By reading the title, some of you
may guess ‘Wait, is that a movie title?’ Well, yes you are right, but this post
it’s not going to be me talking about Anne Hathaway or Robert de Niro acts. By
adopting the same title, I’m referring to something more special than that. You
are about to read my internship experience! Ready or not, here I come!
It all started with me surviving
through another semester of my university life. After passing the 6th
semester (I have 8 semesters in total before graduating), I have to go through
another freakin semester which leads me to this mandatory requirement,
INTERNSHIP. For the first time in my life, I feel really really terrified that
I can’t pass this one. First, homegirl should find the intern vacancies by
herself. Second, homegirl still don’t have her resume ready. Third, homegirl
was basically did not ready for all of these. BOOM! What should I do then? All
I can do back then was trying to be cooperative with all the process down from
the uni and see where it takes me.
I came with an open heart to the
internship briefing held by the campus. They basically told us about do (s) and
don’t (s) while going through the intern process. Me, as one of the multimedia journalism
students should do the internship at the established media whether it’s
newspaper, magazine, tabloid, or online media company. I started to think,
where am I going to be putting my ass off for this internship? Since I am a lifestyle
magazine addict/hoarder, right in that moment I know where I am going.
First thing first, I have my
resume ready and I listed down all of my favorite lifestyle magazines. We all know
the internship hunt isn’t easy, so I found myself striving in order to find the
right place. Well, it didn’t happen just like that, I was throwing resumes at
every wall possible to see what sticks and….. one morning I got a call (during
class)!
I jumped and talked to the HR
calmly but deep down, I was really excited!!!! Long story short, after the
interview session and some job tests, THEY FINALLY HIRED ME AS AN INTERN! I was
over the moon when receiving a final follow-up call from the HR. Thank You for
making another step possible for me.
Oops, I think I haven’t mention the
media where I put myself into yet. It’s HighEnd Teen! To clarify things,
HighEnd Teen used to be a source of information shaped in a magazine form from
the early 2008 until the very last issue, July 2017. Since then, they shifted
all the content digitally to www.highendteen.com,
HighEnd Teen Youtube channel and @highendteen on Instagram. Still, they focus
on lifestyle content for teen, delivering smart articles and up-to-date news.
For some extra insights, HighEnd Teen is a sister to HighEnd magazine published
by PT MNI Entertainment. They are part of the highly respected PT Global
Mediacom Tbk family which includes PT Media Nusantara Citra Tbk (MNC Group).
After the long process of finding
‘the right’ place, the first day problem started to occur. Now I have to
actually go to work, well, as an intern, but still I have the similar responsibility.
Since I have an over thinking problem and I hate to be in the new atmosphere,
my first day of intern was really anxiety-inducing. What should I wear? What
should I do when I arrived? How will I greet my work colleague? What and how about
this and that questions starting to pop out.
First day was really terrifying for
me. I have never been into a real workspace before. I have never done any of
part time or any other jobs before. Basically, I have a zero experience with
all of these. The only thing I have in mind is I really want to go home and
sleep (in case you didn't know, I have a bad social anxiety hahaha…). It was
getting worse when people around the office staring at me like, Who the hell is
she? What is she doing here? My mind was constantly racing and worried too
much.
After the first day, second day,
first week, second week passed, I have found myself feeling really comfortable
and happy with the job. I can finally say, it’s just a matter of time (saying
goodbye to my super high anxiety self). I was involved in many photo shoots as
a stylist assistant, going to events, writing many fashion and beauty articles,
interviewing people, taking photos, producing digital content, and other
exciting activities. Since HighEnd Teen shifted their content digitally, all of
the HighEnd Teen editorial team is now in charge on helping HighEnd magazine
editorial team as well. Yes, including me. I worked for both media, HighEnd
Teen and HighEnd. I produced fashion and beauty articles (mostly news feature)
on HighEnd Teen’s website along with Fashion First Look and Beauty Flawless
News rubrics on HighEnd magazine. I had so much fun!
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Editorial Workspace |
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Kak Aristha, Ci Sherly and Me! |
Also, big shout out to everyone
in the office who helped me get through the tough times (you know who you are).
You guys are one of the most hard working and dynamic team ever! Of course to my
HighEnd Teen mentor, Sherly Cynthia. She encouraged and guided me from the very
beginning. Without you I’m nothing, Ci hahaha… Also shout out to Kak Olin, my mentor while
working for HighEnd magazine. You are the most loving and patient person I
know. If you ask me about the work atmosphere, it almost feels like working
from home and less hurry (which I like). They are not forcing you to do it in
fast pace. As long as you are passionate about what you do and have that high
initiative and responsibility, you can do the job well. As the result, they
will believe in your work and not putting so much pressure on you.
I have always been into writing,
maybe since I was in junior high school. I have my own blog back then, much
likely as my open online diary. Even though sometimes I still find myself being
in the long writing hiatus, I keep coming back and write. Since HighEnd Teen produced
lifestyle content including music, photography, travel, fashion, food, etc. and
I also have a lot of interest in them, I am happy that I could be a part of
HighEnd Teen team.
Despite all
the sweat and stress going back and forth from Serpong to Jakarta Monday to
Friday, I am truly blessed to have new working experience and all the knowledge
inside also meeting great people in and outside the office. Working in the
media especially jumping down in the lifestyle field is very challenging and
fun at the same time. First, going to many events during the rush hour. Guys, it’s
Jakarta. Being on time to events is something really intense to do. But every
time I try to be on schedule, the event is being postponed (almost in every
event). Second, for me writing is always therapeutic and I enjoy it so much but
I admit sometimes we have that one day feeling like crap and stuck. That’s
where I have to put myself up, focus, and find great content to write. If you want to read my writings go to www.highendteen.com. Third,
interviewing people. I got a chance to interview dr. Natasha Vinski which was
featured on HighEnd magazine cover for October 2017 edition. I was in charged
to do an interview for the cover story!!! How amazing was that?
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Going to event |
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Photo Shoots |
This internship has given me the
much-needed experience and face time with an industry insider that is necessary
to land my first real job. But to be honest, I have never seen myself working
in HighEnd Teen in every way possible. I was their loyal reader before they are
finally closing the print. I have never imagined myself producing content for
them and have my writing read by public. Such a great experience! With that
being said, I believe that sometimes we need a dash of uncertainty to keep
things interesting because you can’t experience something new if you are doing the
same thing every single day, right?
To sum up my internship story, I
have a few tips that might help you get through your version of internship. Do some
research before sending your resume and make sure you’ll love the company or at
least you can picture yourself working there. For your resume, it’s important
to showcasing only the most relevant and high-quality examples of your work
related to the position you want to apply. If you got the job, don’t do too
much work though, you don’t want to set the bar too high for yourself and end
up being expected to do like 5 people’s jobs. Using your initiative when
working on a task is one of a good example, but develop a feel for when it’s
best to stop and ask for guidance. So, always be open and ask questions.
Good luck, peeps!