I had an interesting (I dare say “fascinating”) discussion with Greg and Stephanie today about the value of summer interns and tips for working with them. Stephanie is in the masters in tech comm program at NCSU and works with Greg on his web site.

There’s much to say, which might end up in an STC Carolina newsletter article, so I’m not going into great detail.

Summer interns can be cheap labor, sure.  Sometimes they’re stuck with unglamorous tasks, such as taking dozens of screenshots or categorizing wiki pages.

But they have different skill sets and perspectives that we older folks (the 30 and over crowd) can adopt. For example, Stephanie bends WordPress to her will and is building her resume. Greg will have a fabulous web site, he’ll know WordPress like the back of his hand, and he’s learned a lot about search engine optimization (SEO).

A B C. “Always be closing,” as Alec Baldwin’s character repeated in the movie Glengarry Glen Ross.

or

A B C. “Always be curious.”

Continue to learn about the latest developments in technical communication, the more effective tools and writing methods.

The Society for Technical Communication is a great place to start. With live online webinars, recorded webinars, online access to conference presentations, you’re on the right track. The archived seminars are free. And you’ll learn from getting to know other technical communicators and participating in your local chapter.

STC membership is what you make of it.