Did you learn something new from your intern? If so, what?
Yes!  Our intern reminded me what it was like starting out and choosing a career path – and having energy to spare.  It’s been a really refreshing reminder that reinforced my belief that our future will be in good hands – if we are willing to invest in them!

Could you describe a quality project/outcome (from the internship) that helped you/CMO in its work?
Our intern did very valuable research into the science and limitations of air quality monitoring, in support of a proposal to install an air quality monitoring station.  This work was outside her area of expertise, but the same could be said about most City staff.  She nonetheless learned what she needed to produce a thorough and well-organized report that has served as a very important resource to substantive policy work we have continued.

Could you describe a quality project/outcome (from the internship) that helped you/Communication Department in its work?
Sam put together the Livestrong 2008 video for us recently and won an award for his excellent work.

Web Content Manager & Graphic Designer, Astra Freedman, from the Communication Department of the City Manager's Office hosted Joyce Chen as intern for 2008-2009.

What value have you found in hosting interns?
Having Joyce in our office has been truly a wonderful experience. She came to us with a wealth of new and fresh ideas and was able to implement them into any project given to her with little assistance. Joyce is a very motivated individual who is innovative, diligent, responsible and is extremely capable in all areas in which she is involved.  I have enjoyed working with Joyce.

Did you learn something new from your intern? If so, what?
Joyce is incredibly intelligent. I had the opportunity to view some of her work in her gallery at San José State University and what I saw was amazing!

Could you describe a quality project/outcome (from the internship) that helped you/Communication Department in its work?
There were 2 projects thus far that Joyce has done an outstanding job on. One being the 11th Annual Walk to End Domestic Violence. Joyce created beautiful custom designs for light posts, newspapers, t-shirts and bus advertisements. She was able to showcase her work throughout the entire city.

Joyce also helped with the website you are looking at, our brand new website for students! There was no one better to complete the project. She took our basic idea and turned it into an outstanding source of information for students that features student and employee testimonials.

I am very impressed with her attention to detail and ability to take a small idea and create something amazing and always take it to the next level.

Did you learn something new from your intern? If so, what?
How to make a flyer in a particular program.

Could you describe a quality project/outcome (from the internship) that helped you/Environmental Services Department in its work?
Having Lyleen as a part of our team is extremely valuable.

Biologist, Eric Dunlavey, from the Environmental Services Department hosted Simret Yigzaw and Theresa Brickley as interns for 2008-2009.

What value have you found in hosting interns?
Simret and Theresa are both graduate student interns from San José State.  They are extremely valuable members of our team and have helped ensure ongoing projects continue to run smoothly when otherwise being short-staffed would have required project delay or reduction in the project scope.  Our interns have helped accelerate other projects that I anticipated would take much longer due to their diligence in data entry and assistance in data analysis.  They are always willing and eager to take on new assignments and responsibilities.  They’ve impressed me with the energy, passion and eagerness to get involved in the environmental field and their commitment to the environmental science field, biology and science in general.

Did you learn something new from your intern? If so, what?
Yes.  Their energy, enthusiasm, positive attitude and commitment to science and the environment has served as a constant reminder of how important and rewarding the work we do is and how much fun it can be at times.

Could you describe a quality project/outcome (from the internship) that helped you Environmental Services Departmentin its work?
Where to begin?  I try to involve them both in as many major projects as I can.  Certainly their involvement in the environmental monitoring we are required to perform in San Francisco Bay and in Pond A18 has been invaluable from the hours of prep work they perform to field assistance to data entry.  Simret and Theresa have become a reliable and efficient field crew assisting in the preparation, field monitoring and data management aspects of multiple projects.

Principal Account Clerk, Lori Scheibley, from the General Services Department hosted Angelie Herreria as intern for 2008.

What value have you found in hosting interns?
I think there is value for all involved. The intern gets exposed to the City and is able to see all of the benefits of working for the government. My employees gain a lot of experience in training and supervising a new employee. They have to continually evaluate their workload and that of another person. I gained a personal benefit of training our intern to help me with year-end processes including accruals. This helped my workload for the busiest 2 weeks of the year.

Did you learn something new from your intern? If so, what?
I learned that having a fresh new young person around the group was very beneficial. In the constantly changing technology time that we live in, it is good to see how much expertise a college student has. This challenges the “older” ones to realize that we need to keep taking classes for our own personal growth.

Could you describe a quality project/outcome (from the internship) that helped you/General Services Department in its work?
Our intern helped us with our major project of the year: our year-end processes. This included inputting purchase requisitions into the system, year-end accrual journal vouchers, and updating spreadsheets. She did a very good job.

Other feedback or Comment?
It was a great experience and we were very lucky to have an intern that worked hard and was accurate. There is a large time commitment to training however, and you have to be prepared for that.

Marketing & Communications Manager, Theresa Hayes, from the Housing Department hosted Chrissy Ramoneda as intern for 2008-2009.

What value have you found in hosting interns?
The interns I have worked with lend a fresh perspective to the whole department. Their positive attitude and willingness to learn is especially appreciated. I make a conscious effort to assign them projects that can be included in their portfolio for future job opportunities.

Did you learn something new from your intern? If so, what?
That I know more about my job than I realized.

Could you describe a quality project/outcome (from the internship) that helped you/Housing Department in its work?
My intern is included in every major project I work on, albeit for Housing or other City departments, which are too numerous to mention.

Did you learn something new from your intern? If so, what?
I learned how important it is to keep a sense of humor no matter how many tasks or projects come my way. Randy makes me laugh on a daily basis. I also ask Randy for his opinion and I have taken his suggestions many times. Randy has excellent computer skills so I have asked for his assistance many times when I couldn't get something to work on my computer. I have learned a great deal from all of the interns I have worked with.

Could you describe a quality project/outcome (from the internship) that helped you/Human Resources Department in its work?
Ladan started up the Intern Mentoring Program and led the 2nd annual "Are You In?" event. Ladan's ability to be proactive, professional and unstoppable made her an exceptional employee. Randy Sok has been an amazing team player. He is willing to help out employees in whatever projects they need. Randy's attention to detail, ability to get things done, great writing skills, and sense of humor has made him a huge asset in the workplace. He types over 120 words per minute and finishes projects in a very timely manner. Randy helps out with administration tasks, intern recruitments and special events, as well as coordinating the Intern Mentoring Program and Mentoring Program website.

Did you learn something new from your intern? If so, what?
Most importantly, I learned that San José State’s Masters Program in Public Administration is doing a fine job preparing the next generation of City of San José employees, managers and executives.  The experience led us to host another graduate student intern this year, with similar results. 

Could you describe a quality project/outcome (from the internship) that helped you/Human Resources Department in its work?
Among other projects, Lea performed an analysis of City of San José litigation exposure and contributed revisions of workplace accommodation guideline language.

Did you learn something new from your intern? If so, what?
These interns are great to work with, and their energy and enthusiasm reminded me to enjoy work.       

Could you describe a quality project/outcome (from the internship) that helped you/Environmental Services Department in its work?
Most of our interns are civic engineering majors, and they work on a range of projects from traffic management, infrastructure maintenance, to planning. There are interns in almost every division in the department.