Web Master FIT Intern
Job Description
One of the most common questions that potential employers ask on interviews is ‘Have you ever worked with a real client?’ Employers value the real-world experience that this internship provides. Success in the real world of Web Development rests on far more that technical skills. To develop and effective Web presence, the student must develop the ability to adopt the perspective of the target audience, to see the project through the eyes of someone unlike them. They much consider accessibility (factors that allow people with disabilities to access the content). They much consider how the content, whether it is developed by them or provided by others, will affect how well the site will place on search engine results. For content created by others, they must be able to offer insight into how that content might be modified to improve the site’s ranking on search engines without diminishing its value to human readers. This type of knowledge is difficult to impart within the confines of a standard academic course. IT takes experience to fully understand and integrate it into the root of one’s thought process. And, it takes time. A single semester experience is not sufficient. This internship, over its three-year progression, and for two different websites (using two different platforms) will provide that experience.
Year 1
Responsibility/Function
Working closely with three faculty mentors, this position will become Web Master for two different websites: 1) English/CW Department Website with Professor Meg Case and 2) Ezra Journal in Translation (a journal for the Foreign Languages Department, run by Professor Peter Thompson). The student will make significant content changes, and maintain both sites, employing a variety of skills, including web development, maintenance, client user satisfaction checks, interviewing users, creation of content, photography, and more.
The student will also meet regularly with Professor Al Cutting (Web development) for mentorship and instruction to increase the sophistication of web development/maintenance skills.
Year 2
Responsibility/Function
- Continue Web Master Duties for both sites begun in Year 1
- Take photographs, (attending necessary events), gather web materials as needed for both sites.
- Liaison with the Department Interns to update the ENG/CW Department Zine, ‘Voices’ in coordination with Dept. activities
- Interview and update student publications / events pages as needed
- Work with Professor Cutting to run advanced web optimization and/or user studies focus groups
- Investigate possible addition of video-to-web, in conjunction with Marketing/Communications
- Interview potential FIT intern candidates (with M. Case, A. Cutting, and P. Thompson
Year 3
Responsibility/Function
- Continue all duties described above (See Years 1 and 2)
- Supervise second-year student (first year of new FIT internship) Website, training the new person in all the duties listed above
- In conjunction with the second-year student, create basic ‘manuals’ for the new intern’s use (and continued updating)