Hometown: Alpena, Michigan
Major and class standing: Interdisciplinary Humanities, Graduated
Socials: @kayla_marie_wikaryasz (Instagram), www.linkedin.com/in/kaylawikaryasz (LinkedIn), Kayla Marie Wikaryasz (Portfolio)
Where you interned at: The Excel Network, Michigan State University
What was your internship title and role/responsibilities?
As an Excel Network intern, my responsibilities included a variety of tasks. On any given day, I was creating newsletters that advertised on- and off-campus jobs, or I was writing blog-style newsletters about career development topics. I posted regularly to the Excel Network Instagram, creating graphics in Adobe and on Canva, assisting my co-worker in maintaining a consistent narrative voice on the social media platform. I managed the Excel Network website by adding featured study abroad programs and updating scholarship information/deadlines, ensuring that the information was accurate for students. I also assisted with engagement analysis of both the Excel Network website and the Excel Network Instagram account, to further strategize effective communication output for the department. Outside of these varied roles, I accomplished other administrative tasks that supported the Excel Network advisers and the work they do for the College of Arts & Letters’ students.
How did you obtain your internship? What resources did you utilize to secure your internship?
I came across this internship in the Spring semester of 2022, while exploring Handshake.com. During this time, I was also regularly meeting with an Excel Network career advisor, Victoria Morris, to develop my resume and cover letter to increase my chances of obtaining an internship. The Excel Network internship had been on my radar for a while, but when Victoria Morris emailed me one day to encourage me to apply, I decided to go for it. Still, before hitting the submit button, I made sure to review all of my professional documents and review the notes/resources I had gathered while attending various Career Service Network (CSN) workshops. As a first-year student at MSU, who had only ever worked one job up to that point, I found the CSN resources (such as resume and interview workshops) very helpful because they offered me points of reference whilst applying for the internship and then preparing for the interview.
I highly recommend taking advantage of every CSN workshop that you can attend and make time to consistently meet with a career advisor. I also believe that networking and regular communication helped give me the advantage which ultimately led to me acquiring this role. If I hadn’t maintained contact with Victoria Morris, prior to applying to this internship opportunity, she may not have thought of me when this position opened. Knowing Victoria Morris from the Excel Network also helped mitigate some of the nerves when it came to interviewing, since going into it I already knew one of the people who would be asking me questions.
What did your daily routine include?
What I liked most about this internship is that I could expect regular tasks each day I was in office, while also being presented with one-off projects that gave some variety to my shifts. I would usually have team meetings once a week via Zoom or in-person, with one-on-one check-ins with supervisors that varied from week to week.
I worked a lot in Trello to manage group tasks/projects; Campaign Monitor, the platform where I created newsletters for our subscribers; and a shared Google Drive, where a lot of our content was organized. In the down-time at this internship, when there weren’t big projects happening, I would spend time ‘snooping’ on other campus Instagram accounts to get a better idea as to how other departments on campus advertise their services to students. I quickly learned that a major part of this role was staying ‘in the know’ of things happening on- and off-campus that could directly benefit CAL students, so I would spend a portion of my time each week scoping out CSN events, career fairs, and other relevant professional development opportunities.
Your favorite experience from the internship?
My favorite experience from this internship has been the networking opportunities. I feel like that this internship has given me many opportunities to work with campus faculty/staff, which as ultimately led to other opportunities down the road. Networking has also allowed me the space to create a robust LinkedIn presence, and connect with alumni and professionals who are working in fields that interest me. Additionally, the varied experiences that the Excel Network has given me has also significantly filled out my resume to a point which I feel confident enough to start applying to entry-level jobs where my experience can be further appreciated.
Also, because of my work advertising study abroad opportunities on the Excel Network website, I discovered the pilot program for MSU’s Russian Language Intensive course in Latvia. I was encouraged by my supervisors to apply for the program, and because of my connections at the Excel Network, I had a lot of support when it came to applying for scholarships. I truly believe that if I had not started working at the Excel Network when I had, I would not have had the confidence or where-with-all to even consider applying to a study abroad program.
Through that additional experiential learning opportunity, I spent five weeks in Latvia studying Russian in an immersive environment, traveling alongside peers, visiting historic sites, and learning from locals. I left that experience with a wider perspective of the world, and gained a deeper understanding as to how language impacts culture.
If you want to learn more about my study abroad experience, check out this blog-style newsletter I wrote this summer while traveling.
What was your least favorite part of the internship?
I don’t really believe in ‘bad experiences’ or, at least, I don’t believe in weighing experiences on a spectrum of ‘favorite’ to ‘non-favorite.” Instead, I like to view things in terms of difficulty. For this internship, going to career fairs and interacting with students at campus events have been the most difficult experiences, since I have always struggled with social anxiety; however, I appreciated being challenged in this way, as I think it has strengthened my ability to communicate with others and have confidence when networking with my peers and other professionals.
What skills did you learn and/or build upon during your internship?
Overall, I learned a lot about time management, multitasking, and managing independent projects. The most significant strength I’ve gained from this internship has been the skill of maintaining communication with multiple team members. Most communication happened through Outlook, Teams, and Trello so keeping a presence on all three was important. As a result, I learned how to connect multiple threads of communication to effectively move projects forward.
I also got really good at using Google Calendars to organize my life and found hacks along the way to make the most out of the limited time that I was in the office. Because of my busy class schedule, I had to block off one to two segments a week when I worked longer shifts to fulfill the required number of hours that I was required to work in a week. By working these longer shifts, on top of my full class schedule, I was challenged to persevere even when I didn’t want to work or go to class. In the end, this experience afforded me a new found mental toughness that I know will benefit me in the future.
What did you learn about the industry or your career path as a result of the internship? What are your future plans?
From this internship, I learned that my strengths lie in my ability to storytell in multimodal ways. I learned that I am a strong writer and that I can effectively string together narratives which achieve the goals of the company/department that I am communicating on the behalf of. Moreover, I found that I really enjoy working with social media and analyzing analytics. It’s exciting to see your work connecting with an audience and to see conversations happening in response to your social media presence.
Because of this realization, I discovered that I am most interested in Content Creation roles, and roles that allow me to write for significant portions of my role. Therefore, I would like to pursue a career in Content Creation and Social Media Management, ultimately working my way up to a media manager/director position for a company. Additionally, I’m also interested in freelance writing and freelance content creation; however, I would like to gain experience with an established brand for five (or so) years and then, eventually, transition to more independent, freelance work.
I will also keep writing for myself, for I have many stories that I would like to develop into full length novels. Hopefully, one day, I will get to publish one of those and work as a full time writer for the rest of my career.
What advice do you have for other students seeking out internship opportunities?
Connect, use available resources, and take advantage of every class. Because of the connections I made prior to acquiring this internship, I was put in a better position to be successful in the internship-search process. Further, I had more confidence applying to internships because I was able to talk through concerns, ask questions, and receive feedback on my professional documents. Attending CSN workshops also gave me better insight in the internship-search process and how to effectively market myself to companies/departments looking to hire interns.
By taking advantage of my classes and the expertise of my professors, I believe I have increased my prospects when it comes to applying to jobs. I have developed relationships with many professors that teach in the P2W, English, and Graphic Design majors, which I am confident will help me make the right connections with employers and companies down the road.
