During my freshman year, I decided to change my major to Agricultural Communications. Although I knew I was in the right major, I was not quite sure which type of career I actually wanted to pursue. With quite a few ideas running through my head, I talked with an Agricultural Communications graduate who worked with the Kansas Department of Agriculture (KDA), and she encouraged me to seek an internship that would allow me to start exploring careers.
Fast forward about six months, and I again crossed paths with a graduate working at KDA while attending a career fair. She provided me with an application, and I began a spring internship in January 2013. From day one, the internship was filled with diverse opportunities providing an array of experiences.
I began my role at KDA as the trademark program intern within the Agricultural Marketing, Outreach and Advocacy team. Coincidentally, my first day marked the launch to companies of the new state agricultural trademark program, From the Land of Kansas. This provided the opportunity to help build the trademark program’s strategies from the beginning. At first, my role included recruiting Kansas agribusinesses to the program, helping plan the public launch event, assisting in the creation of the program’s website and researching marketing and business development services that could be offered to member companies.
After a few months, I began managing the program’s social media platforms. I first created a yearlong plan for the program’s use of Facebook and Twitter, and began drafting posts one month at a time. We then expanded the program’s online presence to include a blog, and I wrote blog posts. Personally, although the social media was probably my least favorite role within this internship, it has also been my biggest area of growth. I have learned a lot about the importance of using a variety of media in the posts and being very purposeful about the topic and timing of a post. With an interest in international agriculture, I traveled with the program to the international Summer Fancy Food Show in New York City, and learned about marketing Kansas agricultural products to other countries.
About a year and a half into my internship, I transitioned out of the marketing team and into the executive team. Throughout the summer, one of my favorite projects I have had yet with this internship has involved the 50 Year Vision for the Future of Kansas Water. This project involved traveling around Kansas to seek public input for the draft and preparing to present the final version to the governor.
Something I have really become aware of through this internship is the importance in any business to purposefully build a team. Something that I really admire in my supervisor is her ability to discover talents in people, and place them in a role that really plays to their strengths. It is cool to see the agency tackle some big initiatives and be able to draw from the strengths of the employees within the agency to build successful teams for the different initiatives. Additionally, employees are always so willing to help others with their projects using their specific areas of expertise.
I have also learned the importance of listening to the audience in any project. From a social media standpoint, I was expected to utilize resources such as Facebook Analytics to determine how our messages were best engaging the audience. And, we brainstormed often to determine what kind of messages would be most beneficial for both the companies we worked with and the audience. Similarly, the approach that was taken with the Water Vision was to seek public input so that the document would ultimately be created by Kansans. It was a lot of work to find methods to actively seek that input, organize it, and include it in the draft, but it demonstrated to me how effective it is to follow a strategy that educates consumers and then allows them to have input in a plan that they will be encouraged to follow to conserve our state’s resources. From both of these perspectives, paying attention to the audience was very important.
This internship has provided a good opportunity to try a handful of experiences. I have been really fortunate to work with supervisors who listen if I share what experiences I most enjoy or do not enjoy at all, or what experiences I still wish I could have. It has allowed me to learn about the many careers available within a state agency. It has aided me in discovering what I would like to see in a career, and what I would rather not pursue.
For anyone wanting flexibility to explore different careers in an internship, or who would like a better understanding of how state government works, this is a great option. The agency is conveniently located right next to campus, and internships are offered in the spring, fall and summer. Supervisors are very flexible with class schedules, so it is a great opportunity to intern not only during the summer, but during a semester as well. Applications can be found on the Kansas Department of Agriculture website.