Editor's Note: This is the 10th in a series of stories about College of Communications students completing summer internships.
If every internship came with an accompanying “responsibility score,” a number to rate or weight how much the intern’s work means to a company, many of the opportunities provided to College of Communications students would rate fairly high.
The hundreds of Penn State communications students who earn placements every year get hands-on, meaningful internships. Still, some are a little more nerve wracking than others -- and David Bader knows all about that.
Bader, a 30-year-old senior majoring in telecommunications on track to graduate in December, has been working this summer as a broadcast engineer for NBCUniversal. He splits his time between iconic 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City and network production facilities in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.
“After working here a few months, I’ve learned that TV breaks a lot more often than you think. We just have backups and then a whole redundancy beyond that,” Bader said. “It’s my responsibility to help keep the transmission equipment working.”
There’s a lot of equipment, too. Bader works with three longtime employees who monitor the transmission equipment for broadcast operations and syndicated program created and routed by NBCUniversal.
They monitor dozens of broadcasts at any one time and anything that could go wrong or does go wrong falls on the small group’s shoulders. They make transfers between different NBC locations -- mostly New York, Denver, Los Angeles and Stamford, Connecticut. They have the benefit of the latest technology, and super-high standards. “You can’t go down in this industry. You cannot lose picture,” Bader said.
Bader had a couple of advantages entering in the internship. Most of all, he’s comfortable with responsibility.
“Little things can go wrong and they’ll cause big problems,” Bader said. “There’s so much video encoding and we do so much because we work with so many different channels. It makes the day go really quick when you’re doing something all the time. The people here are busy and committed -- kind of like the military.”
That works perfectly for Bader. Before matriculating to Penn State, the Pittsburgh native served in the U.S. Air Force for seven years. Rising to the level of staff sergeant, Bader worked with transmission systems. His work was specific to data transfer, the Internet and telecommunications, but he did have relatable experience for the internship.
“I did understand a little bit, and they were happy to know my background,” Bader said. “I think that’s why they’ve been so comfortable letting me do things. They told me the other day that a couple of guys we’re going on vacation at the same time. I’m not sure if it was a joke or a test, but I know they’re giving me a great opportunity.”
Bader hopes the summer position leads to a full-time position. He also hopes his combination of military experience and a strong internship performance can help him progress quickly at the company, which offers post-graduate programs to familiarize people entering the industry with the related processes and technology.
“There really isn’t a direct path to these kinds of jobs, but what I’m doing seems to make sense to me,” Bader said. “Hopefully it makes sense to them, too. I’m trying to find out if I’ll have enough experience, and have proven myself, to get a job or if I’ll have o enter a two-year program. It could go either way.”
Along with his work, Bader is completing a class focused on communications law. He often tries to work on assignments and read on a company shuttle bus from New York City to New Jersey. Once the fall semester begins, he’ll have 12 credits to complete before graduation. He earned support from the Gregory Michael Schiff Memorial Scholarship in the College of Communications this year.
Bader earned two associate degrees (information science, applied science) while in the Air Force. He admits he was not focused when he first tried college after high school, but his military experience allowed him to see the world (serving in Italy and Japan among his assignments) and grow up a bit. With family members who attended Penn State, the University was a logical choice when he returned to school.
He’s made the most of opportunities provided by the College of Communications, and engaged with the strong alumni network, which includes people like Linda Yaccarino, president of advertising sales for NBCUniversal, who spoke on campus last fall and consistently supports the internship program.
“She sent me a note after I got the internship.” Bader said. “Also, I have a little Penn State sticker my retractable ID badge, and I’ve already met a bunch of Penn Staters here. That’s always a good thing.”