Fast Fact! ViacomCBS has scored 83 Primetime Emmy Award Nominations!

Almost everyone knows the popular and award-winning entertainment company, ViacomCBS. From Paramount Pictures to Nickelodeon to the BET and a host of global brands, this entertainment giant is thriving and leading the industry with premium content. They deliver the largest share of  U.S. television and what’s more, they’re interested in you to join their successful team! 

At a Campus to Career info session hosted by Career and Professional Development, Chapman students got to learn more about the company culture and internship opportunities available for them.  Human Resource representatives Annie McKee (Talent Acquisition) and Karla Melara (Campus to Career) shared insight and tips about landing a ViacamCBS internship. Read the key highlights of the panel presentation below! 

ViacomCBS Campus to Career Program

The mission of ViacomCBS’s Campus to Career: To serve as a dedicated and strategic pipeline for early career and future leadership talent. 

The Campus to Career team is interested in identifying great talent in media and once they find talented individuals to become a part of their internship program, they work really hard to make sure that they develop and retain that talent. 

“Our goal is to make sure that our interns gain the experience at the internship level but get those additional tools and resources to remain competitive for early career opportunities… We are looking for rising juniors, seniors, and even master’s students who are ready to join a diverse and inclusive hub of creativity,” Karla said. 

On the company’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, she also shared, “There is a huge diversity in the business that we are players in so there’s something here for everyone. Although we have tons of business units, there is still a lot of cultural fabrics that thread all throughout our brand. We have employee resource groups which are small networks within the company where everyone can come together to celebrate culture and also develop professional networks with one another while serving the community.” 

Summer 2021 Internship Program

The ViacomCBS Summer 2021 Internship program is built on four pillars — professional development, business intelligence, networking and social, and mentorship. 

Requirements

  • Available full-time for 10 weeks starting in June (Monday-Friday) 
  • Paid at a standard competitive hourly rate  
  • College credit optional (They are able to work with you if you need credit for a class or to meet graduation requirements) 

 Places you can intern at…

  • ViacomCBS New York, NY 
  • ViacomCBS Hollywood, CA 
  • Nick Animation Burbank, CA 
  • Paramount Hollywood, CA 
  • CBS Interactive San Francisco, CA 

Application Timeline 

  • Summer – October-January (Interviews in Jan-Feb) 
  • Fall – May (Interviews in June – Aug) 
  • Spring – October (Interviews in Oct – Nov) 

What ViacomCBS looks for in candidates…

  • Relevant skills and experience (this include relevant coursework or niche skills that are relevant to the job you’re applying for) 
  • A passion for media (having knowledge about the brand shows that you did research and that you care about the job) 
  • Involvement in leadership and extracurriculars (taking on responsibilities and participating in campus projects) 
  • Corporate culture fit (having a level of professionalism in networking and collaborating with others) 

Four main areas that interns are placed in ViacomCBS

  1. Communications and Public Relations 
  2. Creative Development (scripted, unscripted, current series, original series, film, animation) 
  3. Marketing (digital, theatrical, strategy, services, partnerships, research, graphic design) 
  4. Finance and Accounting 

Take action!

Q&A Session 

When interns have other projects they’re working on (side hustle), what’s the expectation in terms of commitment and how can they best position such entrepreneurial experience to show as a better candidate in our application? 

A: One of the things within our company culture is the idea of being content entrepreneurs so entrepreneurship is something that we welcome, and this is a relevant experience that makes the candidate stand out. If you do become formally an intern, we have to be transparent on both sides and beware of any conflict of interest. I wouldn’t say this is a hindrance, it is a strength as long as you highlight your transferable skills like data analytics and research. 

What determines which of the branches an intern is assigned to? 

 During the application process, you are asked your top area of the business you’re interested in and from there, you’re asked your top two brands of interest. We take the recruitment process as informational to gather your background and experiences, what you excel in and then pair them with your interests.  

If the Summer internship is from Mondays to Fridays, what’s the flexibility during the Summer and Spring? 

The school-year opportunities are part time so it’s a minimum of 2-3 days a week or depending on your manager, you can split it up based on a minimum of 16 hours 

Do you take MBA students during the school year or only during the summer? 

Our MBA internships are summer only and with that, it’s very rare to have MBA opportunities during the school year. One of the requirements is that someone has to be at least in the second year of the MBA, so we are unable to take first year MBA students. 

What do you look for in a cover letter and what skills stand out to you on a resume? 

For the creative development opportunities within ViacomCBS, cover letters are very important a great sample for people who going to be writing or reading. We are in the business of storytelling and this is the perfect place for you to do that. Don’t copy and paste your resume into your cover letter. We want to see a passion piece, something that is draws you to the brand. If you don’t have an entertainment background, get involved in campus organizations that are related to production, script and screenwriting to have the basic understanding…Also remember that a lot of people will end up reading your cover letter, so you can simply begin with Dear [Insert Company Name] …

Cover letter resources