Program Overview

Internship positions within the Hurley Engineering offer a unique opportunity for students to work within college sports as well as promote Wyoming Athletics and the broader University of Wyoming. These positions are a great learning experience and will provide an opportunity to experience the inner workings of various roles marketing plays in an athletic department.

Internships are focused on the sporting events in and around the UW campus. These positions provide students with an invaluable real-life experience working with the various staff and administrators that will benefit the pursuit of a career in any field.

Internships are offered in 3 specific areas: marketing, social media and graphic design. Opportunities for advancement (such as sport "leads", in-office projects as well as potential future part-time and full-time positions) are available to those who gain experience and show work ethic beyond the standard internship responsibilities.

Experiences

Dependent upon the specified internship, experience can be gained in the areas of event management, special events, sport event preparation, game entertainment, producing sport specific game scripts, promotions, project administration, social media content generation, branding, social media planning, graphic design and more. Marketing department interns in many ways present the "face" of the athletic department at events and interact with the community and fan base on a consistent basis.

Internship Length

Internships run from August to May of each year, coinciding with the school year. Applying interns are required to commit to the entire school year (with some exceptions for winter graduates). Applications are available in late March/early April for the following school year. Interns may be required to start in mid-to-late August to coincide and prepare for the fall sports season.

Internship Requirements                                                                                                           

All interns must be enrolled at UW for the time in which they are on staff. Students

entering their freshman and/or sophomore year or looking to work within athletics

for an extended period of time are highly encouraged to apply.

Compensation

Compensation is offered in three potential ways.

1. Credit arranged through the University. All paperwork is the responsibility of the intern and any requirements of athletic staff must be communicated well in advance of the due date.
2. Nothing can substitute for real-world experience when applying for a full-time job, especially in the sports industry.
3. Each year a returning Marketing intern will be named the Rechnitz Marketing Assistant. Along with additional responsibilities this individual will also receive scholarship. This funding is contingent each year upon budget realities.

NOTE: Interns not earning credit are considered volunteer but are expected to perform at the exact same levels as those earning credit.

Expectations

Time Commitment to Interns may work as little as 2 hours one week and more than 20 hours the next. Hours are completely dependent upon athletic schedule.

• If hired as an intern, students are expected to complete office hours when needed by the department. Typically, this is 2-4 hours a week and is scheduled around class hours and other legitimate obligations.
• Interns are required to attend a weekly or bi-weekly staff meeting to organize and prepare for the week's events.
• In addition, interns are assigned athletic events throughout the year. Many of these events take place in the evenings during the week and consistently on weekends (day & night).
• Any time-off you may need must be submitted prior to assignment of sport responsibilities. Once the schedule is set, interns are required to work with each other to swap shifts when the need arises. Being a member of the Wyoming Athletics Marketing staff will require you to work during some holiday breaks. Our interns play a crucial role in the execution of our events, and we must have enough staff on hand to meet our game management needs. You are expected to wait until we have scheduled staff for the events occurring over the break before you make travel plans. We will try our best to equally divide out games over thanksgiving, winter and spring breaks among all interns. Everyone will have the opportunity to go home or travel, but usually not for the entire break.
• Promptness
• Punctuality is critical, as the efficiency of event preparation and ultimately the success of our events depends on each person being on time and performing their assigned tasks. Routine tardiness cannot and will not be accepted. If you are running late, you must notify the specific supervisor for that event, preferably by phone call or text. There are few acceptable excuses for tardiness or absence, but there is no excuse for not notifying us. If you are ill, do not wait until the last minute to notify us that you are unable to attend an event, meeting, or office hours.
• Open Door Policy
• Each intern is a vital part of the UW Athletics team. UW Athletics, and the Marketing department especially, value the time and efforts of student interns. This experience should help further your career within the sports world, or offer experiences applicable to future careers outside athletics, and provide a well-rounded understanding of a working university athletic department.
• Our departments have an open-door policy. If at any time a concern arises, interns are encouraged to bring it to the supervisor's attention immediately.
• Standards of Conduct
• Interns are expected to act in a professional manner at all times while representing the Athletics Department. You are a direct reflection of the University of Wyoming and Wyoming Athletics and as such you should act in a manner to represent both professionally. This includes dressing, acting, and talking in a professional manner. Personal business (cell phone calls, emails and in person) should be kept to a minimum while working. Absolutely no disparaging remarks towards any Wyoming Athletic teams or affiliated programs or activities will be tolerated, including personal social media. Finally, the use of alcohol and illegal drugs is prohibited while working. Arriving to work hung-over is also prohibited and is cause for dismissal.
• Dress Code
• Office hours - Please dress appropriately for work conditions. No sweats, pajamas, workout clothes, hats, etc. If you think it might be inappropriate, it probably is, don't wear it! Game attire varies for each sport, and for each department. This will be discussed at our intern orientation.
• Confidentiality
• As an intern, students may be exposed to areas of athletics not open to the public. (athlete injury, athlete personal information, promotional information, etc.) Though not a full-time employee, interns are still expected to follow confidentiality policies set by federal laws like HIPAA and FERPA as well as department policy. These will be explained further upon hire. Violation or sharing of confidential information will lead to immediate dismissal.
• Event Etiquette
• Interns will be assigned to work a number of specific and different events. We are ALL responsible for the success of these events. Interns should always be courteous and friendly to the public, game crew, student-athletes, coaches, administrators and other athletics/Landmark staff members. Conduct of interns is often noticed by fans and administrators and reported back upon (positive and negative). Our #1 job is to create the best fan experience possible at each and every game!
• Specific Internship opportunities/areas:
• There are 3 specific areas you can apply within the UW Athletics Marketing Department for an internship to support our 17 intercollegiate Division I teams. You can apply (with one application) to multiple internships if your interest spans more than 1 of descriptions below. If hired, typically we only assign you to one specific internship. However, there will be opportunities to learn across each area. Please note that the majority of hours spent by marketing and social media interns are on game days, while graphic design interns spend more time in the office during the week.
• Marketing Intern:
• Marketing Interns develop and improve competencies in leadership, customer service, teamwork, multitasking, and time management. Responsibilities include developing and implementing the marketing efforts for each of our programs, as well as building and enhancing the game day experience for fans; influencing and cultivating student attendance for home events; direct interaction with fans; managing our youth fan club, Pistol's Pals as well as our student-based fan initiative, Wild Bunch; assisting in special events and various other tasks as assigned.
• Social Media Intern:
• Social Media Interns are responsible for in-game engagement and content creation for UW's athletic teams; develop pre-game, in-game, post-game and other relevant content for social/digital use; keep up on social media trends for sports and actively seek out new ideas for content for UW Athletics social media pages; brainstorm and execute social media marketing plans; manage and report on post/page analytics. Applicants should be creative and energetic and have the ability to work both collaboratively and independently, have strict attention to detail and accuracy, bring a basic understanding of multiple sports, have a good understanding of social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat, have an eagerness to learn and willing to take direction and be able to work weekends and evenings with good time management skills. Experience managing social media accounts (aside from personal pages) and experience participating in sports are preferred, but not required.
• Graphic Design Intern:
• Graphic Design Interns will design promotional materials for UW's athletic teams; collaborate with marketing department to develop new ideas, templates, and promotions, while adhering to the UW Athletics Brand standards; design pregame, in-game, post-game and other graphic content for social media platforms and complete other design work as assigned. Applicants should have proficiency with Adobe Creative Suite, especially Photoshop, an ability to work collaboratively and independently, are creative and efficient, able to meet continuous and sometimes demanding deadlines with attention to detail and accuracy; and photography skills are a plus.

Future opportunities:

UW students who have completed this internship have gone on to positions in collegiate, minor league and professional sports as well as professional marketing positions and ad agencies. Employers include: UW Athletics, UW Foundation, Oregon Athletics, Stanford Athletics, Duke Athletics, Utah Athletics, MSU-Billings Athletics, Colorado Athletics, Memphis Grizzlies, Tampa Bay Rays, Tulsa Drillers, Rapid City Rush, Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, State of Wyoming Tourism, Goodby Silverstein & Partners, and Dropbox just to name a few.

How to Apply

To apply for a position as a UW Athletics Marketing, Social Media or Graphic Design Intern for 2019-20, answer the following questions and submit a resume OR a link to your LinkedIn profile. A resume is required for your application if you don't have a LinkedIn profile. No cover letter or references are required, however are appreciated as an introduction of the applicant and an opportunity to set yourself apart.

1. Which of the 3 areas are you interested in? (marketing, social media, graphic design)
2. What specific experience(s) are you looking to gain from this internship?
3. What is your education and career aspirations?
4. How has your previous work experience (paid and/or unpaid) prepared you for this internship?
5. Why do you want to work in athletics for the University of Wyoming?
6. Do you have any specific skill sets that you believe could be an asset to UW Athletics Marketing and set your application apart? Examples could include previous marketing, sales, graphic design, social media or sports experience.

Submit your application this way:

• Send 1 file named with your full name — PDF or DOC— with all materials (resume, answers, etc.)
• OR Send your answers as a PDF or DOC in email along with a link to your LinkedIn profile
• Applicants interested in the area of graphic design should include links to their portfolio (Behance or personal website)

Send to:

Greg Ashley, UW Athletics Director of Fan Experience: gashley@uwyo.edu

Application timeline:

• Applications will be accepted through Wednesday, April 10^th o FYI that typical response is 25-35 applications for 10-15 available positions
• Those selected for an in-person interview will be notified shortly after the deadline.
• If selected for an internship for 2019-20, you will be expected to attend one meeting the last week of class this semester (first week of May)