Last year I brought in five interns to help primarily with video production, but all the interns also received plenty of experience in filming and small business management. I need to find at least five more for 2012, but before I get into the required qualifications and how this process will work, I want to introduce the five that were here last year and tell you about what they are doing now.

Hunter Kailos went back to Virginia to finish up his schooling after interning here.

MEET LAST YEAR'S INTERNS - WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Hunter Kailos came to us from Virginia and produced the Northeast and Indiana shows.  After graduating from the internship, Hunter headed back to Virginia to finish up his schooling.  After graduating from college, Hunter's goal is to work in the hunting industry filming and editing.

Josh Neville is from Iowa and he edited our Great Plains show last year.  Josh is now back at Simpson College in Indianola where he is finishing up his schooling.

Sam Soholt atteneded North Dakota State University where he was a conference champ on the track team and gained his MBA.  Sam edited the Michigan show and co-edited the Minnesota show.  After finishing up his internship, Sam is making plans to work with his brother in Fort Collins, CO at his brother's sporting goods store called Gannett Ride(www.gannettridge.com).  Sam hopes to put his experience to work producing videos and possibly some local television to promote his brother's business.

Josh Neville went back to Simpson College in Indianola after his internship.

Aaron Warbritton came to us from Missouri where he needed the MW internship to fill out his graduating requirements from the University of Missouri.  Aaron edited the Missouri Show and produced the Whitetail Season series thast ran on the NRA's American Hunter website.  I hired Aaron full time to work here at the Midwest Whitetail office to help in producing web video and television shows.  You will see a lot more of his work in the coming months.

Ben Koopman took a job with Drury Outdoors after interning here.

These guys have all done well.  I can't guarantee that a Midwest Whitetail internship will open a wide door to the hunting industry, but it is one possible place to start.  I suspect that if we do a good enough job of selecting top candidates and they work hard and learn while they are here, Midwest Whitetail will evolve into a good pipeline for young talent looking for full-time work in the hunting industry.  We will gain a reputation over time of being an incubator for up and coming talent.  I really like that aspect of our business.  I want to help young people to achieve their dreams.  It is very rewarding for me personally. 

Sam Soholt plans to put his new skills to work helping his brother at his sporting goods store out in Fort Collins, CO at Gannett Ridge (Visit Website).

We need five or six interns for 2012.  This is a fall semester internship starting in mid summer and running until the end of the year.  One or two interns may be kept over until the end of January to help with late season production.  We will make that decision on a case-by-case basis.  So, if you will still be in school, you will need to take the fall semester off to accomplish this internship.  Last year, three of our five interns were actually graduated seniors.  This works well because it allows us to help those people start looking for a full-time job directly after the internship ends. 

This year, the interns' primary responsibility will be video production and web content development (photo journalism).  In other words, this year we are looking for more than just video editors, but also interns who want to focus on a journalism or photo journalism career. 

After his internship ended, I hired Aaron Warbritton to help out with web video production and television production here at Midwest Whitetail.

Video editors: Starting this year, interns will not be responsible for producing the actual weekly shows on the website.  I need to keep that effort in the hands of experienced people so that we can continually improve quality without a retraining period each year.   However, the interns will assist in the productoin of these shows and also the production of other video resources on the MW website and on the Midwest Whitetail Properties website.  I will need at leat two video editor interns and one that has good cross-over skills to help out in producing multimedia content for the site.

So, to summarize: I need two interns with a journalism emphasis, two with a video production emphasis and one that can do well at both.

EXPERIENCE COUNTS - BUT IS NOT REQUIRED

This is more than just a "get me some donuts at Caseys" internship.  You will be very much a part of the daily content mix at Midwest Whitetail so your skills are critical to our mission of continual improvement.  Applicants with experience will be considered to be stronger, but that doesn't mean we will only bring in interns with experience.  In some cases, we can teach the skills if the applicant impresses us as a  hard worker and fast learner. 

Some of the internships will be paid and some will be unpaid depending on experience level of the applicants.  Last year, I provided some of the living expenses for the unpaid interns to help make the time here more affordable.  I suspect that will be the case this year too.  This is a subject we will discuss when we reach the interveiw stage.

HOW TO APPLY

Send your resume to info@midwestwhitetail.com.  We will be making our first round of cuts based on the resumes in early March and the interviews (phone interviews) will then begin.  We will cut the field down again by mid-March and then hold a round of personal interviews.  It is my expectation that we will have our five interns selected by the end of March or early in April. 

Graduating seniors are preferred, but are not mandatory.  You must be at least 20 years of age (or junior status in fall of 2012) to apply.

Good luck.  We look forward to hearing from you.