Lemonade stands. Baseball games. Pool parties. And, interns. Ah, the hallmarks of summer. At TVG this summer, we are welcoming Shelley Dressel, a junior from Truman State studying business and communications. We are also pleased to welcome Ashley Day, who is completing the first year of her Master’s degree in public health policy and will also begin law school – with an emphasis in public health policy – this fall. Both of Ashley’s degrees will be from Saint Louis University.

But what does being an intern really mean? What does a TVG intern do and why do we have them?

The corporate line is: TVG is committed to professional development and developing the profession. The reality is interns are typically hard-working, enthusiastic learners, and they can really shine at TVG. By offering internships that include front-line work, media relations and exposure to client accounts we accomplish two goals.

1) We provide experience to a young professional so they can see what life in a firm like ours is all about and decide if this is a good fit for them.

2) We work with bright, capable candidates, in some cases before they enter the broader job market, and see if they are a good fit for us – a fit that might lead to full-time employment.

TVG typically has an intern or two each summer and usually have one to two throughout the school year. The first step for an intern is an orientation process, and assignment of a mentor. Our mentoring program is part of our culture, and each employee has a mentor. The mentor is part coach, part supervisor and part colleague. The program also functions as a bit of a safety net – it provides a go-to person where an intern can ask anything, anything, anything under the sun, and get an answer.

The daily to-do list items are created and along with the tasks of doing the work, we spend some time with our young professionals talking about the work and setting goals. What do they want to gain from their internship experience? What are their strengths? We want to be a sounding board for them to learn more about the various career paths that are open to them – either here at TVG or elsewhere.

Ultimately, a great company is a place with great people. And in an industry like strategic communications and public relations – great people make a great industry. We want to make sure we create quality experiences for our interns, like Shelley and Ashley, so they can not only contribute to the profession, but reach their full potential.

Now I’m off to go see if Shelley or Ashley have any questions for me!

Contact us at tvg@vandivergroup.com or send comments to blog@vandivergroup.com.