Welcome back to another fall semester at the Heller School! I hope everyone had a lovely summer and is excited learn more about Heller student life. To kick off this semester, I will share some reflections of my internship with the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN). I worked at SDSN from November of 2022 through this August as an Education Intern.
I found this position through Handshake, which is a great resource for Heller students. While I was searching for a summer internship, I thought this position could be a great fit for me as well. I was able to message the hiring manager prior to submitting my application and ask some preliminary questions. I think that this initial contact also helped me land an interview and, eventually, the position. I also met with Heller Career Services to review my resume and cover letter before I submitted my application. This is another great resource available to Heller students and I was provided some tips and constructive feedback to make my application stronger, as well as some interview practice – all of which left me confident and prepared for the hiring process.
After a successful interview, I accepted the position and began my role at SDSN! My first project was reviewing professional certificate course materials to develop new LinkedIn Learning courses. While this work portfolio was completely new to me, I relied on skills such as organization, time management and communication to ensure I met the project goals and expected outcomes. Some of the courses my team created are now available on LinkedIn Learning.
Following this, I began to work with the Global Schools team to conduct interviews and create a case study guide from teacher experiences and lessons learned. The Global Schools program connects teachers from all over the world to sustainable development education content guides and professional development. Working on this project was a great experience as I was able to see real-world application of my coursework, specifically my Gender, Environment and Development course, and apply some of the skills learned in Monitoring and Evaluation. I expanded my skill set in professional writing, my knowledge of the SDGs and gained a new network.
Through this internship, I was also able to visit New York City and attend a conference at the UN headquarters. This was a great opportunity to learn about the UN in general and see the SDGs in action – to read more, check out my blog post about the ECOSOC Youth Forum.
If you are interested in learning more about my experience with SDSN or internship hunting, reach out and I would love to chat!