Students gathered information on internship opportunities at the September 2 internship meeting on campus. Photo by Cassidy Havens

by Cassidy Havens

Intern or die.

While the phrase may be a bit overdramatic, not having an extensive list of impressive internships is the equivalent of having a GED over a high school diploma for most students—not that there’s anything wrong with either, but one just sounds better than the other.

Jitka Kalašová, NYU in Prague’s internship coordinator and administrative assistant, believes internships do affect a student’s career in the future. “This experience gives [the students] a chance to learn hands-on what it is like in a specific office and if the career that they are considering is indeed one that they would enjoy on a day-to-day basis. Of course, it is always helpful to have this kind of experience on their [resumé], and it can also provide professional contacts for the future,” she says.

So, naturally, it wasn’t a huge surprise when an internship meeting was scheduled on Thursday, September 2, for the arriving NYU in Prague students. With 18 organizations (two less than last semester) participating, students have a fairly wide range of concentrations to choose from, including media, business, arts, teaching, and non-profit.

Kalašová says the internship meeting was organized “to introduce the internships and also give the students a chance to hear more about the positions directly from the people they may work with.”

According to Kalašová, nearly 30 students applied for internships through her this year, although others may have applied to the mentors directly at the internship meeting. The number of participating students is more or less the same as previous years.

The internship program was established in NYU’s first years in Prague. “We had one internship with The New Presence [a Prague-based online magazine focusing on political and socio-economical factors shaping Central Europe]. In the following years, it expanded to what it is today,” Kalašová says.

There isn’t a set deadline for when students should apply to internships but, Kalašová says, “Most students decide after the internship meeting and apply after that. Then there is a one- to two-week period during which the mentors interview the applicants.”

As for accredited internships, Kalašová says that students’ universities in the United States must approve them first and that none of the organizations participating in the internship program require students to receive credit. “Most of our students do internships for the experience, not for credit,” she says.

Coming full circle

Former NYU alum-turned-mentor Rachel Danna hopes her interns get plenty of experience from interning at The New Presence. She is looking forward to the “interns learning a lot about online magazine writing, Central Europe, and working and living in a foreign country. All of this is very important.” Now editor of The New Presence, Danna participated in the NYU in Prague program in fall 2004 as a junior. During that time, she interned at Glopolis, a policy institute and think tank.

“My internship [at Glopolis] was incredible and I would say it had a big impact on my desire to return to Prague and the Czech Republic,” Danna says.

Danna majored in journalism in the NYU College of Arts and Science and graduated in 2006. Later, studying for her masters program in public policy, she interned for The New Presence and eventually moved up to the editor position.

As for the interns applying to The New Presence this semester, Danna says she is looking for “students who are excited about getting involved and willing to devote the necessary time.” Since the magazine has a relatively small staff, interns have the opportunity to take on more responsibility and are expected to produce stories that will “stand alongside [their] contributing writers.

She hopes the interns who will be working at The New Presence will “[learn] to think in a different way, experience new things, and write about [them] in an interesting way.”

Real work in the real world

Ruby Hlivko, an NYU junior who attended the recent internship fair, hopes to intern for the news web site Transitions Online and the NGO People in Need. She says she is glad that this will be her first opportunity interning, not only because of the competitiveness in New York City, but also to escape the NYU bubble and gain experience in the journalism field abroad.

“It seems like there are a lot of internships in media and public service, and that’s almost exactly what I’d like to do in the future,” Hlivko says. Hlivko is not taking her internship for credit and says it wasn’t a deciding factor.
Students in Prague can also intern with organizations that are not based in the Czech Republic. NYU junior Emma Varvaloucas is interning for Rollinglobe, an online travel source. She says while it is still an American-based website, it focuses on travel and she will be able to have a good time while interning. “In New York, it’s not your job to experience [the city],” whereas it will be for Varvaloucas in Prague.

Like Hlivko, Varvaloucas sees advantages to doing an internship in Prague. “For most internships [in New York] you’re just getting coffee, but [the internships in Prague] are really hands-on. You’re doing stuff and learning about yourself at the same time,” she says.

NYU students in Prague who want to learn more about internship opportunities should contact Jitka Kalašová, jk1007(at)nyu.edu.