Have you ever wondered what it’s like to work as a journalist, or are you fond of art? Are you worried, or excited, about having to do remote work during your internship? If you’re curious about any of the above, please follow along as I take you through my day as an art journalist intern!
First, let me introduce myself and my internship company. I’m Lotta Laosmaa, a second year Communication Science student. My internship company follow.art is based in Latvia, and provides digital solutions for art industry professionals. They are a sister company to Art Fairs Services, a company that offers build-up services for art fairs globally. My main task was to produce content for follow.art’s website, specifically the Insights section. The articles in the Insights section not only discuss current trends and events in the industry, but also include interviews with artists and curators for example.
8:45
I woke up, made breakfast and set up my space for working from home.
9:00
I started my work day by opening ClickUp, an app the company uses for task management. I checked what tasks I should get done during the day, and the deadlines I had coming up later in the week to make sure I was on track.
9:15
Usually, the first thing on my to-do list was to check my emails for responses about inquiries I had made about exhibition visits, scheduling interviews, or updates from my supervisor for example, and answer them.
9:30-11:30
I did not have that many emails that day, but I had an interview to prepare! So, I started researching an exhibition that was on view in Amsterdam – more precisely the theme, the included artists, the exhibition space, and the curator, who I would be interviewing for the piece. I also brainstormed ideas for themes the interview could cover, and drafted related questions.
11:40-12:55
During my internship, I learned to appreciate the flexibility of remote work. On days that I felt like I needed an energy boost, I could go to the gym close by during my break, as long as I had finished the tasks that concerned my meetings of the day. This doesn’t mean I could do less work, but I had the freedom to choose when to work on certain things, which also forced me to really hone my organisation and time management skills. After my workout, I had lunch and prepared for the meeting coming up.
13:00-13:35
Time for a Zoom meeting with my host supervisor! We discussed my progress in planning the new article and contacting the interviewees, and she gave me feedback on the interview themes and question ideas I had come up with. The company was also really curious about my internship research, so I shared my progress on that.
13:40-16:00
I had planned to finish the interview guide that day, so I did some more background research and worked on the final draft of questions before sending the document to my supervisor for feedback the next day. I checked my emails for the last time, answered them, and marked my tasks of the day as “done” or “in progress” on ClickUp.
16:00-17:30
I spent the rest of my workday on my research project for the course. I finished gathering the contact details of my sampling frame and finalised a research invitation e-letter and poster that I made on Canva to be sent to potential participants the next morning!