Over the course of my 15 years of working in a MarComm office, I’ve had the pleasure of working with dozens of interns. As the semester is drawing to a close, many interns will be going home for the summer and some will be leaving their departments in search of jobs after graduation.
In reflecting on the interns I’ve worked with, I am so proud of what they’ve accomplished and how they’re making a difference in their fields.
Our teams were selective in hiring interns but also worked hard to make sure they gained practical, relevant skills. I invited three interns to share their experiences and what tangible things they gained through their internship aside from the projects themselves. I knew they’d get to build their portfolio, but some of the others skills they gained really have me excited about bring the next class of interns to campus.
Meet the (Former) Interns
Savanna currently serves as the executive director of graduate admissions at the Arkansas College of Health Education. Savanna was a graduate assistant in the College Student Personnel program and worked with me on writing, social media content, and much more.
In terms of what I gained from my graduate assistantship, the first thing that comes to mind is project management skills like task distribution and how to be held accountable for my assignments and deadlines. I was empowered to learn my own pace and budget time appropriately. Something else I’ve carried with me is viewing the institution through the eyes of others. We worked with consultants and cited surveys and market research, and at the time I didn’t fully realize the necessity of outsourcing some of that. When I was fresh out of school myself it was easy, but as the years pass I’ve seen the need to increase the intentionality behind seeking insight from others’ perspectives. I keep getting older but college students stay the same age. Now I have my own consultants.
Josh serves as the senior marketing producer at CBS8 and also owns Josh Kelley Media. He worked as a student intern and a graduate assistant helping to script, shoot, and edit video content.
Getting hands-on experience as a student worker in the MarComm offices was absolutely crucial to developing my skills as a storyteller; there are parts of this industry you just can’t get from a textbook. Trusted with the freedom to create and learn early on in my career fostered a lasting confidence and creative spirit that I’ve carried for over ten years as I continue pitching, writing, and producing award-winning content for thousands of viewers.
Olivia currently serves as a public relations specialist at MHP/TeamSI. As an intern, Olivia helped with crafting social media content, writing news stories, and helping tell the UA Little Rock story.
Working as a student intern prepared me well for a future in the industry. As an intern, I collaborated with seasoned professionals, received constructive feedback that grew both my confidence and skill set, and built an impressive portfolio that got my foot in the door of award-winning marketing agencies across Little Rock. My experience as part of this team helped shape me into who I am today, and I could not be more grateful for their expertise and support.
What it Means
To me, seeing how these internships benefitted the students helped me understand the value of the investment, aside from just help with projects and increasing capacity. It also helped me to think through how I can better structure future internship experiences to ensure students get the most out of the experience.
Three Tips for Successful Intern Experiences
Freedom to Fail – All three interns talked about having space to execute a project they way they saw best. Sometimes that involved having to pitch the story, and other times they had the flexibility to put the entire project together. RegardIess of the situation, giving students the space to be creative (and sometimes fail) helps them to learn how to think about projects in a meaningful way.
Schedule Feedback – Making sure students are getting regular feedback is also really important. This one likely requires time on the part of the internship host. We’re all busy, and it can be easy to back burner sitting down with an intern to review their work and walk them through something. However, that time helps them grow and ensures their projects are continually valuable.
Incorporate Interns into the Team – Having interns be part of regular meetings is valuable. This helps them to hear context clues, understand large concerns at the university level, and begin to see how colleagues can collaboratively work through challenges or differences in approach. This also helps the intern get comfortable with having to sell an idea or how to offer feedback to someone in a more senior role, all skills that will be of value.
And Carrie On 