Internship is key, industries tell students at INTERFACE 23

By Deborah Titus-Glover 

April 30, 2023. Discovery House, Adabraka: Interface-23, an event to bridge the gap between industry and education, was held at the African University College of Communications (AUCC) Forecourt today to bring together individuals from various industries across the country including The Fourth Estate, Joy-FM/ News, Ghana E-Sport Federation, and the Ghana Civil Service.

Organized by the Departments of Journalism and Creative Arts at AUCC, this was a much-anticipated event for 230 Level 200 Communication students at AUCC to meet major industry players in their process of deciding what specialization to choose in their senior year. The main purpose of the interface was to provide a platform for interaction between students and the industries’ human resource professionals regarding questions concerning their career prospects.

In all, four huge marquees were mounted at the Discovery House Forecourt under which nine Industry representatives, also including Spark Golden Media Consultancy, Mother of All Nations, Creatives Runway, Royal Dach Pharmaceuticals, and Leti Arts, mixed with students with a view to answering all their gnawing professional career questions.

These organizations and their representatives were at Discovery House to assist the sophomores to choose any of four specializations – Strategic communication, Journalism, Development communication and Visual/Digital communication – come next semester.

Droves of students teemed at the Ghana E-Sport Federation stand where they tried their hands at several games while asking questions about career opportunities in the gaming industry.

The prevailing message from the pitches given made by the industry representatives by the organizations to the students was ‘internship is key’.

Journalist, reporter and host of Joy-FM/News, Maxwell Agbagba, stressed the importance of students working in organizations, sometimes without compensation, in order to gain work experience or satisfy requirements for a qualification. He shared his experience of how he landed a job at Multimedia Group, the largest independent commercial media and entertainment company in the country.

“Internships are very important…therefore one must take it with all seriousness, giving it their best no matter what challenges they face. My radio career is as a result of internship…The thing is, it doesn’t matter how high the profile of the company may be: there is always space for the determined,” he explained. “One must just psych his or her mind to settle on what they want to do and follow it through.”

Award-winning investigative journalist and Editor-in-Chief of The Fourth Estate Manasseh Awuni Azure was there to talk about the public interest and accountability investigative journalism project of the Media Foundation for West Africa which does critical reporting in the areas of Anti-corruption, Health, Environment and Human Rights. He said the non-profit online news platform is always looking for serious interns.

“Internships are so good that you don’t have to take them for granted… if you want to go out there to excel, don’t wait till you complete school. Look at what you can do well and also what you are passionate about; specialize in that particular field; and keep at it.”

Tryhena Cudjoe, narrative writer at Leti Arts, pitched for the gaming company.

“Leti Arts…likes to bring African Folklore to life and also incorporate ideas and creativity in various ways to create games. We require people who eek careers in graphics, programmers, artists, as well as writers. Our internships last…three months.”

Charles Biney is the Trade Development Manager of Royal Dach Pharmaceuticals, an organization that imports, distributes, wholesales and supplies brands of medications, cosmetics and medical devices. He advised:

“Internships give you the opportunity to learn practically about industry. When conducting an interview, the employer is not concerned about your CV, but rather about your etiquettes as well as the integrity you carry.”

“Our organization is for people who are creative or want careers in music, dance, arts, writing and such,” began Ruth Aryeh, partner of Creatives Runway, a service provider for the creative industry. “We do not employ, but rather work with people, giving them the opportunity to create their own jobs. And so, students who have any great ideas are invited.”

And then came the time for the Ghana Civil Service pitch. After sharing the requirements of the organization for internship, national service and employment, the Service’s PRO Adu Boahene, himself an alumnus of AUCC, cautioned students:

“Be careful of whatever you post on social media as it will come back to haunt you. What you post on your pages online can affect you when you go seeking a job. And remember that there are no shortcuts to getting to the top but rather go through the right processes”.

Executive Director of literacy NGO Mother of All Nations, King Zico, also an AUCC alum, said:

“We have a long-standing relationship with AUCC and we are calling on Development Communication students to intern with us for our Read Camp project to spread literacy among the inner city communities.”

After all the pitches, students then had the chance to engage with the industries in their various stands one-on-one. Their questions ranged from industry expectations to company future goals.

The overall reaction of students was that of contentment and gratitude for the motivational words and the opportunity to interact with the captains.

“It was very enlightening and fruitful,” said Daniel Fuah, a level 100 student after the event. “At least, I know a few things that are needed before getting internship,”

“I am happy to have met great personalities in the media,” a level 200 student who had just made up her mind to specialize in strategic communication remarked.