Internships
Internships are a graduation requirement for all majors. Woodbury’s Los Angeles/Burbank location provides a wealth of internship opportunities that allow students to gain practical work experience in their field of interest. The Career Development office offers career guidance and support to assist students in finding appropriate internship experiences, as well as employers in becoming host company partners.
Internship Advantages
- Gain work experience during college
- Learn more about your chosen field
- See if a selected career path is really the right choice for you
- Apply classroom theory to real work situations
- Become more knowledgeable about general work functions in particular fields
- Identify and/or test interests and talents
- Investigate organizational cultures
- Learn career-related skills
- Identify transferable skills
- Strengthen written and oral skills
- Find out what it’s like to work in a professional environment
- Enhance and strengthen your resume.
- Allow you to make contacts to gain future employment
- Serve as a bridge between college and career
Internship Requirements
Internship requirements vary from major to major, but typically:
- Take place during your junior or senior year.
- Require anywhere from 90 to 160 logged hours.
- Can be completed in the fall, spring or summer semesters.
- Must be related to your academic program.
- Can be paid or unpaid, depending on your program requirements.
- Are supervised by experienced professionals.
Internship Success Stories
As a graduation requirement at Woodbury, internships offer students an introduction to careers that match their academics and interests and provide valuable practice-based work experience. Internships not only develop skills that will make students more valuable employees, but also build their resumes and expand their professional networks. Read below for a selection of student internship success stories.
Ruxandra Badilas - Ernst & Young
Turning an internship into a fulltime job, this accounting student is poised for success. Last summer, when Ruxandra Badilas walked into the Ernst & Young office in downtown Los Angeles to begin her internship at the ‘Big 4’ accounting firm, she may not have realized just how significant the experience that she was about to begin would be for her. But this hard-working and highly social Accounting senior made such a great impression during her time at EY, she was offered a full-time position on the Assurance Services staff when she graduates in December. Read more here.
Erick Rodriguez – Warner Bros.
“My internship at Warner Bros. was as great as it sounds,” he says. “I was given the space to share my ideas and even had them embraced by the team.” Before attending college, he hadn’t considered Graphic Design as a profession until someone asked him point-blank: “What are you gonna do after high school? Why don’t you go to art school?” The question was a bit of a revelation. “I never considered it since I had never known anyone to ‘do art’ for a living, but that was the spark. I was always drawing and would often draw logos and typography.” So, with the assistance of his now-fiancée, he chose Graphic Design as his new career choice.
Wafá Jaffal - YouTube
Wafá secured an internship with a YouTube channel and quickly went to town. “The guy who ran the channel posted a video one day saying that he needed an editor, so I immediately sent him an audition of my work,” she recalls. “When I got hired my boss was very much like, ‘Do whatever, use this internship as a creative space.’” Turned out that one of the videos she edited was among the most viewed on the channel.
Julia Comete – Inspiring Brands LA
Currently, Julia is getting some first-hand experience helping to build brands with an internship at Inspired Brands LA, an agency that focuses on creating promotional products and assists other brands with influencer marketing. Her short-term goal after graduation is to learn even more. “I’d love to continue on at Woodbury to get my MBA,” she says. Her long-term goal: having a purposeful career. “Although I’m not sure what my dream job is yet,” Julia says. “I do know that I want a career that aligns with my interests and beliefs.”
Prabhu Rajaganapathy – El Grupo Animation
After completing his first year, Prabhu did an internship at El Grupo Animation, under the tutelage of faculty member, Alex Topete. “Alex is an amazing, traditional 2D animator, and I learned as much as I could when it came to the basics of animation,” Prabhu said. “I would not have been as prepared for the rest of my classes at Woodbury without this internship.”
Khan Muhammad - City of Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering’s Architectural Division
Khan was able to test out his architectural chops as an intern for the City of Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering’s Architectural Division, where he guided a group of fellow interns to schedule, create, compile, and conduct a design charrette package for the $200 million P3 Project. These days, he’s especially taken with building assembly, a byproduct of his association with structural engineers during the ACE Mentoring Program in high school. The integration of bio mimicry in architecture, net zero architecture, the future of city planning, the synergy of architecture and robotics – it’s all fascinating for Khan.