RTF Internships

A major-related internship is meant to enhance a student's classroom education with practical, applied experience in the real world. As students gain valuable applied experience, they can also make connections in professional fields and show their potential to prospective employers. Internships are a great way for employers to find talent that can make an immediate and future impact on their organizations.

Enrollment Process for Students

Enroll in the internship course (generally RTF 330N) for the upcoming semester. The RTF internship course is offered in the fall, spring, and summer semesters.
- There should not be any enrollment blocks on the course. If you are unable to enroll in the course for any reason, please contact comm-studentservices@austin.utexas.edu.
Find an internship that aligns with the start and end dates of the upcoming semester.
- Internships can be found on Handshake through the Moody College Career Center or on your own.
Submit the official application online; you can find more information about that process here.
- You have to already be enrolled and have an internship position before applying.
- This must be submitted by the 4th class day and approved by the 12th class day.

Frequently Asked Questions (Students)

For all Radio-Television-Film for-credit internships, you will need to locate and secure the internship on your own.

For RTF 330N and RTF 130N, you must log between 160-200 hours over the course of the semester. For fall and spring enrollments, that equates to roughly 10-15 hours per week. For the summer semester, that equates to roughly 15-25 hours per week. For RTF 630N, the hour requirement is 320-400 hours per term.

We are happy to discuss and to vet individual internship opportunities as needed via email but, in general, for-credit internships:

Must be supervised by a working professional currently active in, and with considerable experience directly related to, the work performed.
Must be committed to providing interns with meaningful experiences in and activities related to the media industries.
Must be able and willing to provide substantive and constructive feedback on projects and allow them to be showcased in portfolios.
Must be aligned with the start and end dates of the semester—fall (August-December), spring (January-May), or summer (May-August).
Must be performed at an established place of business, not a home office; allowances can be made for remote-work arrangements.
Must be equipped with any hardware or software needed to complete assigned tasks; students cannot use UT Austin property or licenses.
Must be bonded and/or hold sufficient business and liability insurance to cover interns, both on-premises and off-site, as needed.

Additionally, interns should be supervised individually or in a small groups. The host organizations should have more full-time employees than interns at any given time. An unbalanced ratio of interns to full-time employees at a host organization can impede the student's learning opportunities and the supervisor’s ability to provide constructive feedback.

Assuming they meet the criteria listed above, we welcome internships in film, television, radio, podcasting, games, music, publishing, and/or digital media. Positions may relate to (but are not limited to) media development, design, production, post-production, distribution, promotion, & advocacy.

There are countless opportunities for meaningful internships, here in Austin and beyond. When you start looking for internships, we encourage you to first consider what media you love to create and/or consume, which events or properties you most enjoy, which skills you'd like to develop, which industries you want to explore, etc. A good starting point is to consider which courses and/or projects you've most enjoyed so far and why.

Furthermore, we encourage you to broaden your scope. While we do have a wealth of media production companies throughout the greater Austin area, we are also lucky to have wonderful media and technology festivals, museums and archives, and non-profit organizations.

Once you have an idea of which areas and/or positions you'd like to explore, research specific companies, ask your classmates, consult your professors, search Handshake, and reach out to Moody Career Career Center for help polishing your materials and locating potential opportunities.

In particular, we encourage students to consult the Texas Film Commission's Production Directory.

For Employers

Submit an internship for approval and posting to students.

Frequently Asked Questions (Employers)

While most internships will provide students with vital skills, literacies, and networks, there are some additional requirements related to for-credit internships. For clarity, the criteria are listed below but we are always happy to answer any questions or concerns re: specific positions.

Must be supervised by a working professional currently active in, and with considerable experience directly related to, the work performed.
Must be committed to providing interns with meaningful experiences in and activities related to the media industries.
Must be able and willing to provide substantive and constructive feedback on projects and allow them to be showcased in portfolios.
Must be aligned with the start and end dates of the semester—fall (August-December), spring (January-May), or summer (May-August).
Must be performed at an established place of business, not a home office; allowances can be made for remote-work arrangements.
Must be equiped with any hardware or software needed to complete assigned tasks; students cannot use UT Austin property or licenses.
Must be bonded and/or hold sufficient business and liability insurance to cover interns, both on-premises and off-site, as needed.

Good internships are mutually beneficial. They provide students with hands-on experience and industry contacts while allowing host organizations to develop and evaluate talent. Interns are not just free or cheap labor: they represent opportunities to train high-caliber student workers in your specialty, introduce them to your organization, and initiate them in your industry. Fostering productive and professional relationships with students is an investment in the health and longevity of the media industries here in Austin and abroad.

As such, an unbalanced ratio of interns to full-time employees at a host organization can impede the student's learning opportunities and the supervisor’s ability to provide constructive feedback. In an equitable and generative for-credit internship environment, interns should be supervised individually or in small groups, and the total number of full-time employees should be larger than the number of interns.

For more information on the tenets of an ethical internship position or program, see the U.S. Department of Labor's fact sheet, "Internship Programs Under The Fair Labor Standards Act." We are happy to provide examples of productive internship experiences, programs, and/or activities. Should you wish to discuss the topic further, please contact us at RTFInternships@austin.utexas.edu.

For-Credit Internships: If you want to publize an internship opportunity that meets the criteria listed above, please submit it here. Once vetted, we can promote the posting to Radio-Television-Film majors and minors across the university through the Moody Career Center.

Non-Credit Internships: If you want to publize an internship opportunity that does not qualify as a for-credit option, please email us the details at RTFInternships@austin.utexas.edu. We can share the details with Radio-Television-Film majors and minors through listservs and publications like The Hub.

For-credit internships can be offered on a one-off or as-needed basis. However, if you are interested in further developing your internship offerings and becoming an internship partner through the Center for Entertainment & Media Industries, please contact us at RTFinternships@austin.utexas.edu.