I applied for a video editing internship with this company and was contacted for a first-round telephone interview. Prospective College Interns Beware: This company will ask you to bring your personal computer or personal laptop computer if you are selected for this internship position! The company told me during the telephone interview that I would have to bring my personal laptop to their offices and ask me what type of laptop computer I have and they asked me what type of software and applications is on my laptop. It brought worry, concern, loss of security, danger, caution, instability, and unprofessionalism. I felt very uncomfortable with what the company was requesting from me, which for me to bring my own personal laptop computer and being at risk and helms of it being stolen, being compromised, and/or getting mugged/robbed. This is a red flag! Make sure that the company has the essential work materials - a desk, a chair, and a computer or a laptop available for an internship position so a person can do their job in order to be successful. Do not let a company force you to overstep your boundaries and make you bring your personal laptop to a work site. Do not allow a company to take unfair advantage of you or exploit you for an internship position and/or a job. You also might not be financially compensated by this company beyond the hourly salary rate for this internship position. Why would you, the college student or college graduate wants to do a paid internship position with a company that does not provide a company-issued workplace computer/laptop and company-issued work materials and all essential workplace items for college interns?! The hourly rate for interns is 12.00 dollars per hour, for 15 hours a week, and the internship lasts for eight weeks in total. This company was established in March 2018. After the telephone interview, the company set an in-person second-interview, one week after the telephone interview. All of a sudden, they canceled the interview entirely on the day of the interview due to a protest. I told the company I would get back to them by email to reschedule an in-person interview. I later emailed the company and heard nothing from them for a week. I called the office once. I later received an email from the company one week before Christmas 2019 saying, "Thank you for reaching out. Do you have availability for an interview this week? As a note, while I certainly appreciate your enthusiasm for the position, please refrain from contacting the office directly. For now, this [name of the job board website] is the best means of communication regarding the internship. We will return any messages as quickly as we are able to and ask for your patience in the meantime." I felt that the company assumed that I was bothering them for simply following up on the internship only once (one-time) by telephone. I gave them my availability and they never got back to me at all. I heard nothing from the company ever since. I had other interview requests from additional prospective employers that needed my attention. I do not know much about this company, but the internship position is not worth it, especially since this company is not providing a company-issued laptop for interns and instead of this option, they want college interns to bring their personal laptop computers from their personal residences, wants college interns to buy software online, and wants college interns to bring additional equipment on their own without additional financial compensation. Essentially, this company is renting or attempting to rent personal materials and personal equipment from college interns (i.e. college graduates and college students and graduate school students) free of charge. Interning for 15 hours a week, being paid at a 12.00-dollar salary, and doing an eight-week internship program at this company is totally not worth it. It is a genuine waste of time for all involved parties. Also, this company solely and exclusively focuses on news and issues pertaining to the Middle East and North Africa. The videos the company has on its website are simply 50 seconds long or less with music playing the background and photos taken from an image website. This company is not a newsroom nor a news organization. Find a better internship and stay away from this particular company, it is not worth it. Move on and find a more decent internship at a company that has all the work materials provided!
