Demystifying the Internship Process: How I Found My Internship at Warner Bros. Discovery

by Kathryn Aurelio ‘25

Tick tock, tick tock, tick tock. Graduating, starting a “big girl job,” and the pressures of building three to five years of work experience into a shot at “entry-level” positions is ever tumultuous and fast approaching. As a PR student in Annenberg, it’s been ingrained in me by professors, upperclassmen, and LinkedIn culture that each student, on average, completes six internships throughout their studies at USC before they graduate. I think this toxic mindset of completing fall/spring/summer internship cycles year after year to merely make progress towards this “six” number only backs students into a corner of doing work they aren’t passionate about.

But, if you find yourself wanting an internship for the right reasons, here is my experience finding my internship working in Corporate Relations and Communications at Warner Bros. Discover this spring and my tips for landing your dream role.

My Intern Story

Last October, I applied for the publicity and communications internship directly on the WBD career website. As an entertainment/film/TV lover, one of my dreams was to work at a large media company. After seeing WBD at the Fall Annenberg Career Fair, it felt like a sign to reapply after first hoping to intern there a few semesters ago, even though I didn’t get to speak to them at the fair. This time around, I had more internship experiences and cohesive projects from my classes under my belt to bolster my applications. The way WBD, and many large corporate internships, work is that you apply in a general pool and get assigned to a particular department by a recruiter.

In my case, I was selected to move further in the communications intern pool and recorded a one-way self-recorded video interview. These recorded interviews are largely different from those that are face-to-face because you don’t engage in conversation with a recruiter or other person – you are just speaking into a camera. To prepare for these interviews that have a time limit, I reviewed key aspects/company culture traits, listed some key experiences where I demonstrated leadership/collaboration/creativity, and practiced my elevator pitch so that it would all stay within one to two minutes. Moreover, I really focused on my body language and using my hands to express my excitement – more than I would have in a normal interview. 

A few months after my submission, I was contacted to complete an in-person interview and ultimately received an offer. Although I knew some peers who were previous interns, I had no connections with the company and had not spoken with professionals at WBD – it was a purely cold application. However, I do recommend, if you have the chance, to have some coffee chats with people who are in the roles you’re interested in as you’ll learn more about the career path and possibly end up with a referral down the line. 

Tips to Land Your Dream Internship

Before: Be in the Right Mindset for the Search!

As I mentioned before, apply to companies/intern programs in fields that you are passionate about. Don’t simply apply for the gigs that you feel like you could easily land in order to check a box or fill a resume line. This is a tough process, so make sure you’re chasing a goal you’re genuinely excited about.

During: Practice & Apply, Apply, Apply!

You know the concept of exposure therapy? It’s not a myth! The more you do something, the better you’ll be at it and the less scary it will feel! Practice interview questions by yourself and accept any opportunity to chat about professional topics with peers, mentors, and co-workers. Whether that be a coffee chat, phone interview, or real interview, you’ll gain exposure to the formula of interviews in no time. As an ambivert (being more of an introvert for the better half of my life), the idea of talking to someone one-on-one for 30 minutes or more is initially very daunting. But, with practice, I became confident and excited to talk to recruiters.

During: Interview tips

• Research the Company That You are Interviewing For:

  What do they produce and why? What’s their mission statement/company values/pillar statements? How do these elements resonate with your past experiences or motivations to work there?

• STAR method: Situation, Task, Action, Result:

  Prepare some situations ahead of time that demonstrate your teamwork/creativity/detail-orientedness/qualities tailored to the job description. Emphasize the action and result aspects of the stories, which are the postive takeaways about your abilities. With this method, you are telling a story to the interviewer rather than just tossing out statistics from your resume or aimlessly rambling.

• Have an Elevator Pitch for the “Tell Me About Yourself” Question:

  My general pitch outline involves my name, major and minors, school, summary of my skills from my studies, a brief outline of my previous internship role, and what I hope to achieve if given the opportunity to intern at the company of interview.

• Prepare Questions to Ask the Recruiter:

  What I like to keep in mind when interviewing is first framing it as a “talk” rather than a serious interrogation. Recruiters are people too, and if you converse with (and not just talk at) the interviewer, you are more likely to make a memorable impression on the interviewer. Personally, I’d prepare at least five questions in case one or more gets answered previously in the interview.

Follow up!

Expanding on the aspect that interviewers are human too, they appreciate when you reach back out after interviewing with an emailed thank you note and reassurance about your passion for the role.

I am endlessly grateful for a smooth experience in the recruitment process. Whether you receive an internship or not, know that you are going to be successful regardless if you have the drive!

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