find the team-oriented CEO in the warehouse picking up trash. Open positions include installations, product testing, accounting, and marketing. They are also recruiting talent who can create, script, and produce audio tutorial videos.

•Cox Media Group: Jessica Mills is an Office Manager for radio stations such as WBAB and WBLI. The company focuses on diversity and employs a lot of FTC alumni. They want their employees to be engaged and have fun. In a recent one-word survey from their employees, the most popular word was “family.” Mills said, "Creativity is a necessity in every department. In production, you have to be creative and as brand ambassadors, you have to be creative with contests and meeting our listeners."

• Hot 97: Patricia Robinson is the VP of HR and Community Engagement Leader. Hot 97 wants you to learn every department to have a great appreciation for the business in an environment where they promote enthusiasm. The Mass Comm students sometimes collaborate with other departments on projects and Robinson believes the benefits are endless. Robinson said, "It encourages your public speaking skills and helps you learn in a multigenerational complex environment. You get practice on getting your thoughts effectively heard."

• HBO Division of Warner Media: Martha Velasquez is the Senior Contract Administrator and a 2003 Five Towns College graduate. Warner Media values their internship program and want interns to contribute their ideas to the company’s creative space. Velasquez said, "Storytelling comes in many different shapes and forms. When you shake someone's hand, you are telling a story. When you say your name or communicating in a board room, you are telling a story."

• Crossing Midnight Entertainment’s President, Rudy Valme, performs at events such as weddings, house parties, and bars and the company is looking for people on the performance side and the production side. Positions include male and female vocalists, a drummer, a keyboard player, and a bass player. On the production side, they're looking for audio engineers, roadies, stagehands, and lighting specialists.

• Rick Eberle, owner from The Rick Eberle Agency, helps musicians get their music heard. Eberle has worked with Jewel and Michael McDonald, just to name a few, and encourages everybody to learn all sides of the business. Eberle advised, "In the music business, become a master from the smallest things to the biggest things. Try to see into the future and be as versatile as you can."

• Sony- Meaghan Lyons works in A & R and is another Five Towns College alumna. Lyons discussed Sony's recent licensing deal with TikTok and the importance of the platform in the music industry. She also provided insight into how the record company helps their music artists in a variety of creative and business aspects.

This event was an overwhelming success and illustrates the important skills that students need to learn for their industry such as being creative across different departments, and working on public speaking and storytelling skills.