My internship has been one of the best experiences I have had during my studies so far. I have spent four months interning at the Dutch public broadcaster KRO-NCRV as a market researcher. In this position I sent out surveys to members of the organization, held interviews with coworkers about new plans within the organization, gave presentations about the findings from surveys and many more things. I can truly recommend KRO-NCRV as a host organization. The whole team that works there is super fun and is very willing to help you get to know the company and your tasks. Furthermore, interning at such a big media company will give you a unique insight in the field of television and radio.
Starting the internship
Starting my internship was one of the most nerve wrecking things I have ever done. I spent the entire week leading up to the start of my internship being nervous. I had never worked in a big company before, let alone ever set foot in an office building, so I had no idea what I could expect from this internship. When I stepped into the office, I immediately felt very welcome. The first few days of my internship were very tiring, but also a lot of fun. I got to learn a lot of new things in my first few days and in a week, I was all ready to go and do my own tasks.
It did take quite some time to become fully independent in my tasks. That is not weird, everything was new, so it is obvious that it took some time to get used to everything. Once I got used to my tasks and became more confident in them, I also started to appreciate my internship more. I had lovely coworkers who I had a great connection with. This made work even more fun for me, I always looked forward to going to the office, which unfortunately was not a lot due to Covid, but the times that I did go were always fun.
Advice/learnings
One of the things that I wish I knew before I started my internship is that it is okay to ask to also orient in other branches of the organization you intern at. I was an intern at a public broadcaster, so I also spent some days on filming sets. I was really interested in the works that go on behind the scenes of a production set. Thankfully, my internship supervisor gave me plenty of opportunities to spend days on filming sets, next to my regular tasks as an intern.
One advice from me is that it is important to start looking early for an internship. This will definitely save you some stress, since the process of finding an internship that fits you can take a long time. Besides that, starting to look early can also give you a better internship. Popular internships will be occupied very quickly. There were some companies I wanted to intern at, but I was too late, when I applied for an internship, the spot was already taken. So, if there is a popular company or position that you want, it is important to start applying early!
