Thanks to mutual friends and a casual conversation at this year’s Presidential Gala between the Dean of the School of Communication, Film, and Media at the University of West Georgia and the Chief Operating Officer of The Whorton Agency, a local internship has manifested. This fall semester the University’s School of Communication, Film, and Media is offering a select student (or two) the opportunity to work with this second-generation, independent insurance agency as a digital media and public relations intern.
Abigail Whorton, Chief Operating Officer at The Whorton Agency, is looking for a candidate who pays intense attention to detail, communicates clearly, is eager to learn, and collaborates well with the team. “That kind of heart is tough to find,” she states. Bradford Yates, Professor and Dean of the School of Communication, Film, and Media, is looking to provide a student with just that type of heart.
Yates expects students who are “digital natives” to apply for this internship: this is someone who is familiar with social media platforms and social media campaigns. Whorton also added that the agency is looking for “…a student that is comfortable with exploring a little bit of everything when it comes to storytelling. From social media engagement to content creation to email campaigns to community engagement and more.”
Students will ideally have nine credit hours of upper-level courses under their belts, ranging from video production, communication theory, radio production, digital media entertainment, public relations, and journalism before applying. Then the agency will educate and train the incoming intern with the specific skills that they will need to best tell this local business’s story and connect with its current and prospective clients.
This internship is intended to give students practical experience in developing digital strategies, designing social media campaigns, and working on avenues for the agency to reach out to the community. It’s also their hope that this opportunity invites students to explore what sort of post-grad jobs might exist in small towns like ours–places like their own hometowns where they can bring new energy and expertise to their work and community.
This will be a credited internship that is planned to run on the traditional semester schedule for fall and spring. Students will be required to work 135 hours with the option to work more hours throughout the semester, and Whorton even mentions that this could open up into a part-time role with the agency.
Because the internship will be for university credit, Whorton will supervise and provide feedback to the interns. With a degree in public relations from the University of Georgia, she has the desired academic credentials and professional experience to be the necessary site supervisor for the internship.
Interested students will need to go through a standard interview process to ensure The Whorton Agency finds candidates well suited to their team. More details about the internship can be found on Handshake, an online recruiting platform for higher education students, or through the University of West Georgia’s career and graduate school communications office. Click here to be redirected to Handshake.
