Georgia County Internship Spotlight

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Photo courtesy of Cobb County.

Caroline Johnston’s Internship with Cobb County Leads to a Full Time Job

Prior to interning with Cobb County, Caroline Johnston, a GIS student at Kennesaw State University, had very limited knowledge about county government operations. Through her GIS internship, Johnston learned about the various services Cobb County provides residents and how the county enhances the lives of residents through service.

During the course of her internship with the Information Services department, Johnston’s primary role was aiding in the creation of a Cobb County tourism story map that was presented at the Esri User Conference in San Diego. She was also the main contact on a project for the parks department in which she created a spatial data model for data collection in county parks and configured a mobile application for collection.

Johnston’s favorite part of the internship experience was being the project lead on the parks project. Through this project, she learned about the different departments in the county and what they do. She also enjoyed exploring different parks. The project further allowed Johnston to learn how to more effectively communicate with a group on collaborative projects. This skill will be extremely useful in helping her to meet future career goals since so many projects in the workplace require the collaboration of several people.

To future interns, Johnston would tell her peers that a county internship is a great opportunity to learn more about their selected career path. There are so many roles in county government and an internship provides a way to thoroughly explore a potential career. Upon completion of her internship, Johnston applied for and accepted a full-time GIS position with the county.

For more information on the GCIP, please visit the ACCG Civic Affairs Foundation website at http://www.civicaffairs.org.