Major cities across the country like Los Angeles are attractive destinations for recent graduates or college students on summer vacation in search of a taste of their industry of choice. Because of the high concentration of entertainment and technology sectors, both of which are attractive career paths, Los Angeles is ripe with internships spanning a wide variety of companies and sectors. Keep reading…
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About Los Angeles Internships
Internships are typically short-term positions that span anywhere from a few months to an entire year and are intended to be a way for recent graduates or current students to gain relevant experience in their field of choice. Internships vary greatly in their structure and compensation, but the majority tend to be unpaid or compensated with a stipend and/or living expenses because they do not fall under the jurisdiction of regular employment. Still, seeking out paid internships is usually best because it ensures interns will not have to work a second job to sustain themselves.
Typical Employers
Notable companies with internship programs in Los Angeles are Netflix, Disney, Google, and many others that tend to be located in the technological and entertainment industries. Still, a city like LA is full of internships in plenty of other sectors too, including business and marketing, science, and even in political or non-profit institutions. Larger companies, however, tend to have designated internship programs that make the application process slightly more transparent.
Requirements
While the necessary qualifications for an intern vary greatly, the majority require having completed at least two years of an undergraduate degree in a relevant field as well as submitting letters of recommendation from teachers or mentors in the same field and access to current GPA and class data. The responsibilities of interns are just as variable and is largely dependent on the company they end up working for. However, most companies, particularly those with designated internship programs, try to mesh teaching with work experience for their interns. That means most internships involve working on some variety of project or task in the field as well as assisting or working with established professionals for educational purposes.
Intern Career Path
With an increasingly competitive job market, internships are quickly becoming a normal aspect of a career path for a growing majority of students. Even entry-level jobs demand some demonstration of relevant work experience, and internships are one of the best ways to get that experience. While the pay is rarely substantial, most interns perceive their role as that of a student – all the work they do is simply a hands-on way of learning, so they are being paid in experience.
The potential risk is that an intern would produce a substantial amount of viable work but not be compensated for their labor, so prospective interns should weigh the various compensatory measures companies take for their internship programs against the experience they take and be wary that they are not simply signing up to work for free.