Update Aug 2, 2023: Deadline Extended
We’re still seeking dynamic and motivated college students for several of our VSFS Internship positions. The extended deadline is this Friday, August 4th, 2023. Don’t miss out on these key opportunities:
These are our traditional writing, editing, research and graphic design internships, but this year you will have the opportunity to experiment with using AI tools for content creation. No experience with AI is necessary. We also have other exciting roles available. Details on how to apply, as well as a comprehensive list of all available internships, can be found further below in this article. Secure your position today!
VA’s Digital Media Engagement (DME) team, the collaborators who run this blog and VA’s social media channels, is looking for college interns. Interested? Scroll down to the bottom of this article to find the current internship opportunities we have available!
DME publishes VA communications to the Veteran community through its digital media channels, including this VA News blog, the Borne the Battle podcast, the Live Whole Health app, and through social media channels like YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
The DME Internship includes hundreds of college students each year, and from universities across the country. The program offers a broad range of opportunities to develop and demonstrate your talents. We’re looking for writers, graphic designers, video editors, and those who work in analytics, web development, cybersecurity, project management, human resources, and more.
The interns work in cross-functional teams over a full year to gain practical work experience, develop new skills and build a vibrant professional network. The program also offers leadership roles to high-performing interns, creating opportunities to manage teams, coach other interns, and even evaluate performance.
Started in 2016, the DME Internship has evolved to become one of the U.S. federal government’s largest and most successful student intern programs. Our scale enables us to deliver a world-class internship experience, with rigorous onboarding, robust operating procedures, a nurturing environment, and unparalleled growth opportunities.
Benefits and opportunities
The DME Internship provides an array of benefits that include:
- Practical work experience:
- Flexible work schedule (10 hours/week online and on your schedule).
- Teamwork, cross-functional collaboration, and communication in a virtual setting.
- Industry-standard collaboration tools, such as Slack and Trello, for the modern workplace.
- Leading social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
- Professional development:
- Structured training on digital media technologies, like WordPress, Google Analytics, Social Studio.
- Networking events, mentoring, mock interviews, résumé workshops, and a whole lot more.
- Regular progress reviews and biannual feedback with actionable recommendations.
- Opportunities to be promoted into leadership roles.
- Engagement with the Veteran community
- Opportunities to highlight Veterans’ stories, contributions, and issues.
- Ringside view of Veterans’ lives and how VA supports them.
- Experience working with VA collaborators.
- Rewards & recognition
- Letters of recommendation.
- Awards for outstanding achievements.
- Compelling references.
You can learn more about the program and its benefits on the DME Interns website. You can also read the success stories and accomplishments of past interns.
How to apply
You can apply to the program through Open Opportunities by USAJobs. Here’s how:
The internship will officially run from September 2023 to May 2024, although you’re able to begin work as soon as you accept an offer, which might be as early as mid-August.
#ApplyinJuly
Time is running out! Applications opened on July 1, 2023, and will close July 31, 2023, 11:59 p.m. ET.
Current opportunities
Writing Internship with AI Experimentation Opportunities at Veterans Affairs
Editing Internship with AI Experimentation Opportunities at Veterans Affairs
Research Internship with AI Integration Opportunities at Veterans Affairs
Social Media Analytics Intern – How Are We Doing On Social?
Web Analytics Intern – Help Us Take VA News to the Next Level!
Hone Your Project Management Skills on the DME’s External Affairs Team
Advancing Graphic Design: Exploring Generative AI Integration
WordPress Web Content Management at the Department of Veterans Affairs
Social Media Intern – Comment Moderator
Intern Engagement and Retention Specialist
Digital Communications Intern – Newsletter Development
Web Security Intern
Accessibility Intern
Instagram Social Media Internship at Veterans Affairs
Writing Intern – Borne the Battle Podcast
Photo Research Intern
Podcast Host – DME Interns Podcast
Social Media Intern – Social Media Special Projects
Transcription/Video Captioner – DME Video Production Team
Reddit Community Manager
AI-Assisted Podcast Producer / Executive Assistant Intern
Metrics Analyst Intern
Prompt Engineer: AI Content Creation Specialist Role at Veterans Affairs
Podcast Producer – DME Interns Podcast
Podcast Production Assistant – DME Interns podcast
WordPress Web Development
Leadership Intern – Lead a Team of Fellow Interns
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Using interns to get into all the veterans personal information that is supposed to be confidential is just not right. Why are the veterans denied the right to doctor patient confidentiality? Why are veterans used as lab rats and exploited for the benefit of the rich? We have no choice in the matter if we refuse to have an intern in the room doctors who has never worked with you go into your records and give them to an intern. Of course at my local VA hospital any intern can access your records themselves according to the privacy officer.
Carl, the interns referenced in this article are specifically to be tasked with researching, writing and editing articles and other similar tasks. They have no access to any patient data whatsoever.
Can a recently graduated student still be considered for this internship?
Laura, recently graduated students cannot apply to this internship unless they are enrolled in another degree program (i.e. someone who graduated with an undergraduate degree and is now pursuing their graduate degree). However, if you have graduated and are not currently enrolled in another degree program, you can actually join our team as a virtual volunteer. You’d be helping with the same tasks as the interns, but you’d be earning volunteer hours instead of class credit. Let me know if you are interested.
I am inquiring about benefits for college student for assistance in finishing their degree on line with Grand Canyon University/Phoenix, AZ. Will I be able to get assistance for paying for this degree? I want to finish the doctorate of Theology.
Thanks,
Timothy Pough
Timothy, this is an unpaid internship. However, some schools do provide students participating in an unpaid internship with stipends. You should reach out to your school to see if they offer something along those lines.
I tried applying however, the website application will not allow me to submit. I contacted the IT Department and after about 2 weeks I gave up. They had zero idea what the issue was, and did not get back to me with feedback in a timely manner. They kept saying it was a security issue, but after review they could not say it was that either.
Mary,
The internship website is not a VA website. The program is actually managed by the Department of State. You might be able to reach out to the VSFS team directly. I believe their email address vsfs@state.gov.
Are your interns paid like a GS 5 or 7 level?
Carlos,
Sadly, no. This is a Department of State managed internship program. It is an unpaid internship.
Good afternoon,
I have been trying to apply to the internships above for the last two days and the apply button inside each of the hyperlinks has either crashed the webpage or kicked me out of the website. I have tried to apply on numerous computers and have had no luck putting my name in the hat for these internship opportunities, is there any other way to apply for these internships?
Noah,
The internship website is not a VA website. The program is actually managed by the Department of State. You might be able to reach out to the VSFS team directly. I believe their email address vsfs@state.gov.
Are these internships fully remote. Can students participate during a semester that they are enrolled full time. How do I see the other internship opportunities (other fields). Are the students paid. Would the supervisor of the internship be willing to sign off on paperwork for the student to receive credit for the internship. I appreciate your assistance, I work at a university and this would be very appealing to students given the right circumstances for experience. Thank you – would you be able to email me back on this.
Warren, thank you for your comment. I will email you regarding this, but you asked some great questions so I figured I’d address them here as well, in case anyone else was wondering about the same things. Yes, the internships are fully remote. Yes, students can participate during a semester that they are enrolled full time. I am not entirely sure what you mean regarding seeing other internship opportunities (we listed all of ours in this article), so I will have to follow up with you via email for some clarification. The internships are not paid, unfortunately. This internship program is managed by the Department of State, and that’s just how they set it up (i.e. unpaid). The supervisor would ABSOLUTELY be willing to sign off on paperwork for students to receive credit for the internship (I know this because I am the supervisor). I sign paperwork for class credit and sometimes the students can get stipends from their school that I sign paperwork for, but that depends on the school. I think I responded to all of the questions that you had (well, the ones that I was able to). I will follow up with you via email as well. Thank you so much for reaching out!
Are there any internship for someone in the criminal justice field
Kirk, sorry for the delayed response. To answer your question, there are not any criminal justice-related internships on our team. However, the VSFS program is a federal government-wide internship program. There may be other teams that have criminal justice-related internships for you. You should visit https://vsfs.state.gov/ and see if you can find an internship that is right for you.