Internship Evaluations

What do our interns learn?

How do they evaluate their internship experience?

Here are a few comments…

Vanessa Kitchen, Bowdoin College ‘06

What professional skills did you learn during this internship that you feel will help you further in college and in your career?

I learned such skills as how to write an “article ideas list,” how to contact publishers, and the ins-and-outs of the publishing industry (i.e. what a book proposal is comprised of, how self publishing is better/worse than regular publishing). Many of my general skills also improved, such as my writing, editing, and research skills.

What career insights did you gain that you feel will help you be successful in your eventual career?

I learned the importance of networking, being involved and active in professional associations, and most of all, the importance of email lists! This internship helped me to get a good sense of how to get myself connected in the job world and also, if finding myself out of a job or changing jobs, how to connect myself, through my contacts, to the network of my new job. As well, the tips and tutorials that Ken gave us on book publishing, self publishing, research, press releases, etc. were extremely helpful and interesting and I am sure that knowledge will come in handy in the future when I move into a career in publishing and writing, and perhaps PR or sales and/or marketing.

What aspects of the internship did you enjoy?

I loved editing and getting to further practice and improve my editing skills, as well as to learn how to fine-tune an article to give it a certain spin. I enjoyed the writing part as well, especially the chances I had to write whole chunks of articles, or, in client Fred Green’s case, an entire article! I enjoyed going to the associations and especially sitting in on meetings with clients; I felt that I learned a lot about the publishing business as well as about general business practices through these meetings. I loved our tours of historical sights, too.

How could this internship be improved?

I can’t really think of any specific big ways the internship could be improved. I felt I always had a lot to do and was not usually waiting around long for response on articles or editing. I got a lot out of Ken’s instruction and tutorials and enjoyed the associations and meetings we went to. Concord is a great town and fun to have lunch in and tour the sights in. The hours were great and I thought three days a week ended up being a perfect amount of time. Overall, I had a GREAT experience.

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