Trevor Zaucha
Graduation Year
May 2016
Major
Advertising
Minor(s)
Anthropology and Sociology
Hometown
Bourbonnais, IL
Campus Activities
Illinois American Advertising Federation (AdBuzz and the National Student Advertising Competition), Illinois Public Relations Student Society of America, Illini Gadget Garage.
Hobbies
Film, writing, the culture of online communities, Twitter, storytelling, data, basketball, shoegaze music.
Twitter
https://twitter.com/trevorzaucha
LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/trevorzaucha
Employer
Illinois Media Career Services
Internship Title
Social Media, Branding & Marketing Intern
What were your duties?
Created all documents related to the Graduation Destination Report. Drafted and managed surveys. Wrote and published content for Media Career Services’ Social Media accounts. Gathered extensive demographic and psychographic information for use in the construction of an informed social media strategy. Benchmarked capabilities of similar programs. Reviewed and published Internship Spotlights (just like this one) to the MCS blog.
What did you most enjoy about your internship?
Although there are a handful of responsibilities that are expected of the position (many of which I detailed above), I most enjoyed the flexibility that I was given and the opportunity to make the internship my own. At the beginning of the internship, the core focus was to develop and maintain MCS’ social media accounts. Jessica Hogue (Director of Media Career Services) was willing and able to take my personal interests into consideration and to provide me with tasks that were most relevant to what I hoped to do in future internships and following my undergraduate career. I was given a fair degree of autonomy, and greatly appreciated the support that I was given during my time as an intern.
What was the most difficult aspect of the internship?
This varies from person to person, but when it comes to writing social media copy, it’s important to be confident in the platform that you’re using and the knowledge that you hope to convey. The internship started in the summer and I had time to better familiarize myself with what Media Career Services has to offer. It’s easy to become familiar, but until you are, it can be a bit challenging to effectively convey a message that benefits the organization and the public that it serves (students an alumni). This is true of most if not all communication.
How did your experience at ILLINOIS and in the College of Media prepare you for your internship?
Applying to intern with Jessica Hogue at Media Career Services was one of the best professional decisions of my undergraduate career. My classes and experiences with student organizations helped me to develop the skills that I would use while at Media Career Services. From there, I have been able to consistently draw on the experiences that I had at Media Career Services in interviews and internships.
How has your internship prepared you for a career?
As mentioned, Media Career Services provided me with a wealth of opportunities to develop my skills, as well as projects that I could speak to in interviews. I engaged regularly with career advising tips, articles and more which I was then able to use in my own job search. I was able improve myself in areas relevant to a career in research, all while learning how best to find a job. I was able to connect with alumni and others active in the industry because of my involvement in the Windy City event, among others.
What recommendations do you have for other students about doing an internship?
I began working at Media Career Services shortly after concluding my sophomore year. A little less than a year later (at the Windy City event), I spoke with a professor who encouraged me not to stress too much about internship season. Most everyone will tell you the importance of finding an internship that is relevant to what you hope to do, and they’re right. My advice to anyone looking for an internship is to be persistent, resilient and to not lose sleep over it. When you’re on the job, be diligent, ask questions and find something about the work that piques your curiosity.
Click here to view all archived Internship Spotlights.
