We hosted an Intern Month at Insider in July. Here’s what we did and why we want to do it annually.
The Employee Experience team at Insider Inc. loves a good theme — in fact, we coordinate all of our events around a theme each month. We’ve had Parents' Month, Wellness Month, Mental Health Awareness Month, and over the summer, we hosted our first Intern Month.
At any given time, Insider has over 50 interns and fellows who are helping our teams “get better everyday.” We pride ourselves on having a program that allows interns to actively contribute to their teams and learn from their peers and managers. We have so much appreciation for our interns and fellows and wanted them to know they play a key role here at Insider, so we decided to dedicate a month of our events calendar to recognizing them.
Highlights from our Employee Experience Instagram Takeovers.
Here are a few of the successful activations and events we hosted.
Intern/Fellow Conversion Roundtable
Since we were fully remote during Intern Month due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we wanted to make sure interns still had the opportunity to connect with other employees and feel celebrated. We started with an intern/fellow conversion roundtable, which highlighted three employees who were formerly interns and now work full time at Insider. Each speaker shared how they started at the company, how they got to where they are now, and what they wish they had known. They discussed how they converted to full time and shared advice on how to discuss this important, but sometimes scary, topic with your manager.
The roundtable was a huge hit, and our new interns and fellows continue to watch this roundtable on demand as they begin their experience at Insider. The session provided a closer look at the process of converting to a full-time role, and the insights came directly from those who have been in an intern’s shoes before.
Employee Experience Instagram Takeover
We followed the roundtable event up with an Instagram takeover on our @insider_ex Stories. This was a great opportunity for four of our interns and fellows to share what a typical day in their life looks like on a personal and professional level, and why they chose their internships. The takeovers also allowed the interns to answer questions from fellow and prospective employees. Interns and fellows were able to promote their teams to the entire company and give those who don’t work at Insider a clearer picture of our fellowship program. It also provided an opportunity for them to share their personal successes since starting their internships and get recognition for their hard work. Our employees got creative and captured a lot of views on our Instagram Stories!
Intern Month was a unique way to spotlight and boost the voices of our more junior employees. The Instagram takeover allowed our interns and fellows to share their experiences front and center, and to remind our broader team of the many important contributions that they make to Insider every day. We believe it’s important to amplify different voices at our company, and our interns and fellows are no exception.
Check them out for yourself here!
Time Management Workshop
We concluded Intern Month with a workshop on time management, which is a key to success at Insider and a great skill for anyone entering the workforce. During the workshop, a senior editor on our editorial team spoke about how to maximize productivity to create positive habits. These tips were especially helpful as an Insider internship or fellowship is often someone’s first experience in the corporate workforce. Beyond that, the team is collectively navigating unprecedented times with remote work in the midst of the pandemic, which has presented a new set of challenges in time management.
Virtual Happy Hour and Trivia
We wanted to bring everyone together in a more casual setting to wrap up Intern Month, so we hosted a virtual happy hour featuring millennial trivia. This lighthearted after-work activity gave everyone a great opportunity to introduce themselves to new employees and interact in a more social setting.
We can’t wait to continue to celebrate Intern Month each summer to recognize our interns for their contributions. Thank you to all of our interns and fellows for everything you do on a daily basis — we appreciate you!