Every year, two interns spend time on site with both organisations, where they benefit from on-the-job skills transfer and mentoring from sales and marketing professionals. At the same time, they take part in the Advanced Radio Certificate from the Wits Radio Academy.
Since the programme commenced in 2010, five interns have completed the programme and two are currently busy with their internships. Two former interns have full time jobs at Mediamark and another has chosen a career in digital and working for Kagiso Digital, a division of Kagiso New Media, which specialises in the incubation of new and digital opportunities.
Says Marietjie van Rensburg, training & development manager at Mediamark and facilitator of the programme, "We believe that fresh talent is the key to growing and strengthening radio and the media industry as a whole in South Africa. This programme is all about identifying and growing the radio skills of tomorrow for the benefit of our business, the sector as well as equipping interns for a career in the media.
"We are encouraged by the enthusiasm and talent we have found among our interns, as well as by the eager support this programme has received from colleagues and industry experts."
The programme gives interns the opportunity to try out different career options at Voice of Wits and Mediamark. They network with mentors and contacts that can help them accelerate their professional development, as well as identify the part of the business that excites them most as a career option.
Each intern follows a carefully devised programme, spending around six weeks at each division, spanning across direct and national sales, strategic marketing, trade marketing, sponsorships and promotions, digital sales and creative.
Once they emerge from the programme, the interns are in high demand for employment in the industry. If Mediamark has entry-level positions open, it considers interns for the roles since they will already be equipped with understanding of the company's systems and style. For Voice of Wits, the programme provides additional staff available to assist with running of the station.
"We know that the programme is a success and we would like to expand it in future, infrastructure allowing. The fact that we appointed three out of five interns within the group proves that our strategy to unlock talent works," says Van Rensburg.
Unlike many other internships, the internship includes a liveable monthly salary. "We believe that it's the right thing to do to pay interns something more than a token stipend - we even know of internships with no payment at all," says Van Rensburg. "We don't want the interns to dilute their focus with having to generate income in their spare time. We want our interns engaged and accountable."
Lundi Cavernelis, one of the former interns, now has a full-time job with Mediamark. "When asked what I want to be when I grow up, I answered 'a DJ' to which people in the small Boland town of Wellington, giggled and responded 'stop dreaming'. That's when radio chose me and there was no turning back."
Cavernelis, who has a drama degree and an honours degree in media, says the internship has opened up a world of opportunity for her. "Mediamark gave me an opportunity to study Sales and Marketing at Wits Radio Academy and I knew I had to work extra hard to make this dream last."
Phuti Motau, another intern now working full-time at Mediamark, landed his internship after studying at the Radio Academy on a bursary. "Because of the internship, I work for one of the leading radio sales houses in South Africa. As a child who grew up in Limpopo, who went to school under trees, I feel very privileged to get the internship. I have learnt a lot since I have been here - computer skills, campaign management, sales, strategic thinking, the business model of radio, and more."
