When Is The Best Time To Apply For Internships?

Having had a successful internship run at Warner Bros. Records, Nickelodeon Animation Studio, and DreamWorks Animation Studio, I get asked this question a lot. And that is, is there a best time to apply to internships and if so when is it. And to answer that question, yes there is and that best time is during the off-season.

For the visual learners, you can find the video version of, “When Is The Best Time to Apply for an Internship?” below.

Background

So before we get started. I'd like to give some background on my internship journey. I went to UC Davis and was a Managerial Economics major. Has absolutely nothing to do with animation or the entertainment industry. But during my fifth year in college, (yes I was a super senior) I finally cracked the internship code and landed three in one year. Those internships were at Warner Bros. Records in the international marketing department, Nickelodeon Animation Studios in the Vault Department, and DreamWorks Animation in the production department on the movie Penguins of Madagascar. Prior to this, and trust me when I say this, I was applying to internships every year from my sophomore year to my senior year and I was rejected every time. It sucked. I felt defeated. I had no idea how I was going to land a job after college without any experience and to top it off, I was supposed to graduate. Not wanting to confront the real world without experience, I decided to study abroad in Spain during the spring quarter (the time I was supposed to graduate). This pushed back my graduation so I just had to take summer school to finish up. Unfortunately, some of the classes that I had to take weren't offered during the summer, so my graduation was pushed even further into the Fall Quarter. 

Off-Season Intern

My dream was to intern at a music studio. I applied to the summer internships and heard nothing back, but I also noticed that the fall applications were also opened. Applying during the fall quarter (or semester for some of you folks out there), never popped into my mind. Internships just always seemed like a summer thing. I didn't want to miss catching up with my friends come fall or being able to be a part of the bustling school campus. It just didn't seem right. But I applied to the fall program anyway, mainly because most of my friends would have already graduated by that time, and I already had my fun. 

Much to my surprise, using the same resume from the summer application to the same internship program, I received three interview requests from Warner Bros. Records all in different departments, Marketing, International Marketing, and Video Editing. I interviewed for all three positions and received an offer from the International Marketing department the next day, which I accepted. Applying to internships during the "off-season" (basically not during summer), increases your chances since the programs are less impacted. 

But the story doesn't end here, to test this theory further, during my internship at Warner Bros. Records during the fall, I decided to apply to the Nickelodeon Animation Studio internship program for the Spring term. And guess what? I got an interview, pushed back my graduation date again, and eventually becoming a Nicktern! I didn't think I was going to get it to be honest, but I wanted to test this one more time so I decided to push my graduation date back once again and applied to DreamWorks internship, not during the summer, but during the fall. I even addressed the wrong animation studio in my cover letter to DreamWorks and I got the internship. 

The reason why it took me up until my super senior year of college to secure an internship was that I was applying during the summer months, which are impacted. Every student wants to secure a summer internship and if you don't have much experience (like me), they will probably overlook you. It’s the most competitive time to apply. I know it's a messed up catch 22, but a good way around this is to apply during the "off-season," fall, or spring semesters. 

I hope my sharing of my experience helps you in some way. What are some of your dream internships you would love to be a part of? Let me know and if you have any questions at all be sure to leave them in the comment section below and I'll do my best to get to them.

To sum up, if you want to better your internship chances, try to apply during the Fall or Spring semester. You should still apply for summer programs. You never know, it’s best to have all your options available. 

Stay safe, and stay tooned. Until next time.