This post is thanks to Katy Stankevitz, an alumna of University of Wisconsin-Madison and a former ISA Featured Blogger. Katy interned abroad with ISA Internships in Sydney, Australia in Spring 2014.
What is there to do on Friday night in Sydney? The better question is what isn’t there to do? Sometimes I can’t believe I’m living in a place with such character. Besides the history and architecture, Sydney is a bustling, exciting place that always has something going on. I have an advantage when it comes to knowing “what’s on” (Australian for “what’s happening”) because of my internship at Time Out Sydney.
Time Out is an international arts and entertainment brand, with representation in over 50 cities around the world. Their main focus is to help people have the best time possible in the city where they are living or visiting.
For us, that means writing about upcoming events and reviewing bars, restaurants, shops and other venues so our readers can utilize the best of what the city has to offer. In addition to their website, Time Out Sydney has a monthly magazine they put out with feature stories about people and events.
Through my ISA Internship, I’m an editorial intern at Time Out Sydney. What does this mean? It means that I work with the team that writes for both the magazine and the website and help them out with anything they may need. My daily responsibilities at my internship include:
- Typing up summaries of events or venues and putting them up on the website or the websites for Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane.
- Transcribing interviews
- Checking facts of finished magazine pages
During my first week at my internship, I was asked to write a short 50-word explanation of an app and it ended up in the print magazine! I totally geeked out after seeing my name in print, even though it was only 50 words. After my first three weeks at my internship, I have noticed a definite improvement in my writing skills and writing in the witty Time Out voice has become more natural for me.
Working at a magazine, or media in general, has its perks. Through this internship, I was able to attend a free screening of 12 Years a Slave (before it hit Australia). After the screening, my co-workers and I were able to hang out and network at an an exclusive Time Out after party.
Being on assignment has allowed me to visit a couple of popular Sydney restaurants, including Rueben Hills and Mamak and the famous Messina Gelato. These perks are not only giving me networking opportunities and potential for being in print again, but they are helping me experience living and working in Sydney to the fullest.
Though my internship is an unpaid experience, I’m gaining so much more than a paycheck here. Apart from the the free events and perks, my communication and writing skills have improved, which will help me in any industry I go into when I return home.
The World Awaits…Discover it.