Humber Marketing student, Zel Kasun, has always been a big fan of horror movies, so when it came time to complete his Business Placement, he jumped at the chance to work with Rue Morgue Magazine – one of the world’s most popular horror publications.
Broadening His Horizons
A Rexdale native, Zel was already a Humber grad having already completed the Pre-Services Firefighter program in 2010. Afterwards, he found himself working in Display Advertising and enjoyed “seeing the physical creation of things – from a creative standpoint.” When an injury sidelined him, he decided to return to Humber – inspired by his previous experience – for the Business Marketing program.
An Internship in Horror
His internship at Rue Morgue called on a number of the skills he has gained from his studies. When asked to upload material to the magazine’s Wordpress-based website, Zel’s reply was a simple: “no problem”. He also leveraged his new-found social media skills to help publicize new issues of the magazine and its merchandise. As jack-of-all-trades around the office, he has also helped source new merchandise which made use of his professional presentation skills. And he’s glad the marketing program provides training in every-day office tools like Excel and Word to help keep it all organized.
What’s Behind the Door?
“Definitely, look for something that holds your personal interest,” advises Zel, when looking for an internship. This helped him narrow his own search. He previously knew of Rue Morgue’s existence – he was already a fan and a subscriber – so he simply sent them an email offering his services, free-of-charge; the company responded the same day. Following a go-see/meet-and-greet, they agreed to take him on. But, he advises, do your research on a prospective company: make sure, if the internship is free, you won’t be exploited for your unpaid labour. Ultimately, he says, take a risk. Poke around websites. Figure out who to contact and then contact them. It can be scary to open that proverbial door – as all horror fans will know – but if you don’t open it, you won’t know what opportunities lie on the other side.
