Last week, Jessica Braunstein received over a dozen crates of Red Bull. The junior, along with junior Lilly Milman, just won a year’s supply after Way Up named them Top 100 Interns this August.
Way Up, a job search website for college students and recent graduates, partnered with Red Bull for the contest. Winners were given around 288 cans, according to Milman. Way Up created the contest to showcase student interns, Head of Brand Marketing, Hannah Berg said.
The company then chose Braunstein and Milman from over 800 applicants. Applicants interned anywhere from Fox Television to the New York Mets, and hailed from colleges across the country.
“The goal was really simple,” Berg said. “We just felt like everyone should know about these incredible students and what they were doing.”
For the contest’s inaugural year, Berg said Way Up contacted experts in the intern space to find out what makes a good intern prior to launching the application. Eventually, Way Up filtered Braunstein’s and Milman’s applications, along with 800 others, through a two-step process.
Public votes determined 30 percent of the application, and a panel of judges determined the remaining 70 percent.
The panel comprised of Way Up Founder and CEO Liz Wessel, Society for Human Resource Management Editor Roy Mauer, and New York University professor and early career expert Trudy Steinfeld. They evaluated applications blindly.
“It was truly about the projects they worked on, and the passion behind what they’re doing, and how eager they are to apply in the future,” Berg said.
Milman, a Beacon Living Arts staff writer, served as an intern with Billboard Magazine. She said it was one step on her way to become a music journalist.
“The whole time I was there, it didn’t feel like it was really happening,” Milman said. “Like, I couldn’t believe it.”
Braunstein applied after a promotions internship this summer at Atlantic Records and its subsidiaries in New York City. She and the promotions team were responsible for submitting different songs to radio stations.
Braunstein said she remembers assisting in a phone interview with Brendon Urie, frontman of Panic! at the Disco, as one of her favorite experiences.
“I connected his call to the station that was interviewing him,” Braunstein said. “So, that was really exciting! This was honestly my dream internship. I wish I didn’t have to leave.”
Braunstein said her time at Atlantic Records gave her a specific direction in her career, and she hopes to intern at a touring agency in the coming year.
“I realized being there that my really, really big passion is in live music and touring,” Braunstein said.
Both students said getting on the list surprised them. According to them, neither expected an award because they did not get many public votes.
“The list came out and I was on it, and I was like, ‘Wow, this is cool, I can’t even believe this,’” Braunstein said.
Though Braunstein and Milman said receiving the accolade was enough, Milman said a year’s supply of Red Bull was a nice perk.
“Winning the Red Bull was just something hilarious to top it all off,” Milman said. “I made a throne out of it. So, there’s just a throne in my apartment of like 12 cases of Red Bull.”
Braunstein said the prize did not appeal to her as much.
“I personally don’t drink Red Bull,” she said. “But my family does, so I sent it home. I got all these calls from my dad the other day, and he was like, ‘What is going on?’”
The goal of the contest will remain the same in coming years.
“Let’s give these students an accolade that they can really be proud of,” Berg said. “I feel really excited because I know we gave at least a hundred students the confidence that what they’re doing matters and that they are valued.”
