By Maddie Catanzaro
Television Production students were given the opportunity last week to attend the Industry Summit, an annual event where industry representatives from television networks, outside broadcasting and production companies travelled to CSU’s Wagga Wagga Campus to interview students for internships.
The event gave students the chance to network, as questions about the industry, and most importantly, it provided an opportunity to get a foot in the door.
The idea of meeting people with the power to further your career can be terrifying. The reality was a pleasant surprise.
Turning up to the “meet and greet” barbecue offered on day one made me so on edge I was too nervous to eat anything (aside from the fact that I am an atrociously messy eater and my aim for the day was to impress, not disgust these people!). Within minutes I found myself in a casual conversation with Kelly from Foxtel and the vibe of the day turned into something a little more comforting.
After a whirlwind of conversations, representatives and students alike were ushered into the TV Studio to prepare for presentations and a Q&A. We were given more insight into how the internships would work and more importantly, given real-world advice about what we should expect and the work ethic that would be expected of us.
A cup of tea and a biscuit later we were able to mingle once again and many of us left the session with extra pencilled-in (possibly begged-for!) interviews for the next day.
Starting at 9am, the second day began in a frenzy. Within an hour the interviews were running behind and those “proddies” who had acquired 10-plus interviews could only be seen in fleeting moments, dressed to the nines and dashing to the next room to be interrogated about their skills, abilities, dreams and aspirations. Gosh darn it was nerve-wracking!
Whether or not our attempts to impress were successful is yet to be known. With the internships released frustratingly slowly, survival of the proddie internships has begun!
