Celebrate the inaugural Virginia Intern Day!

When

Thursday, July 28, 2022

Who

Virginia-based employers offering internships (regardless of size and sector), student interns and higher education internship facilitators (i.e., career services departments, FWS offices, etc.)

What

The social media event, to be held on July 28, 2022, will showcase the top employers, their interns and internship programs, garnering social media attention from the public as well as from potential internship candidates.

Historically, National Intern Day (the last Thursday in July) trends number one across social media platforms. The event will also highlight Virginia interns and higher education partners that facilitate the internships.

How

1. Save the date.

Mark your calendars for Thursday, July 28, 2022 to celebrate Virginia Intern Day (in tandem with National Intern Day).

2. Sign up.

Complete this nomination form to have your business/organization considered for the “Top Virginia Employers for Interns” social media recognition event on July 28.

3. Stay tuned.

Visit this page to learn more our social media toolkit and ways to celebrate Virginia Intern Day, spotlight your interns, internship program and internship partners.

Virginia Intern Day Social Media Toolkit and Ways to Celebrate

We are so excited that you are participating in Virginia Intern Day on July 28. We’ve put together a social media kit with ideas on how and when to post on social media. We’ve included social media shareables, a list of hashtags and ways to celebrate.

Social Media Shareables

Copy, paste and edit any and all of the below into emails and social media posts to spread the word about Virginia Intern Day. Make sure to check out the list of popular hashtags in this document to include with your post. Social media platforms love photos so feel free to post emojis and images of your company/organization/institution, interns, and staff along with your shareables.

  • #VirginiaInternDay #VID
  • #VID #VTOP
  • #VID #NID

The posts below would work best if posted weekly through June 30.

GENERAL VTOP Social Media Posts (content) leading up to Virginia Intern Day

Primary Tweets/Facebook/LinkedIn posts:

  • Save the date. Mark your calendars for Thursday, July 28, 2022 to celebrate Virginia Intern Day (VID) in tandem with National Intern Day (NID).
  • Complete the following nomination form to have your business/organization considered for the “Top Virginia Employers for Interns” social media recognition on July 28.
  • Stay tuned and visit nomination form for a social media toolkit and forthcoming ideas to celebrate Virginia Intern Day, spotlight your interns, internship program and internship partners.

Secondary Tweets/Facebook/LinkedIn posts:
These posts work best after you’ve shared the General VTOP Social Media Posts. Don’t forget to enhance your post with hashtags, appropriate emojis and images. Post weekly through June 30.

  • Get noticed by internship candidates. Complete the following nomination form to have your business/organization considered for the “Top Virginia Employers for Interns” social media recognition on July 28.
  • Recognize your student interns. Complete the following nomination form to have your business/organization considered for the “Top Virginia Employers for Interns” social media recognition on July 28.
  • Virginia Innovative Internship Program spotlight on VA employers. Complete the following nomination form to have your business/organization considered for the “Top Virginia Employers for Interns” social media recognition on July 28.
  • Support your internship partners and share the following nomination form with businesses/organizations to be considered for the “Top Virginia Employers for Interns” social media recognition on July 28.
  • Follow VTOP, SCHEV and the Virginia Chamber Foundation on social media. Tell us about your interns, internship programs, partnering employers and Virginia higher education institutions that advance work-based learning.

Additional Post Suggestions

Include weekly posts leading up to VID beginning July 1

Get ready to celebrate Virginia Intern Day. #VID#NID
How are you celebrating Virginia Intern Day? #VID#NID

Posts for July 27 and on VID, July 28

And the Top VA Employers for Interns are……

Posts for July 27 and on VID, July 28

Posts from Interns (possible questions/ideas below):

  • How are you celebrating Virginia Intern Day (#VID)?
  • Tell us one cool thing about your internship.
  • What have you learned at your internship?
  • What you hope to do after graduating college (where you want to work, if you want to go to grad school, etc.).

Posts for July 27 and on VID, July 28

Posts from Employers and Institutions (possible questions/ideas below):

  • How are you celebrating Virginia Intern Day (#VID)?
  • Why are your interns the best in Virginia?
  • What would you like students to know about your internship program?
  • What is unique about your internship program?
  • What career advice would you give to interns?

Hashtags

Here’s a list of some of the most popular hashtags that you can use to enhance your social media posts. Pick and choose which hashtags fit best with the message you are communicating. There’s no need to use all the hashtags on each post, instead pick and choose the best one(s) to keep each post unique and relevant.

  • #VirginiaInternDay#VID
  • #VID #VTOP
  • #VID #NID
  • #VirginiaInternDay meet #VirginiaInterns or #(higher education institution)interns
  • #NationalInternDay meet #VirginiaInterns or #(insert company/organization)interns
  • #nationalinternday
  • #NID

Follow/link

  • @VirginiaTOPorg
  • @GovernorVA
  • @SCHEVnews
  • @VAChamber
  • @Growth4VA
  • @GOVirginia
  • @VACEoutreach

Ways to Celebrate VID

Now that everyone knows about VID, here are a few ideas for planning in-person and virtual celebrations:

In-person

  • Offer them breakfast (i.e. donuts, smoothie bar).
  • Take them to lunch (or send them lunch remotely) and enjoy a virtual recognition program.
  • Go to a local event (i.e. baseball game).
  • VID Field Day: field-day games at a local park; etc.
  • Do something active: Hiking at a state park; kayaking at a local river; etc.
  • Volunteer day: Recognize your interns and support a worthy cause at the same time.
  • Offer a professional development workshop (i.e. resume review).
  • Give them swag, goodie bags, etc.
  • Offer #VID networking opportunities with senior staff.

Virtual

  • Put together an appreciation video to say “thank you” to your interns.
  • Post a twitter “shout out” to your interns. #VID #NID #Virginia (insert company/organization/college/university)interns.
  • Compile blog posts from your interns and/or featuring your interns, their work and share with existing employees, board members etc.
  • Create and share a google jamboard to post about VID, your interns, interns’ experiences and/or general career or internship advice.
  • Offer virtual icebreakers and games to engage remote interns. Icebreaker – Interns can discuss their backgrounds, internships, and future aspirations, or play games using the hyperlink. The Ultimate Icebreakers List: 280+ Questions, Games, and More – Free icebreakers for all kinds of audiences.
  • Thank You Notes – Businesses/supervisors can share why they chose their and words of encouragement to their interns.
  • Intern Superlatives – Supervisors can print certificates honoring their interns for their hard work and dedication).
  • Escape Room
  • Kudoboard – Little virtual cards that supervisors can send to their interns the morning of Intern day.

We’ve also included a few other resources for planning the perfect event. Check-out the following sites/sources for other ideas:

Make sure to tag the company in the post that you use any of these for. The goal here would be for that site to share and like your post giving it more traction. Hopefully they would also tag you in their post!

Other useful links and information

Primary VTOP Logos/Image files

For any questions or additional information contact emilysalmon@schev.edu.