Alumni in the media industry tipped off students about how to dress, prepare for interviews and prepare for a media career on Monday, April 13 in the 12th floor Lowenstein lounge. The panel was co-sponsored by the department of communication and media studies and the office of Career Services. Brian Rose, professor of communication and media studies, mediated the event and had taught all the alumni previously in his internship seminar. “We’ve had so many sensational graduates of the internship program … I used to always have them come to my class, but their experiences are so useful, I felt it should be shared with the whole school,” he said.

Panelists included alumni employed at Good Housekeeping Magazine, Marvel Entertainment, “Saturday Night Live” and NBC News. They were all previously employed as interns at their current companies before being hired following their internships, according to Rose, who teaches the internship seminar Monday nights every semester. One piece of advice given was “to not seem like you are fishing for a job,” Christina Frasca, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’11, said. “You have to make yourself stand out though, straddle the line between helpful and annoying.”

Rose commented on the importance of standing out, he said, “The sad truth is that you are one of 10,000 interns coming through that door, and your real job is to not be intern 10,001.”

Adriana Perez, FCLC ’11 and a producer for “Saturday Night Live,” said, “Even when you are working for the media where it feels very relaxed and casual, you still have to keep a level of professionalism … don’t like invite them out to drinks after the internship ends, but keep in touch with email and social media.”

The 130 students present attended the with event, which ended by allowing students to network with the panelists. Isabella Ayers, FCLC ’17 said, “[the alumni] all have these really extensive backgrounds, but they are all down to earth and friendly.” But some of the alumni themselves attributed their experience to just working with Rose. Bry Prevatt, FCLC ’12, said, “Professor Rose bent the rules, he helped me extend my internship to a year with Marvel.” This bending of the rules also got her “dream job of working at Disney.”

At the time I got the internship, I didn’t know that Marvel had been bought out by Disney [in 2010],”