For college juniors and seniors, it’s already time to start looking for a summer internship. If you’re interested in spending the summer in Little Rock, AR, working at a prestigious ad agency with a roster of local, regional and national clients, you should consider applying for Stone Ward’s Camp Reality internship program.
My first piece of advice: go ahead and apply now – applications close Friday, March 1, 2024!
This isn’t just any internship. As the name suggests, Camp Reality is the real deal. Interns do real work for real clients that reaches real audiences. And you can take my word for it – I was an intern back in 2017, and I started working at Stone Ward as a copywriter in 2018.
Without further ado, here are three reasons Camp Reality is an internship unlike any other.
1. One-to-One Mentorship
There are some things that just can’t be taught in school. The day-to-day of working at an ad agency is one of them: the client communication, the time crunches, the internal processes. At an ad agency, you need someone who can teach you on the job. Luckily, each of our interns has a dedicated mentor to walk them through the ins and outs of agency life.
We take one intern per department, with a seasoned pro from that department serving as their mentor. Our people are pretty awesome, and our mentors ensure that interns have the best possible experience.
Check out what past interns had to say about Camp Reality.
Mentors are there to answer any questions an intern may have, assign work and provide feedback. If you play your cards right, your mentor makes for an invaluable reference who can speak to your abilities in the advertising industry.
2. Real-World Experience
For college students, an internship should do two things: 1) allow them to test drive a career and 2) provide content for their portfolio. Camp Reality knocks these two must-haves out of the park. Our interns are invited to our briefings, brainstorms, presentations and every meeting in between. Their voices are heard and their ideas are valued. Our interns have the opportunity to produce work for our agency’s clients, and, if it makes the cut, our agency is proud to present that work to clients.
Stone Ward Principle #12: A good idea doesn’t care who had it.
Every year, our interns have the opportunity to engage with a local business or organization to offer support on an advertising campaign pro bono. Most recently, our 2023 class of interns partnered with the Arkansas Cinema Society (ACS) to develop strategies and create assets to drive attendance to their annual event, Filmland. Here’s what the ACS team had to say about Camp Reality:
“The Camp Reality Interns provided the Arkansas Cinema Society with such confidence going into Filmland 2023. The data, strategy, focuses, and ideas they presented to us after a summer of research and dedication gave us the perfect tools to tackle Filmland in a way like never before.”
3. Further Industry Education
Stone Ward interns get an eight-week crash course in advertising. But they also learn about various aspects of the advertising industry, from printing to publishing to video and audio production. Interns get the chance to take field trips to tour these facilities and hear from the experts, who also happen to be our agency’s valued partners. It all comes full circle!
No Coffee Runs
As an intern, do you want to make coffee runs, or do you want to make a difference?
This is not the internship for someone who wants to do next to nothing. Camp Reality interns are trusted with the responsibility to run their own account. They are asked to bring their best ideas to the table. This internship is not a role to be taken lightly – that’s why our acceptance rate is 22 percent!
And while the work is rigorous, the environment is engaging and, honestly, so much fun. Our interns are treated as part of our team, because that’s what they are – for eight weeks, they are our coworkers. They’re assigned an office and decorate their spaces, they attend weekly lunches to get to know our different managing directors, and they are immersed in the Stone Ward culture of kindness, creativity and canines.
Stone Ward offers an internship program that stands out from all the rest. Not only is Camp Reality the real deal, but it’s also a big deal… and it’s an opportunity you don’t want to miss. You just might get as lucky as I did and turn your internship into a full-time position!
Did I mention interns receive a $2,800 living stipend and get to work on a hybrid schedule? If you weren’t already sold on Camp Reality, that should do the trick. Now, check out these 5 tips to help get a Camp Reality internship, then start your application for Camp Reality 2024. We’re looking forward to seeing your name come through!
Camp Reality 2024 Internship Program: June 3-July 26, 2024
