Georgia County Internship Program Spotlight

GCIP Spotlight for April: Berry College student interns with the Murray County Sole Commissioner’s office

Hannah Stanley, a biology major at Berry College, interned with the Murray County Sole Commissioner’s office during the summer of 2015 as part of the Georgia County Internship Program. During her internship, Stanley was tasked with helping the county with its marketing needs, managing social media accounts and relaying information to the public. The internship helped her to understand firsthand the purpose of county government and what it means to provide services for the public.

Stanley’s major duties included updating the county’s social media pages, handling constituent issues, writing press releases for newspapers, using social media to promote county events, and creating various pamphlets, brochures, and flyers for marketing Murray County. For example, the county had recently announced the Chatsworth Outdoor Market, coordinated between the Sole Commissioner and the Salvation Army. While preparing for the announcement, Stanley created diagrams and informational flyers that were then presented to vendors, posted online, and circulated throughout the community.

When asked about the most significant success during her internship, Stanley commented that her involvement on social media following the announcement of the inland port ranked the highest on her list. In order to address the public’s concerns, she devoted substantial time each day to personally responding to the questions posted on the county website. She also created an in depth Question and Answer Guide to answer the most commonly asked questions to ensure the public was properly informed. After uploading this information on the county website, it received over 12,000 views. This experience taught Stanley the importance of providing detailed information to the public and that while the county cannot control how people respond, that they can ensure that the public has the true facts on which to base their opinions.

In terms of the skills learned through the internship, Stanley was able to employ marketing and mediating tactics that she had learned in school, which was a fun and enriching experience. In that a significant part of the internship required her to interact with the public, these skills were very helpful and she could see the success of these methods in a practical setting. It further helped her to feel better equipped to handle conflict, particularly in a professional setting, than before the internship. Since she was required to speak with a large number of people during her tenure at the commissioner’s office, those interactions bettered her ability to communicate and discuss issues in a diplomatic fashion, despite someone else’s anger or frustration. Regardless of the field that Stanley ultimately chooses, she feels that the skills she learned through her internship on conflict, accessibility, and communication will always be beneficial, whether in writing resumes and cover letters, during job interviews, or handling issues in the workplace.

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