What began as simply applying to an internship on a whim would become a major career jump start for junior marketing major Pauline Tarife, who now works for the consumer marketing department at MTV- before she’s even graduated!
When a friend in her sorority suggested that she should apply to an internship for MTV, Pauline was a little hesitant. She knew she had always wanted to work in the entertainment industry, but she already had an internship for the fall semester, and she also wasn’t too keen on a commute to Times Square. Still, she decided she should apply anyway, just to see what would happen.
“I had my first interview, which in my opinion wasn’t the best because I hadn’t prepared for it—word of advice: always do your research,” says Pauline. “I didn’t think I was going to hear back from them.”
Luckily, she got a second interview with the marketing managers in MTV’s Consumer Marketing department. Making sure she did her research this time, Pauline went into the interview extremely confident in herself, and ended up scoring the job.
After interning for two months, her supervisor approached her about a Marketing Assistant position; the only down side was that the job was full time. Pauline was still only at the beginning of her junior year and knew she wasn’t going to be able to dedicate that kind of time.
“A month later, my supervisor called me into her office and told me they wanted to offer me the job,” said Pauline. Not only were they willing to work with her schedule as a full time student, but they were even going to compensate for her commute!
Pauline also landed internships at a public relations agency in Princeton and Terracycle in Trenton, as well as an interview for an internship with Google, all of which she ultimately turned down in favor of her opportunity at MTV. She has been working for the department for about five months now, full time during breaks and three days a week during the school semester.
Since she’s taken the new position, she is involved with interviewing, hiring, and managing the intern program for the department. She also assists in marketing for campaigns such as The Jersey Shore, Teen Mom, Teen Wolf, The Video Music Awards, Awkward, and Catfish.
A major perk Pauline is excited about is receiving an iPhone 4s as her work phone. “I’m also really excited to work with the new interns,” she says.
Pauline had previously interned at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in theArts Education Department. She also worked with a non-profit organization called Binanenses Eastern USA which raises money toward scholarship funds for children in the Philippines. During her freshman year, the Women Gender Studies minor even visited Nicaragua with the W.I.L.L program for the Nicaragua Solidarity Project.
“TCNJ prepared me by giving me the resources and background to help start my career. My past internships through the career center have allowed me to gain a better understanding of the importance of organization, time management, and proactivity,” Pauline said.
Although she knows it may seem like a daunting task to keep her sanity between her full class load and full time job, Pauline is ready to stay focused and keep working toward her goals. “I’m looking forward to gaining more knowledge of the entertainment industry through the lens of the marketing department. In the long run, I hope to continually advance in the ranks and make it to the top.”