My primary task as an internship coordinator in the College of Humanities at the University of Utah is to work with students so they can explore, prepare for, and process their internship experience. Shortly after accepting this role, however, I noticed that an online internship resource was absent from the college’s website.
Does it make sense for me to create one? If so, what should it include? If not, where would students find internship opportunities? How do students know whom to speak with about internships? How can academic advisors, faculty, and employers access information about the college’s approach and policies in guiding these kinds of experiences?
There are numerous ways career service professionals can collaborate with other offices and academic departments to share resources and information or facilitate outreach events without reinventing the wheel or going into someone else’s lane. At times, however, your situation may warrant something new.
The four suggestions below outline my approach to creating a substantial and comprehensive online internship resource. My college did not have one prior to my arrival, and my supervisor and I agreed that building a dedicated internship resource from the ground up would be an important and manageable first-year goal. I invite career service professionals, especially new ones, to use the bullet points as a guiding template for creating new online resources. Identifying where to began is sometimes the biggest challenge, but I believe this insight is practical and helpful.
- Build relationships: It is important to introduce yourself—both your face and title—through e-mail and in person to your new colleagues, inside and out of your office. If you demonstrate genuine interest in their responsibilities and area of focus, they are likely to interest themselves in yours.
- Ask questions (challenging ones, too): What are the successful online resources currently available, and how is that success defined and measured? What are the shortcomings and major takeaways, and how can you adjust?
- Request feedback: Once you create a new online resource, it is critical to acquire feedback. A “fresh set of eyes” can help you see things previously overlooked or not even considered.
- Update, update, update! Whether it means searching out inactive links, removing or adding new names and profile pictures on the webpage, or correcting outdated verbiage, change is both inevitable and crucial. An online resource is a cultural product that requires regular improvements as things evolve at your institution.
Collaboration on a new online resource is essentially a means to initiate and maintain strong and healthy connections with your colleagues. This benefits everyone and such relationships, after all, can transcend projects.