Alright, I live in the states and this year I'm going to be asked to do an intership with a company of my choice. Loving Final Fantasy, you can guess which company I chose. It's not for a long while, but I thought I'd get the jump on it. My problem is, I have no idea if Square even gives internships, which one to go to if I do (theres three here in the states) and what it's like, etc. If any of you have any expeirience with this, it would be greatly appreciated. Acctually, if any of you have any relatives working for square (I know it's not likely but I can hope can't I?) any help getting me in would be wonderful. Not likely, but it was worth a shot :) .
So ummm...yeah, post away.

As somebody who's been through gaming internships before, let me just stop you there. You have not got much of a chance of getting an internship with a gaming company at all, let alone Square. To my knowledge there's Square Hawaii, Square L.A., and another that I don't know.

I do know however that the only people I know from Square are in LA, and by the sounds of it don't have much to do with interns due to the ravenous fanbase. Also, you have to understand that interns really need to have something to do - if you're put into a big company like Square, you will most likely get a walk-around the game design department, then get thrown straight to the photocopying.

The only positive internships i've heard from are directly from Sony, where they put people in at the deep end, and if they fuck up, they chuck them.

What you must realise is that you are not the first, and not the last to ask for internships. If I'm right, Sony gets thousands weekly, and I can only imagine Square gets just as many, with ridiculous character designs, fan fiction, and naked pictures. Apply, by all means, but really, don't be surprised if you're turned down. More power to you if you get in though. I just don't rate anyone's chances.

Start small, and start smart. I don't know how old you are, but I'm guessing 13 to 15.

The internships I've had (sony, magazines) have been through friends and family. They were sketchy to get, and this is before you're even in the building. Once you're in the door you've gotta be sweetness and light and ready to deal with any of the shit people throw you.

Trust me. A lot of interns don't realise that they may have to work, and that the inside of a company may not be like some sort of electronic MAD magazine. They're not all playing games. Those who are are probably Q/A and not having too great a time doing so, as they've got goals and things to find.

If you can, check with your family and see if they have any connections to people in any company. If they can get you somewhere, that's cool. If they can't, that sucks. When you're older get working for gamestop or target or something, then get into E3. It's possible to make contacts there that will lead you to work in the future.

Wow, thanks for the advice, more detailed then I expected to get from a gaming board really. Your right, I probably should start small, paticularly since I live nowere near any of the offices. On the other hand, I still do need somewere to do an internship. Any suggestions?

Also to add..

Theres some good internships/traning in EA Games, Theres one based in the United States and two in the UK.

They have Three courses, Design and Art, Sound and Sound Technology and Computer Programming, Ill find a link sometime in the future, but Thats something that can help..

Cool. One of the biggest problems I have is that I live on the East coast right near DC and there usually aren't a lot of companies around there. Not that I blame them, what with all the anti-videogame sentiments floating around the white house (damn you Lieberman). If all else fails, my parents usually are decent about flying places (lots of frequent flier miles, my dad heads the Cypres and Belarussian departments of the IMF) especially for education. It would probably be more convinient to have something close.