Recruitment Message:
Interested in obtaining hands-on experience with public relations that will convince employers that you’re the best candidate for the job? Looking for first-hand knowledge of how to work with employees of a large organization to get their messages heard? Need to demonstrate solid skills in managing databases for a large organization?
Boat People SOS is a nonprofit, community-based organization with 28 years of service to Vietnamese-American refugees and immigrants. With 14 branches around the US, it presents a great opportunity to learn the nuts-and-bolts of public relations from the local to national levels.
Besides the career development opportunity, this internship represents a chance to make a difference on issues you care about, ranging from domestic violence to human trafficking, women’s health to community development, mental health to senior services.
To carry out this mission, BPSOS seeks a public relations intern/to support the public relations and communications manager within the department of the executive director.
Goals:Your work on public relations will help raise awareness of opportunities available to members of economically vulnerable and easily isolated immigrant communities, so that they gain access to the services they need to survive and prosper.
The specific need you will meet will be working out the database management demands of our branches in DC, Houston, Atlanta, Camden, Sacramento, Philadelphia, Silver Spring, Louisville, Orange County, Charlotte, Springfield, New Orleans, Bayou La Batre, Biloxi, and St. Louis.These offices are developing the ability to reach out to local media and other key community organizations and leaders, but lack the staff to research their best management/software options, gather all available contacts, and develop systems to ensure that all contacts are efficiently fed into the their database. Effective database management can make or break an organization like BPSOS. That is where your work as an intern/volunteer will be essential.
You will be involved in the nuts-and-bolts of PR work by researching, mostly via Internet but occasionally via phone, the database needs and existing contact lists of BPSOS’ 14 branch offices. That research will, in turn, serve as the basis for others to write and distribute information to the community, maintain contact with key opinion leaders, spotlight our successes for our funders, and other vital functions.
The intern’s duties in relation to the PR manager and BPSOS will include the following:
1) Contacting branch offices to gather contact lists and assess needs using Internet/phone
2) Researching (at a detailed level) options for database management
3) Identifying best options and presenting them to PR manager in report form
4) Working with PR manager to develop systems for maintaining database at optimal level:
a. System for maintaining flow of new contacts into databaseb.
b. System for scrubbing list to eliminate bad contacts/replace with new contact info
c. System for training old and new employees in use of database
5) Getting systems up and running.
Hands-on experience with PR and databases desirable, but not required. More important are good communications skills (written and spoken), an outgoing and easygoing manner, and solid organizational skills. Written/spoken Vietnamese a plus, but not essential.
Students, grad students, recent grads, and those with greater or lesser workforce experience are encouraged to apply.
Time commitment:
From part-time (4-20 hours per week) to full-time (40 hours per week), for between three and six months, depending on the availability and interest of the intern/
Location:
With enough preparation, many responsibilities could be fulfilled from home or campus. However, the intern must commit to meeting at least once a week, for up to two hours, with the PR manager at the BPSOS office in order to discuss priorities, go over work, and receive training. Because PR is a fast-moving field, the intern/volunteer must also be available at other times (within reason) by phone and email in order to receive fine-tuned supervision.
Additional info:
This is an unpaid internship. What the intern gets out of working with BPSOS will depend on their eagerness to learn and willingness to invest their energy.
In return for the intern’s commitment and follow-through, the PR manager commits to training them so that they master the following skills over a 3-6 month period:
1) How to collect lists and assess needs w/in organization using email/phone/face-to-face mtgs
2) How to research and present options for database management
3) How to create systems for maintaining database at optimal level:
a. System for maintaining flow of new contacts into database
b. System for scrubbing dbase to eliminate bad contacts/replace with new contact info
c. System for training old and new employees in use of database
4) How to write comprehensive reports integrating data, analysis, and other key information
5) How to coordinate work within a large, multi-cultural, multi-branch organization
Besides acquiring the career-building skills listed above, the intern should leave the program with a portfolio of solid research and a professional-looking database to show to prospective employers. The intern can also expect to benefit from advice on how to present these new skills in a resume in order to attract employer interest.
BPSOS will provide gas reimbursement for trips to the office.
Summer Internships are closed; please contact us ASAP regarding fall and winter 2008 internships.
To apply:
All interested applicants should mail a brief cover letter and resume to:
Boat People, SOS Inc
Jon Pattee
Manager, Public Relations and Communications
6066 Leesburg Pike, Suite 100
Falls Church, VA 22041
703-538-2190
703-538-2191 (fax)
Or by e-mail to jon.pattee@bpsos.org [1] with Database Management Internship Application in the subject line.