High energy team, tangible work products, frequent interaction with both staff and network women, high levels of trust places in interns, very friendly staff willing to help you excel
What I wish was different
More structure in the intern class and more opportunities to meet other interns virtually, more knowledge about organizational structure with clearer communication expectations
Advice
Set goals for yourself in the beginning of the internship, share those goals with your intern supervisor, and look for projects that fit those goals. The team is incredibly willing to help you build your own skill set, so just advocate for yourself early and excel in the work you are given.
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One person found this helpful
Human Rights Intern
January - April 2020 • Washington, DC
What I liked
I loved being a part of the human rights team because everybody was so passionate about what we were doing. There were so many opportunities to learn from individuals who have done so much advocacy and work on the behalf of women and girls.
What I wish was different
I wish the internship was paid or offered a stipend. Unpaid internships are a luxury, especially in locations like Washington, D.C. where the cost of living is very expensive. I was lucky enough to be on scholarship, but I can see how for most students this sort of internship would be far out of reach.
Advice
My advice is to make as many connections as possible. Vital Voices was great because they encouraged all of their interns to set up informational interviews with staff members to learn more about their careers and what led them to this point. My advice is to absolutely do this! This is the best way to network in my opinion.
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One person found this helpful
Global Leadership Programs Intern
August - December 2017 • Washington, DC
What I liked
Not only did I love the opportunity to meet and learn about a variety of different women who are trailblazers for social change and women's empowerment all over the world, I really enjoyed the variety of work I was able to do throughout the course of the semester. My supervisors were really intentional about making sure I was able to develop professionally and work towards my own long and short term goals, which made the experience even better!
What I wish was different
I wish I had taken more initiative to get to know the many amazing women who work at Vital Voices in all different teams!
Advice
Don't be put off by the fact that you'll be working for essentially 3 different "teams"! The variety of supervision and tasks is a good experience for professional development!
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One person found this helpful
Intern
July - December 2017 • Washington, DC
What I liked
Great atmosphere, friendly and understanding staff, many other interns in the office, lots of learning experiences and skills, brown bag lunches with CEO and other high-up staff were great.
What I wish was different
More brown bag lunches
Advice
Be open and communicative with the staff, they really want to accommodate what you hope to gain from the internship and will gladly help with your resume, cover letter, etc - staff in other departments are also always willing to have informative interviews with you over their work if you are interested.
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One person found this helpful
Global Leadership Programs Intern
March - August 2017 • Washington, DC
What I liked
Loved the group of women on my team! They all had such interesting career paths and gave a lot of life advice. Just really fun to spend time with, by the time I left we started to have lots of inside jokes. The org also had a lot of great lunch-and-learns for skill development, resume reviewing, or learning about a certain path (Peace Corps for example). They were also flexible about allowing time off to attend a professional development event or conference. My supervisor was thrilled to write me a great and thoughtful letter of recommendation with input from the rest of the team.
What I wish was different
Sometimes not enough work for the number of interns there. It was unpaid, but some of the work would be tasks you really should be paid for. However there were several projects that I got to collaborate on with the team and create something original.
Advice
Try to ask a lot of questions about your projects, ask about the process that went into the project you're about to work on. I wish I had gotten confident enough to speak up with my ideas in meetings and brainstorming sessions before I was almost done with the internship.
