Each year, hundreds of Ferris State University students gain valuable work experience through an internship. The experience of an internship also can confirm or redirect career decision-making, provide marketability, develop people skills, and enhance classroom learning. Many academic programs require an internship, but the experience is encouraged regardless to provide students with a better understanding of what will be expected of them in the workplace.
Students are participating in various internships in a variety of locations this summer. Meet Avery Larson:
Who: A senior from Flint majoring in Public Relations
Internship: Social Media Energy, a social media outsourcing company based in Denver, Colo. Ferris alumnus Luke Wyckoff is the company’s founder and chief visionary officer.
What she’s learning: SME is responsible for creating and maintaining a social media presence for its clients, which include The History Channel, Sports Authority, Steelcase and Paramount Pictures, among others. Despite being based in Denver, Larson is completing her internship in Big Rapids.
“I love the feeling of writing a post for a client, then reaching their followers and having people ‘like’ or comment back,” Larson said.
Larson is responsible for 22 clients of her own. She researches articles and finds information that may be interesting to customers and posts them on each company’s Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts. She also is mapping out a three-month social media strategy for Steelcase, a global leader in the office furniture industry that is based in Grand Rapids.
“I am looking to accomplish how social media is transforming traditional marketing and consumerism, what the future holds in social media, and, since Steelcase is a global company, I need to figure out a way for them to cater to other countries,” she said.
How she’s benefitting: “I’ve gained a lot more writing experience, which is what I was looking to do,” Larson said. “I look forward to traveling to Denver later this summer and meeting the team I’ve been virtually communicating with and gaining more information about our bigger clients.”
Goal for the future: Larson hopes to get a permanent position with SME in Denver after she graduates or she may start her job search in Chicago.
Visit our "Meet the Interns" website for the most up-to-date listing of this summer's
featured interns. Click here.