With a new semester just around the corner, many students are utilizing their summers to gain experience and expand their resumes through internships.
At the UA, students can take advantage of a variety of internship opportunities on campus, in a wide range of departments.
“In general, internships are critically important, because it’s just another word, kind of, for career-related experience,” said Susan Miller-Pinhey, marketing and special events manager for UA Career Services. “Obviously, it gives you an opportunity to enhance your resume, and also gives you an opportunity to work with companies hopefully that you’re interested in for the future.”
By interning, students can try out different positions and industries to see if it’s a good fit for them, without having to fully commit to a full-time position, Miller-Pinhey said. It also gives the organization an opportunity to get to know the student, and perhaps hire them down the road, she added.
According to Dan Heck, associate director for the UA Athletic Department, the marketing department has five interns working on different projects this summer, all geared toward fan interaction. Three of them are also student-athletes.
By interning in marketing, these athletes can get a behind-the-scenes look at what type of work goes into preparing a game, rather than playing in one, he said.
For Kylan Butler, a recent UA graduate and member of the UA football team, working behind the scenes is a new territory that he hasn’t been exposed to.
As a member of the UA Street Team this summer, Butler is in charge of getting ZonaZoo more incorporated into football games.
“It’s a good way to see the other side of the spectrum, it’s one of the sides of athletics I don’t get to see,” Butler said. “It’s great … and seeing what all goes into making just one day of something that you think is just a football game, but it’s a lot more to it than that. It’s a great experience for me.”
Also interning this summer is softball player, Chelsea Suitos, a junior studying family studies and human development, and retail and consumer sciences.
Suitos is in charge of a unity program between the student athletes from different sports to intermingle more, as well as get them to support other athletes at their games, she said.
“The main goal is to basically get more unity within our athletics department,” Suitos said, “While also getting more people out to our low attendance sports.”
For prospective students who are interested in interning with the Athletic Department, Heck said they must be able to communicate well, as well as be charismatic and passionate about sports and the UA.
“We really focus our internship on preparing … for a career in college athletics or sports marketing or just sports business in general,” Heck said.
Other intern opportunities on campus include the UA Science and Technology Park, managed and operated by University Research Parks.
“We have a little over 50 companies and business organizations as tenants of the park,” said Bruce Wright, associate vice president of Research Parks at the UA. “They employ nearly 7,000 employees annually and the companies are all about bringing new technology into the marketplace.”
Such companies include IBM, Raytheon and Citigroup, he added.
According to Miller-Pinhey, the earlier students start looking for internships, the better, as they are very competitive.
“It’s very important. Employers actually look for it,” she said, adding that students who have internships are more likely to get a job upon graduation.
Students should look for internships based on what they’re interested in, what positions they’re thinking about, and how that can relate to whatever organization they are looking to try out, she added.
“One thing that we do tell students is that they need to start [applying] early,” Miller-Pinhey said. “So if they wait until like April to start looking for a summer internship, that’s probably a little late. It’s better to even start like November-December of the year before, if you’re serious.”
