Kristina Summers works for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resource Division as a senior public relations and information specialist and is a graduate of the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia. She enjoys being outside in the sunshine, playing baseball with her three children, watching “The Simpsons” and trivia games.
Her passion for the environment and human rights is evident in her advocacy work with the DNR, the Susan G. Komen foundation, Girl Scouts, the World Wildlife Fund as well as The ONE Campaign of which she is a former director. She was recognized by the NAACP Image awards in 2006 for outstanding social justice for her work with ONE. She completed the Breast Cancer Three Day event in Atlanta in 2005.
She has been blogging for a year and written articles for newspapers, magazines and online journals.She lives with her family in Statham, Ga. She often tells people her purpose in life is to leave the planet a little better than she found it.
Phintern the Super Wildlife Secret Agent!
About a month ago I did a
post on what interns should know in order to get the maximum benefit from their time. Now I want to switch gears a little bit and write about some things we, meaning those who are already working a “real” job everyday, can learn from our interns.
For the last three months we had an intern. Although he had a few specific tasks he was expected to complete (what we hired him for) he ended up going above and beyond what was expected of him. When it came time for him to leave us, there was a little sadness as nobody wanted to see him go. He graciously filled out a very informative exit interview however and using that along with input from the rest of the
public affairs staff, I put this list together. Here is what we can learn from a great intern.
1. There is always room for improvement - no matter how educated or experienced you are, there is always something we can learn about our jobs from an outsider’s view. Maybe it is something that once mentioned is common sense but being so close to it everyday you just miss it. Interns are great for providing valuable feedback, as long as you give them the chance.
2.
Treat everyday as if it were your first day - Our intern made a point to mind his manners at all times, everyday. Even after three months and after growing comfortable around all of us, he maintained a professionalism that should be envied. As I mentioned in my last
post there are things that should never be discussed but sometimes we get lax after 5 years, 10 years or more with the company. Our intern made us all aware again of what people should do and say in the workplace.
3. Never be shy about asking questions - While I have written before that asking questions is the best way to learn anything new, this goes for everyone already working and not just interns. Our intern asked me some tough questions during his time and really made me think about some of the things I do and how I handle certain media situations. I needed that good hard look at my technique but would probably have taken longer without my intern’s honest scrutiny. Now I question both myself and my supervisor more, if only to make sure I am on track.
4.
Embrace change - I consider myself a pretty savvy person when it comes to social media, but even so I was pleasantly surprised when I was able to pick up some
new tips and tricks that I can now apply to my work not only as a
blogger but as a
public affairs professional. Even if you have been around the block a million times, things change all the time so take advantage of a young intern and really pick their brain. You may be surprised at what you learn.
5. Every colleague is also a person - We all have our own unique personalities and both strengths and weaknesses. Nobody is perfect but by working together in a collaborative way will ensure that we get the most done in the most efficient manner. Our intern was really great at pointing out his own strengths and weaknesses and using that info to determine the best way he could help us achieve our goals. Definitely something to take an example from.
6. We are responsible for training and educating the next generation of workers - This is a biggie.
“What good will our hard work do if nobody in the next generation cares?”
Hopefully after reading this you will have a better attitude about working with an intern since we all know people who ruthlessly abuse their interns with menial and repetitive tasks that really teach them nothing about the real world of work. I want those who come after me, and who ultimately may work for me to have real training and a good sense of what to expect. In short I want good employees, not half-assed college grads expecting a handout because they did nothing during their internship other than make copies, fax some things and fetch coffee.
“We never get out more than we put into it.”
A special thanks to the “
Phintern” for all his hard work! Good Luck!
You will lose in the end, and sometimes it can even mean your job. This isn’t rocket science and by no means new, but some people need the refresher.
Think of an internship as a test drive for your chosen career. There are a few things that I wish I had known as an intern that might have made my transition into the “real” world a little smoother.
Having a family and being young and broke to boot, I am constantly on the lookout for ways to either save money or to increase my bank account. I am dabbling in investments, have a savings account and a 401K through my employer. I never thought however that my personal happiness might have anything to do with the size of my purse.
Recently a co-worker of mine batted around the idea of working from home one day a week. The idea was great in theory. There’s no way it would work for me. Here’s the problem.
Working for a nonprofit that operates on a budget that would make scrooge cry, it can be difficult to figure out inexpensive (read cheap) ways to utilize social media techniques, versus all the excess fluff we really don’t have the time or funds to manage or learn about.
I am totally offended by this guy’s absolute misrepresentation of the Public Relations industry. Are all journalists corner-cutting, camera-hogging’ unethical sharks?
Suffering from perfectionism myself, I was drawn to this article with a kind of fascination usually reserved for writing and re-writing and then writing again my blog posts
I am sure there are many companies out there who would not hold the existence of three children against an interview candidate. They have to exist, but maybe I just didn’t meet them for the first six months I interviewed.
I am an aging activist. Smart enough to recognize when you cross the line to becoming part of the problem, and still enough of an idealist to want to change the world for my children’s sake. I have stared long into the abyss and am not afraid of what I see […]
Phintern the Super Wildlife Secret Agent!
