VLS Internship Program | 2024

SCOPE

The goal of the Vincent Lighting Systems (VLS) Internship Program is to help build the network, skills and professional development of aspiring professionals in the lighting and rigging industry. The program is a three-way partnership between the intern, VLS, and the educational institution that is sponsoring the intern. VLS wishes to create an environment for the intern where they can experience all different facets of the lighting and rigging business and gain knowledge and experience in each. Most rising professionals in our industry are unaware of all the exciting opportunities in our industry and need exposure to different career paths to better refine their educational and professional goals. VLS also uses the internship experience to evaluate an intern as a potential member of our team once they have completed their educational journey. At the same time, VLS is also working to provide the educational sponsor with a link to the public sector both for industry and market networking but also to bring the latest technical innovations and ideas back for use in the educational sector.

REQUIREMENTS

Candidates for internship must be:

• At least 18 years old by January 1, 2024 or have parent/guardian approval
• A US citizen, naturalized citizen or legally able to work in the United States
• Be a current student, in good standing with at least a 3.0 grade point average at a university, college or other educational institution in a theater or visual design program. (note: high school students may be accepted for an abbreviated internship)
• Have the written approval of a professor, instructor, or other staff member from the educational sponsor
• Be able to find temporary residence (at the cost of the intern) near one of our offices in the Cleveland or Cincinnati area.
• Application must be submitted by April 14, 2024

TIMING

VLS is desiring an internship that can be custom tailored to the intern’s educational break schedule. Ideally, a successful internship should last between two and six months depending on the intern’s desire for experience in the field. With coordination from the educational sponsor, VLS will build this program around the situation for the intern. Our hours of operation are Monday through Friday from 8:30am to 5:30pm. When the intern’s rotation within VLS moves to the rental and production department, there will be opportunities for site work after normal business hours and on weekends with advanced notice.

LOCATION

VLS has full-service offices in Cleveland, Ohio and Erlanger, Kentucky (Cincinnati area). Based on the intern’s ability to secure housing, VLS can tailor the internship program around any of our offices. It is encouraged that interns have local housing options, as VLS does not provide any type of housing as part of the program. It is also required that an intern have some form of reliable transportation to get to and from the office each day. At no time will VLS expect that an intern use their personal vehicle to transport equipment or transit to/from a jobsite.

PAY

An intern at VLS will receive compensation at $16/hr. There are no health care or other benefits offered as part of the internship program. An intern will complete a W2 and will have standard tax and other required withholdings deducted. Paychecks are issued every other week and may be made via direct deposit by our payroll processing company, ADP. The intern will be fully covered under VLS worker’s compensation and unemployment insurance programs while they are engaged at work for VLS.

EQUIPMENT & MATERIALS

VLS will provide the intern with all required equipment and materials needed to complete their job including any safety equipment as outlined by OSHA. The intern is required to wear job appropriate clothing on their different rotations of the internship (ex: business casual for office rotation, work clothing and steel toed shoes for shop rotation). During their rotation in service and rental/production the intern will have the option to bring their personal tools with them to the office and/or jobsite.

ACCREDITATION

VLS will work with the educational sponsor in advance of the internship to outline the requirements of the internship by the institution. The intern will be required to keep a daily diary that outlines the work completed during the day and any skills or new areas that were learned. As each educational sponsor has their own requirements, VLS is respectful of that and will ensure that the program meets and/or exceeds the requirements by the sponsor.

AREAS & ROTATION

Because the goal of the VLS Internship program is to provide interns with a well-rounded experience of a theatrical lighting dealer, rental house and systems integration company, the interns will select departments they would like to explore. Below is a listing of the different departments that may be part of the rotation and some of the goals for each department’s intern program.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

• Breakdown bid documents into a bill of materials with costing and systems commissioning budget for a complete working system.
• Assist in design/build process, from conceptual meeting to generation of design documentation.
• Participate in commissioning, hang and focus of a project.
• Attend an onsite project coordination meeting with a project manager.
• Produce both a simple fixture package style quote, and more complex system quote.
• Create system riser diagram, and a complete project submittal drawings set.
• Follow up with project stakeholders on all facets of projects including vendors, electrical contractors and specifiers.
• Work with service department to schedule and coordinate on-site systems commissioning and turn on.
• Complete final job financial documentation and required documentation such as as-built drawings.

PRODUCT SALES

• Work with customers via phone and in-person to understand needs and recommend products.
• Look for opportunities to combine services/products for increased value for the client.
• Create quotations, sales orders, return documentation.
• Support the product inventory process including picking, packaging and shipping orders to customers.
• Facilitate troubleshooting discussion with clients via phone to support their decisions on new lighting and rigging equipment purchases.

OUTSIDE SALES

• Develop a list of potential prospect companies and contacts in either architectural or theatrical lighting markets.
• Conduct research on prospects including searching the web and social media platforms such as LinkedIn.
• Participate in sales meetings and/or site surveys with an outside salesperson for VLS.
• Complete a proposal either for a public bid or design/build application.
• Work with a manufacturer’s representative to understand the relationship between the theatrical dealer/integrator and the agency.

RENTAL & PRODUCTION SALES

• Work with the production manager to attend a site survey and/or client meeting to discuss an upcoming project.
• Put together a project gear and labor list and participate in the design process with the production manager.
• Collaborate with production specialists on the logistics and planning of a production.
• Attend an event on-site with the production manager to ensure client’s expectations are being met.

RENTAL & PRODUCTION FIELD WORK

• Work with production specialists on-site to load-in, operate, and load-out a production in the field.
• Understand the safety requirements of working in a production environment.
• Opportunity for the intern to get programming experience and/or design experience in the field.
• Gain a better perspective and experience of technical elements such as power, data and network, control, rigging, automated lighting, LED lighting, etc.

SHOP OPERATIONS

• Support shop operations by preparing equipment for upcoming rental/productions.
• After a rental/production, help with the return/cleaning of the equipment.
• Learn the requirements for successfully maintaining rental equipment and participate in the service process.
• Learn how to use a rental management software system to effectively manage the operations of a facility.

LIGHTING DESIGN

• Participate in the design process for entertainment, architectural and systems design.
• Gain experience with software such as Vectorworks and LightWright to prepare design implementation documents.
• Learn more about software such as AGI-32 and Dialux to plot photometrics on a commercial or architectural lighting project.

SERVICE

• Work with a service technician to prepare a systems commissioning project.
• Spend time on-site supporting a service technician during turn-on and commissioning of both an architectural and theatrical system.
• Develop skills at managing customer repair tickets and the troubleshooting, diagnosis and triage of equipment repair.
• Participate in a system’s network layout discussion to support project management on design/build projects.

RIGGING

• Assist in bid take off, and estimation of new project work
• Assist in rigging inspection and preparation of customer reports.
• Attend onsite project coordination meeting
• Follow up with project stakeholders on schedule of installation, scheduling of crews, and materials
• Work with project administrator to procure all equipment necessary for installation of systems.

PROJECT FINANCE

• Gain knowledge of the financial workings of systems integration work.
• Track project costs and build towards the generation of a job costing worksheet.
• Work with salespeople on the efforts of accounts receivable and the facilitation of timely payment by clients.
• Complete project close-out documentation in coordination with project management.

MARKETING & E-COMMERCE

• Evaluate Google analytics and other data, to determine key terms/items prospective customers are searching for. Work with team, to brainstorm for adjustments to be made, to enhance user experience on website and increase conversion rate.
• Assist in writing an in-depth white paper and develop a plan to reach potential target audience with content.
• Working within company’s CRM platform, update customer contact information and find new prospective customers.
• Add new products to the website and update product information in order to understand industry search engine keywords for optimization.

APPLICATION PROCESS

VLS is now accepting applications for the 2024 internship year. Candidates must fill out an internship application form, as well as upload a copy of their current resume and a letter signed by the representative of the sponsor organization, to Vincent Lighting Systems (VLS). The application process for candidates interested in a Summer 2024 internship will close on April 19, 2024.

Apply Now

Want to distribute the internship around your campus? Download this flyer: VLS-Internship-Program-2024