My internship experience in LAS
Daria Zelen is a junior pursuing a dual degree in psychology and advertising. During the school year, she works as a digital media intern for the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. In her free time, you can usually find her listening to new music, embroidering her old clothes, exploring CU, or playing around with graphic design.
One of the many great things about the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences at UIUC is the vast array of resources provided to students, especially regarding career guidance and resume building. Through the College of LAS, Humanities Professional Resource Center, ATLAS Internship Program, and more, there are many other opportunities for internships!
My sophomore year, I started an internship with the marketing and communication (marcom) team within the College of LAS as a digital media intern. The application process was fairly simple and standard. I searched on Handshake for various job opportunities, saw the position and loved the job description, emailed in my resume and a few graphic design samples from my portfolio, and finally, interviewed for the position.
Since then, working with the marcom team has been an absolute delight. I spend approximately 15 hours a week working to promote LAS events to current students and helping prospective students learn more about life in LAS. Many of my responsibilities surround social media, such as creating interactive Instagram stories, designing graphics for posts on various platforms, and researching what improvements we can make on our social media pages and websites. My favorite part of work, however, is being able to interact with LAS students on a weekly basis, whether it is to learn more about their LAS experiences, have them submit a student social media takeover, or give out free t-shirts!
The experience of interning in the College of LAS has been incredibly rewarding. It allows me to integrate the knowledge I have learned from both of my majors into one internship. My psychology major has aided me in understanding how students think, why they think it, and what appeals to them, thus helping me understand the content students want to see on social media. My advertising major has helped me understand how to market that content to them.
Throughout my time as a digital media intern, I have learned a lot about how to use writing to communicate effectively, how to utilize various social media platforms, and I have strengthened my skills in research application and graphic design. I am so grateful for the time I have spent with the marcom team, and I am beyond excited to continue learning more as I continue with the internship.
LAS offers so many opportunities for students to get experience, no matter their major or their interests. If you’re looking for a way to apply your knowledge from your classes in a professional setting, or are simply looking for ways to build your resume, I highly recommend checking out the LAS resources that are offered, or you can even do it yourself through Handshake!