Internship experiences

One of the primary goals of this class is to have each of you serve as an intern in some situation that you believe will assist you in moving from your MFA program into a position (short term) or career (long term). Some of the students in this class have already arranged their internships for the fall, while others will need assistance in setting up internships.

What do interns do?
Students typically fall into two areas, either doing teaching internships or community/non-profit/business internships. Those who do teaching internships often work with professors at their own gateway, other gateways, or at alternate venues, i.e., high schools, or with workshops for students or with specific communities. Those who do community/ non-profit / business internships often intern with private or university presses, literary journals, community or social-service agencies, non-profit organizations, arts agencies. Most often, students write materials, work with the public in-house or through outreach, work with or as administrators, develop programs, do event planning, or combinations.

Where can I do my internship?
You can do your internship just about anywhere; it need not be just in your city or at your gateway. Doing your internship at your gateway--teaching assistant, literary magazine, university press, etc.--can really help you to manage your time and save on expenses.
On the other hand, some of the projects can be done at home on the computor, working on your own time rather than being on-site. But be sure to weight time and space against a semester of travel for the best internship experience you can arrange.

What else should I consider?

As you decide what kind of internship you want to do, don't just choose something easy--focus on an area that will give you strong and varied skills to add to your curriculum vitae (cv). Either build or extend upon a particular skill (publishing, teaching, running a workshop) or learn a second, related skill that makes you a more diversified candidate for a position or career.

What do I do if I don't have an internship arranged yet?

If you have not yet secured an internship, contact me (rmiltner@kent.edu) and we can begin to develop a focus area for your internship. I already have a few opportunites available I can share with you, provided you have the interest.