YWiB UBC's Internship for the WIN!

This past May, YWiB UBC launched the summer cycle of the Internship Program! Since then, the group of interns has been working at their respective employers, each of which is a local, hand-selected Vancouver business. Before they started their positions, the Internship Program Coordinators, Kiran Nagra & Brin Snelling, organized a series of workshops to help the interns prepare for their placements. This included a 3-day preparatory workshop series, hosted by our gracious sponsors, PwC (thank you)! The jam-packed 3 days included career+life lessons from Sandy Thompson, the Global Planning Director of Young & Rubicam NYC; instructional workshops to help build technical skills led by the team at the Centre for Teaching, Learning and Technology UBC; and finally a run-down on social media for business and basics of branding by Sukhi Ghuman, marketing extraordinaire!

So which lessons stuck out and became imprinted in our minds? Just some of the wisdom imparted to us by Sandy Thompson. We learned that both in your career and all your endeavours, you must "think less with your head, and more with your heart!" We realized the importance to have a "trademark," something that is unique to you and that you become known for! And just one more lesson valuable to all rockstar women creating change - learn to "politely refuse to follow the rules!" Create your own path and your own rules! After having received valuable advice+lessons, learning the basics of blogging, websites, and presentations, and becoming social media queens, our interns were now ready to enter the workforce!

After two months of extraordinary work at their respective employers, the interns convened for their mid-cycle workshop on personal branding. We had the pleasure of having Charles Voon, of Blast Radius, lead the workshop and share his expertise with us. The interns learned the importance of creating a consistent and coherent online presence, finding their brand and using it to communicate what they value and are passionate about, and finally various tools and means to brand themselves.

What have the interns learned and taken away from the workshops?

Erin Skycholas: "I learned so much from the social media session, and was able to use it to increase Twitter followers for the company I intern for. Thanks to the workshops, I’ve been able to do so much more than the original job desription entailed."

Rose Koo: "One thing I learned from the personal branding workshop was the importance of an online presence through blogs, personal websites and social media networks."

Tania Pardisi was able to leverage Wordpress tips+tricks from the first workshop, to use both in her internship as well as other volunteer positions.

What do the interns think of the Program?

Diana Nguyen is so thankful to YWiB for creating such a program and matching her with a company that was a perfect fit. At Pop Chips she's enjoyed the flexibility of working at various locations and events and interacting with different types of people.

Joanna Zhu loves that through the Program and her internship, she was able to interact with so many professional women she wouldn't have otherwise had the opportunity to connect with.

Rose Koo: "Being a part of the YWIB internship program has allowed me to gain industry experience and skills that cannot be taught within the four walls of a classroom. Working with Popchips has been a blast, I was exposed to a wide variety of skills that fit with brand management."

Kelly Trach: "The YWiB Internship Program equipped me with online tools and personal branding techniques enabling me to thrive at my internship with Vitamin Daily. Ultimately, I could build our Salesforce from scratch, create campaign reports and blog for Vancouver's most respected lifestyle website. Not only have I had the chance to learn about the marketing and PR industry, but I learned about myself and which direction I want my future to take. I truly accredit the internship program for this and I am beyond thankful the the personal development in which it has provided.

Jane Hahn of PwC, especially has dedicated much of her time and resources to make these workshops a success!"

Kiran and Brin have had a great time working on this year's cycle, and can't wait to see the last half of the program wrap up! They're happy to hear how each intern has felt their internship was a perfect fit, and glad they've made great connections and acquired many new skills along the way. YWiB UBC would also like to thank PwC, and particularly Jane Hahn, who have committed a lot of their time and resources to making this year's program a huge success!