# How would YOU like to be approached by a potential intern?



## Lokee (Apr 4, 2015)

Here's the thing:
I'm looking for an internship with some hard to reach folks. My options are: Call (home) or send an e-mail. 

Calling is of course very personal and you are guaranteed a response, but perhaps calling might be too personal? Would you be bothered if someone you don't know calls your home and asks for an internship?

E-mails are always hard. I thought about keeping the email VERY short and just attaching a youtube link to it with a short video about me, why I choose him/her and a medium sized portfolio following. Is that ok or should I put it in the email itself? 

Another thing is the portfolio. Do you prefer full lengt tracks or short excerpts? And if short: add a link to the full versions as well? 

Thanks!


----------



## Daryl (Apr 4, 2015)

I can only tell you how I deal with being contacted by potential interns (which happens regularly).

1) Anyone who calls me either doesn't get the phone answered or gets told "no". Don't waste my time.
2) Emails are good and will always get a reply, even if it takes me a few days to reply.
3) I need to know not only what you expect to get from an internship, but what you can offer me in return. If you are expecting to learn from me, use my contacts and get general advice, it has to be a symbiotic relationship. Whilst I may be interested to hear what you can write, that is pretty much irrelevant to you being hired as an intern. As I'm the composer, why would I want to hear your stuff?

So the important thing is to be very clear what your skills are. A bullet pointed CV is essential. It must be possible to speed read it. If you have used both OSX and Windows, say so. Also, try to make it appear that the CV has been crafted for the person you're sending it to.

D


----------



## Lokee (Apr 5, 2015)

Thanks Daryl, that is very insightful. Would you prefer if I cut to the chase right away? So an email would be like (summarised): "Hi X, i'd like to apply as an intern for X period. Here's why and what I can offer. My portfolio can be viewed here. 

Bye"

About 3):
I think a portfolio might be interesting for people who really want to get some hands on deck for extra composing/sketching/sound design tasks etc. Not all internships consist of coffee making! 

That said i'm curious as to what you look for in an intern if they are not going to do any actual composing/sound designing.


----------



## Daryl (Apr 5, 2015)

Lokee @ Sun Apr 05 said:


> Thanks Daryl, that is very insightful. Would you prefer if I cut to the chase right away? So an email would be like (summarised): "Hi X, i'd like to apply as an intern for X period. Here's why and what I can offer. My portfolio can be viewed here.
> 
> Bye"
> 
> ...


I would want to see in the email a reason for considering talking to you, even before I start to check out your CV, but keep it short.

Regarding what my assistants do, that is a long list and this list would be different for all composers. However, why would I want you to compose for me? How can I make money out of that? Whatever you compose belongs to you.

As far as sound design, etc., you could be asked to create synth patches, so if you are good at that, put it on the CV. However, I can assure you that I make more coffee than any of my assistants do....!


----------



## Brendon Williams (Apr 6, 2015)

I recently started an internship with a composer where he told me my compositional abilities were a big part of the reason why he chose me. So Lokee, I'd definitely take what Daryl said on that with a grain of salt. As he said though, it's different for every composer, and it's what you can offer them that is of primary importance.

As for why a composer hiring an intern would care about your compositional abilities, I think it has to do with the fact that a strong composition/recording can potentially demonstrate a lot of other skills that may be useful: orchestration, synth patch creation, mixing, mastering, use of a DAW, music notation (if the recording is of live musicians), etc.


----------

