By Danielle McGuire
Cory Schmidt, Webster University international business graduate, traveled to Itami, Japan, in the summer of 2009 for his internship. He was an intern for Kosaido, a printing and website development company.
Schmidt studied abroad at Kansai University in Osaka, Japan, the previous semester. While there, he taught English to Japanese children. He said he enjoyed the culture and decided to stay overseas for his internship.
“The thing that was great about it was the fact that no one spoke English,” Schmidt said. “That was my point. I wanted to be fully enveloped in Japanese culture, so it gave me an awesome opportunity.”
Two weeks into his internship, Schmidt wanted to venture out on his own. With permission from Kosaido, he used the company’s resources to develop an Android application to help consumers locate craft beer in Japan.
“I was actually really happy because I was making my application and learning what I wanted to do,” Schmidt said.
Webster has a global internship program to help students interested in traveling overseas to intern. Students can visit http://webster.edu/globalinternshipexperience or contact Libby Papineau, program assistant director.
Alex Vietmeier didn’t go abroad for his internship, but he did travel to New York City. Vietmeier graduated from Webster with a degree in video production. He worked as an intern with MTV in New York City. He said he was surprised to obtain the internship because he applied online and didn’t know anyone at MTV.
Vietmeier applied for 20-25 internships. MTV was the only one to call him. He was visiting New York City when he received the call for an interview. He said MTV provides phone interviews for out-of-state students.
“That was the craziest part because I didn’t know anybody, didn’t have any contacts. I figured you have to know somebody to get a call back, but that’s literally how it worked out,” Vietmeier said.
According to Vietmeier, most people working for MTV started there as an intern. He was introduced to the executives on his first day of training, and four out of five began as interns for the company. It gave him hope that he might have an opportunity to work with the network in the future.
Vietmeier was able to work with control room directors on a long-running show called “Total Request Live.” He said by the time his internship was finished, he was already doing all the tasks of a control room production assistant, which is an entry-level job in the control room.
“My internship with MTV definitely springboarded my career in television,” Vietmeier said.
He is now working as a full-time director in New York City. He has worked on hit shows such as “The Hills,” “16 and Pregnant,” “The Real World” and “Mob Wives.”
Vietmeier said he advises students seeking big internships in New York or Los Angeles to just go for it.
“Don’t think there’s any reason you wouldn’t be as qualified or more qualified than anybody else applying,” Vietmeier said.
Hard work key for interns, employers say
Webster students intern around the world
Share this post
