My positive internship experience

Despite the current controversy surrounding internships, Alice's internship with a theatre was a positive experience and has proved a good springboard to a career in arts management.

Alice hopes to continue working in the arts and to pursue her ambition of becoming a professional playwright. She co-wrote and directed a play at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2009 and is currently having interviews for jobs.

Graduating from Leeds University in 2009 with a degree in English Literature and Theatre Studies, my classmates and I were painfully aware we were entering a job market with very few jobs on offer. We were, as the Guardian Newspaper put it, in danger of becoming a "Lost Generation", unable to find a footing in the career world.

I returned home and to my job at the local pub, warning the landlord, "I'll only be here a month." After three months of endless applications and few interviews I still hadn't moved on from the pub.

Luckily, a friend of mine saw an advert for an internship at my local theatre and I was offered a two-month placement, working three days a week. It wasn't what I had originally planned, but I thought it was better than nothing.

"It seems an odd thing to work for free, but it is becoming increasingly necessary in order to even apply for paid jobs."

From the offset Farnham Maltings Theatre in Surrey treated me with respect, welcoming me in and even inviting me to knitting club on a Wednesday lunch time!

Entering a professional theatre, I quickly realised how little I knew about the arts in a professional capacity and how unaware I was of the vast amount of jobs on offer. During my two months I was able to sample a variety of roles from producer to participatory theatre coordinator to set maker and even costume mender. Some I enjoyed and some I was less keen on, but all informed me in some way and provided transferable skills for my CV.

In December 2009, one month before the end of my placement, the Artistic Director of the theatre told me about a new Vodafone fund which would pay me to work with a charity. As Farnham Maltings is a charity, the whole team encouraged me to apply, offered references and advice throughout the process and were over the moon when I was awarded the money. I finally quit my job at the pub and began working full time. I was given more responsibility, primarily acting as a producer on a three day theatre and circus festival, project managing our Associate Companies tour of Canada, and building contacts with local theatre companies.

It seems an odd thing to work for free, but it is becoming increasingly necessary to do so in order to even apply for paid jobs. I finish my internship in just under a month's time and I'm terrified. But the experience has provided me with so much – not least, proof to future employers, and more importantly to myself, that I have a lot to offer a company.

By Alice Carter

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