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The Value of Experience

Arts students ‘rarely follow a typical linear career path’ (Daniel & Daniel, 2013, pp. 138-153),
and must often undertake unpaid internships – a class-based privilege – in the hopes of securing
meaningful, paid employment (Shade & Jacobson, 2015, pp. 188-205). This autoethnographic
(Ellis, Adams & Bochner, 2011, pp. 273-290) essay discusses my own experiences and
understanding of internships within this very particular, and indeed also peculiar, societal
phenomenon (Wall, 2006, pp. 146-160) – that of Creative Industries, beset with endless
‘definitional problems’ (McKinlay & Smith, 2009, p. 3), which are perhaps best-encompassed
by the objectionable requirement to provide ‘“useful” forms of culture’ (Banks & O’Connor,
2009, pp. 365-373). I find myself in the fortunate position to not be seeking an internship, but
instead to be offering one, through my own Creative Industries endeavour, a short story literary
journal (Superlative, 2021). However, this generates multiple considerations: whilst interns
must consider the multifaceted benefits of such synergetic ‘try before you buy’ arrangements
(Coco, 2000, p. 41), I must not only consider the ‘key determinants’ of fit (Divine et al., 2007,
pp. 45-52), weighed-up against the potential benefits to Superlative, but also how to build a
successful internship in the first place, offering interns sufficient benefits rather than hardships
(Maaravi et al., 2020, pp. 1-20), while also avoiding potential pitfalls (Maertz, Stoeberl &
Marks, 2014, pp. 123-142). Additionally, though short-term student and graduate internships
are still an important consideration (Jackson & Bridgstock, 2020, pp. 1-17), I must seriously
consider the advantages of a remote internship – due partly to the worldwide Covid-19
response, but also to overcome geographical and other ‘work, study, and life factors’ (Briant
& Crowther, 2020, pp. 617 628) that already existed, which the pandemic has only now drawn
attention to.
Internships were intended to become standard practice in 21st century education (Sides
& Mrvica, 2017) and, as discussed by Divine et al. (2008, pp. 1-8), ‘offer win-win-win
opportunities for students, employers and schools’: work experience makes students more
marketable (Taylor, 1998); employers benefit from ‘risk-free-trial access to potential future
employees’ (Coco, 2020, quoted in Divine et al., 2008, p. 2); and schools benefit from
strengthened business community connections (Coco, 2000; Gault, Redington & Schlager,
2000). However, does this model represent a ‘good fit’ (Divine et al., 2007, pp. 45-52) for
Superlative? Do I want to offer an internship to someone testing career-interest waters (O’Neill,

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2010, pp. 4-8), or, for Superlative’s quality’s sake, do I want someone who, for their limited
internship period, already possesses the ‘26 editing skills and knowledge areas’ (Auman &
Alderman, 1996, pp. 2-13), and the ‘less obvious but not less important’ (Zook, 1967) editorial
attitudes? I wish to offer interns career-advancing editorial experience, and, of course, for
Superlative to also benefit from their involvement – but, if this requires them to already possess
advanced editorial abilities, does that defeat the perhaps career- and network-oriented (Hergert,
2009, pp. 9-14) purpose of offering internships in the first place? Perhaps, then, rather than
offering internships intended to advance interns’ short-term careers, the key lies in offering
internships aimed at developing those attributes often left unenhanced, such as perceived fit
and longer-term career outcomes (Callanan & Benzing, 2004, pp. 82-89), providing a stepping-
stone in the often-circuitous path to becoming a publisher, editor, or writer, as discussed by
Knight (2021) and Grey (2021).
With these ‘larger’ gains (Flesher, Leach & Westphal, 1996, p. 22) in mind, if ‘learning
through internships is a central element of future principal candidates’ overall success’
(Deschaine & Jankens, 2017, pp. 5-20), the question of how to build the most worthwhile and
satisfying (D’abate, Youndt & Wenzel, 2017, pp. 527-539) an internship as possible raises its
head. Maaravi et al. (2020, pp. 1-20) suggest that everyone has responsibilities (Appendix 1)
so, to a certain extent, I am perhaps one-third reliant on interns’ professionalism, competency,
efficiency, and enthusiasm (Farinelli & Mann, 1994, p. 35); therefore, perhaps two-thirds of
the responsibility for the overall success of the internship for all parties falls to myself, and to
Superlative as a whole. True (2008, pp. 3-7) discusses planning, recruiting for and delivering
internships, and ten intern concerns (Appendix 2); he places considerable emphasis on setting
goals and internship programming, followed by detailed recruitment advice and rigorous
management suggestions, expressly emphasising supervision and feedback.
Adhering to True’s (2008, pp. 3-5) steps 1-3, I have outlined the internship’s goals,
plan, and recruitment strategy (Appendices 3-5). Setting goals (Koehorst, 2016; Curtis, 2000,
pp. 194-205), planning (Mekawy & Abu Bakr, 2014, pp. 41-61), recruitment (Hurrell &
Scholaris, 2016, pp. 79-105) and selection (Scholaris, 2016, pp. 106-131) are, of course, all
vital to this process; however, they are perhaps replications of the early stages of employing
paid personnel. Therefore, I instead wish to focus here on True’s (2008, pp. 5-6) ‘Step 4:
Manage the intern(s)’, because I believe it is here that internships branch off from the paid
employment process, and detailed attention must be paid to ensure I am offering interns
sufficient benefits rather than hardships (Maaravi et al., 2020, pp. 1-20). Because I am unable
to, for the foreseeable future, offer intern’s remuneration (our current editors are unpaid

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volunteers), I must instead – as previously alluded to – offer them something of equal, or

perhaps even greater value: learning opportunities, supervisor support, organisational
atmosphere (Maaravi et al., 2020, pp. 1-20), mentoring that encourages emotional sharing over
masking (Liu, Xu & Weitz, 2011, pp. 94-110), and ‘work-based learning […] to bridge
theoretical knowledge and practice and enhance graduate employability’ (Silva et al., 2016,
pp. 703-721). Of course, assigning value to these non-monetary benefits might prove difficult,
especially when attracting potential applicants, but, because the internship would be part-time,
interns would not be prevented from gaining simultaneous paid employment, which might also
accommodate applicants from a wider class range.
Amongst many other academics, Malone (2001, pp. 1-5), Wilmore and Bratlien (2005,
pp. 23-37), and Hardie, Almeida and Ross (2018, pp. 155-168) discuss the benefits of
mentoring; I shall adopt the ‘mentoring model of one-to-one interaction’ (Cohen & Galbraith,
1995, pp. 5-14). This will take the intern from an initial organisation orientation and ‘meet the
team’, through their internship tasks, goals, and responsibilities, and into regular supervision
and feedback. I am a structured individual: I like to know when and how things will happen.
Therefore, Superlative has grown in the same way and, rather than conducting informal, ad hoc
reviews (True, 2008, p. 6), I would organise a structured, weekly timeslot to meet with interns
to evaluate their performance, identifying and assessing areas of growth and development
(Brown & Redman, 2016, p. 191). Optimistically, this will enable me to utilise interns in the
best possible way for Superlative’s benefit, and facilitate ‘genuine critical reflection and
transformative learning’ (Carson & Fisher, 2006, pp. 700-723); it is my hope that the value of
what they gain, including transferred knowledge of my own experiences, will be equal to or
greater than the value of monetary gain, especially, as Flescher, Leach and Westphal (1996, p.
23) discuss, at this stage of their ‘fledgling careers’, where so much relies on their willingness
to ‘make appropriate investments in time, skill-building, and effort’.
Of course, alongside continuing my own professional development to guarantee I am a
desirable host, I must also ensure I am able to provide proper mentoring; Nicholls (2006, pp.
157-168) discusses how the term ‘mentor’ is used for a variety of roles and occupations, but is
actually very complex, containing aspects of teaching, sponsoring, encouraging, counselling,
and befriending. Therefore, to develop my own expertise, I attended The National Association
of Writers in Education’s (2021) Virtual Conference, which included a specific mentoring
segment; May et al. (2021) discussed the ‘transformative nature of experience’, how the role
of the mentor is not just to support, but also to inspire and raise up, and, perhaps most critically
for my own development, how mentors should hold a space where learning can happen and be

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open to change, rather than insisting that things be done a certain way. Bearing in mind my
earlier comment about being a structured individual, this openness to change is something I
shall endeavour to employ.
That being said, if interns are to be editing pieces and, ultimately, as crucial a part of
the decision-making-process as I intend, a discussion must also be had around Superlative’s
critical approaches to writing, and how I will develop them and their editing processes. As
Dawson (2005, pp. 1-20) discusses, those entering specific branches of literature must first
learn the rules that ‘govern the genre’; whilst here he is specifically referring to rules in relation
to writing, Morley (2007) discusses how ‘writing and reading share an independent orbit
around the open space of language’, and that, in becoming more alert to your own potential as
a reader, you also become more alert to other writers. This, of course, is crucial, since our
editors do not actually do any creative writing of their own for Superlative, but instead spend
all their time reading. Although, naturally, I intend for every piece of writing published in
Superlative to be grammatically perfect and will adopt the role of ‘interactive editor’
(McCutchen, Hull & Smith, 1987, pp. 139-154) as necessary, it is also important to note that
Superlative encourages writers to submit transgressive and experimental work, as discussed by
Smith (2020). Therefore, there is clearly more to consider when editing these types of
submissions than merely grammar alone; Moore (2009) suggests those undertaking
transgressive writing should be ‘competent and comfortable with their authorial voices’, so, we
can be certain that, when these types of submissions do not conform to traditional grammatical
rules, they are doing so for a reason. This, I believe, is a different type of creative and critical
reading and editing altogether. Consider a piece’s theme, for example: Kurtz and Schober
(2001, pp. 139-166) suggest, ‘themes do not reside in texts in any obvious way but are
constructed by readers’ and ‘thematic inferences are not computed automatically, as part of
comprehension, but rather later as acts of interpretation’. If this is true from what we might call
a ‘normal’ creative piece of writing, then the ‘transgressive/experimental reader’ must be
infinitely more alert to every element of the text to fully interpret its meaning, since typical
constructions may well not apply; it is elements such as this – monstrously difficult to explain
and equally problematic to learn – that I shall attempt to communicate to interns. If, amongst
the submissions they are allocated to review, interns encounter a piece they do not understand
or are not certain of – which is entirely possible, since, as previously discussed, Superlative
encourages writers to submit transgressive and experimental work – I will ensure they know
they are not alone in the editing process, and may put the piece forward for discussion with the
other editors.

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Whilst, as we have seen, it is vital to plan how my internship might run, I must also
consider how it must not run, to avoid potential pitfalls; Maertz, Stoeberl and Marks (2014, pp.
123-142) suggest these pitfalls stem from employers and interns often having inconsistent or
dissimilar expectations. I would avoid this by ensuring all applicants understand Superlative is
looking for a new, permanent co-editor to join our team, though, of course, that this position
would be unpaid and part-time. Clarifying this with applicants might potentially come with its
own benefits; Zhao and Liden (2011, pp. 221-229) discuss how hiring organisations are more
open to interns’ creativity – keeping in mind the previously discussed ‘open to change’
mentoring mindset, this is something I certainly intend to remain receptive to – which improves
interns’ application intentions and might lead to more successful internships through increased
motivation (Blomquist, 2013).
Many studies have been conducted – especially recently, due to the Covid-19 pandemic
– by researchers such as Marr (2019), Dent and Jo White (2020, pp. 11-19), and Pittenger
(2021), exploring the benefits of remote/virtual internships. Briant and Crowther (2020, pp.
617-628) even discuss remote/virtual internships specifically for Creative Industries students,
concluding that they ‘offer new opportunities for enriched, broadened and more equitable
internship experiences’, whilst simultaneously overcoming barriers such as time and travel,
caused by other life, work and study commitments. This bodes well then, for my considering
running Superlative’s internship remotely and, in fact, these findings align with my own recent
adoption of working-from-home in the Creative Industries, as I too have found the overcoming
of time and travel barriers a significant benefit.
In sum, it seems internships are generally recognised as educationally and vocationally
beneficial for interns, and provide ‘enhanced employer-perceived value’ (Gault, Leach &
Duey, 2010, pp. 76-88), even when delivered remotely, provided I properly plan the internship
from all angles prior to its commencement. However, some research suggests internships may
negatively influence interns’ intent to enter a profession (Cunningham et al., 2005, pp. 43-57),
and I would, through a properly constructed mentor-to-mentee relationship based on respect
and trust (Abell et al., 1995, pp. 173-188), endeavour to avoid this.

Word count: 2,153

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Primary Reference List

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Auman, A. & Alderman, B.B. (1996) ‘How Editors and Educators See Skills Needed for Editing’,
Newspaper Research Journal, 17(1-2), pp. 2-13.

Banks, M. & O’Connor, J. (2009) ‘After the creative industries’, International Journal of Cultural
Policy, 15(4), pp. 365-373.

Blomquist, S. (2013) The Role of Motivation in a Successful Internship. Master’s Thesis.

University of Applied Sciences.

Briant, S. & Crowther, P. (2020) ‘Reimagining internships through online experiences:

Multi-disciplinary engagement for creative industries students’, International Journal of
Work-Integrated Learning, 21(5), pp. 617-628.

Brown, M. & Redman, T. (2016) ‘Performance Appraisal’, in Wilkinson, A., Redman, T. &
Dundon, T. (eds.) Contemporary Human Resource Management: Text and Cases. 5th Edn.
London: Pearson Education Ltd, pp. 189-210.

Callanan, G. & Benzing, C. (2004) ‘Assessing the role of internships in the career‐oriented
employment of graduating college students’, Education & Training, 46(2), pp. 82-89.

Carson, L. & Fisher, K. (2006) ‘Raising the bar on criticality: Students’ critical reflection in
an internship program’, Journal of Management Education, 30(5), pp. 700-723.

Coco, M. (2000) ‘Internships: A try before you buy arrangement’, SAM Advanced
Management Journal, 65(2), p. 41-43.

Cohen, N.H. & Galbraith, M.W. (1995) ‘Mentoring in the learning society’, New directions
for adult and continuing education, 1995(66), pp. 5-14.

Cunningham, G.B., Sagas, M., Dixon, M., Kent, A. & Turner, B.A. (2005) ‘Anticipated
career satisfaction, affective occupational commitment, and intentions to enter the sport
management profession’, Journal of Sport Management, 19(1), pp. 43-57.

Curtis, R.C. (2000) ‘Using Goal‐Setting Strategies to Enrich the Practicum and Internship
Experiences of Beginning Counselors’, The Journal of Humanistic Counseling, Education
and Development, 38(4), pp. 194-205.

D’abate, C.P., Youndt, M.A. & Wenzel, K.E. (2017) ‘Making the most of an internship: An
empirical study of internship satisfaction’, Academy of Management Learning &
Education, 8(4), pp. 527-539.

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Ross Turner

Daniel, R. & Daniel, L. (2013) ‘Enhancing the transition from study to work: Reflections on
the value and impact of internships in the creative and performing arts’, Arts and Humanities
in Higher Education, 12(2-3), pp. 138-153.

Dawson, P. (2005) Creative Writing and the New Humanities. Abingdon: Routledge.

Dent, H. & Jo White, B. (2020) ‘Virtual Internships: Interdisciplinary Remote Work for
Undergraduates During a Pandemic’, Issues in Information Systems, 21(3), pp. 11-19.

Deschaine, M.E. & Jankens, B.P. (2017) ‘Creating successful and sustainable educational
administrative internship experiences’, Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning,
7(1), pp. 5-20. doi 10.1108/HESWBL-02-2016-0008.

Divine, R.L., Linrud, J.K., Miller, R.H. & Wilson, J.H. (2007) ‘Required internship programs
in marketing: Benefits, challenges and determinants of fit’, Marketing Education
Review, 17(2), pp. 45-52.

Divine, R., Miller, R., Wilson, J.H. & Linrud, J. (2008) ‘Key philosophical decisions to
consider when designing an internship program’, Journal of Management and Marketing
Research, 1, pp. 1-8.

Ellis, C., Adams, T. & Bochner, A. (2011) ‘Autoethnography: An Overview’, Historical Social
Research/Historische Sozialforschung, 36(4), pp. 273-290.

Farinelli, J.L. & Mann, P. (1994) ‘How To Get the Most Value from Your Internship
Program’, Public Relations Quarterly, 39(3), p. 35.

Flesher, J., Leach, S. & Westphal, L. (1996) ‘Creating Effective Internships’, Performance
Improvement, 35(10), pp. 22-25.

Gault, J., Leach, E. & Duey, M. (2010) ‘Effects of Business Internships on Job Marketability:
The Employers’ Perspective’, Education + Training, 52(1), pp. 76-88.

Gault, J., Redington, J., & Schlager, T. (2000) ‘Undergraduate Business Internships and
Career Success: Are They Related?’, Journal of Marketing Education, 22(1), pp. 45-53.

Grey, L. (2021) ‘Internships, job shadowing and multidisciplinary case study’, HM7106
Creative Industries. University of Gloucestershire 08 February.

Hardie, G., Almeida, S. & Ross, P.J. (2018) ‘Value of Industry Mentoring and Resource
Commitment to the Success of an Undergraduate Internship Program: A Case Study from an
Australian University’, International Journal of Work-Integrated Learning, 19(2), pp. 155-
168.

Hergert, M. (2009) ‘Student perceptions of the value of internships in business

education’, American Journal of Business Education (AJBE), 2(8), pp. 9-14.

Hurrell, S. & Scholaris, D. (2016) ‘Recruitment’, in Wilkinson, A., Redman, T. & Dundon,
T. (eds.) Contemporary Human Resource Management: Text and Cases. 5th Edn. London:
Pearson Education Ltd, pp. 79-105.

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Jackson, D. & Bridgstock, R. (2020) ‘What actually works to enhance graduate

employability? The relative value of curricular, co-curricular, and extra-curricular learning
and paid work’, Higher Education, pp. 1-17. doi 10.1007/s10734-020-00570-x.

Koehorst, M. (2016) Internship motivation: can the formulation of high quality internship
learning goals improve intrinsic motivation? Master’s thesis. University of Twente.

Knight, L. (2021) ‘Internships, job shadowing and multidisciplinary case study’, HM7106
Creative Industries. University of Gloucestershire 08 February.

Kurtz, V. & Schober, M.F. (2001) ‘Readers’ varying interpretations of theme in short
fiction’, Poetics, 29(3), pp. 139-166.

Liu, Y., Xu, J. & Weitz, B.A. (2011) ‘The role of emotional expression and mentoring in
internship learning’, Academy of Management Learning & Education, 10(1), pp. 94-110.

Maaravi, Y., Heller, B., Hochman, G. & Kanat-Maymon, Y. (2020) ‘Internship Not
Hardship: What Makes Interns in Startup Companies Satisfied?’, Journal of Experiential
Education, pp. 1-20. doi 10.1177/1053825920966351.

Maertz Jr, C.P., Stoeberl, P.A. & Marks, J. (2014) ‘Building successful internships: lessons
from the research for interns, schools, and employers’, Career Development International,
19(1), pp. 123-142.

Malone, R. (2001) Principal mentoring. Research Roundup, 17(2), pp. 1-5.

Marr, M. (2019) ‘Virtual international internships in an online international business

program,’ Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning: Proceedings of
the Annual ABSEL conference (Vol. 46).

May, W., Ahmed, N., Jahan, A. & West, M. (2021) ‘What is a Mentor? Mentoring,
Community and Literary Culture’ [Online Conference], WHAT NEXT? Writing in Education
and Communities in 2021 and Beyond. 13 March.

McCutchen, D., Hull, G.A. & Smith, W.L. (1987) ‘Editing Strategies and Error Correction in
Basic Writing’, Written Communication, 4(2), pp. 139-154.

McKinlay, A. & Smith, C. (eds.) (2009) Creative Labour: Working in the Creative
Industries. London: Red Globe Press.

Mekawy, M.A. & Abu Bakr, M.M. (2014) ‘Planning internship programs: Tourism students’
perceptions’, Tourism: An International Interdisciplinary Journal, 62(1), pp. 41-61.

Moore, K. (2009) Taught Transgressions: Pushing Writers Past the Limit. Master’s Thesis.
University of Gloucestershire.

Morley, D. (2007) The Cambridge Introduction to Creative Writing. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press.

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National Association of Writers in Education (2021) WHAT NEXT? Writing in Education and
Communities in 2021 and Beyond. Available at: https://www.nawe.co.uk/writing-in-
education/nawe-conference.html (Accessed: 24 May 2021).

Nicholls, G. (2006) ‘Mentoring: the art of teaching and learning’, in Jarvis, P. (ed.) The
Theory and Practice of Teaching. 2nd Edn. Abingdon: Routledge, pp. 157-168.

O’Neill, N. (2010) ‘Internships as a high-impact practice: Some reflections on quality’, Peer

Review, 12(4), pp. 4-8.

Pittenger, K.K. (2021) ‘Virtual Internships – A New Reality’, Developments in Business

Simulation and Experiential Learning: Proceedings of the Annual ABSEL conference (Vol.
48).

Scholaris, D. (2016) ‘Selection’, in Wilkinson, A., Redman, T. & Dundon, T. (eds.)

Contemporary Human Resource Management: Text and Cases. 5th Edn. London: Pearson
Education Ltd, pp. 106-131.

Shade, L.R. & Jacobson, J. (2015) ‘Hungry for the job: gender, unpaid internships, and the
creative industries’, The Sociological Review, 63, pp. 188-205.

Sides, C. & Mrvica, A. (2017). Internships: Theory and practice. Abingdon: Routledge.

Silva, P., Lopes, B., Costa, M., Seabra, D., Melo, A.I., Brito, E. & Dias, G.P. (2016)
‘Stairway to employment? Internships in higher education’, Higher Education, 72(6), pp.
703-721.

Smith, H. (2020) The Writing Experiment: Strategies for innovative creative writing.
Abingdon: Routledge.

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(Accessed: 10 March 2021).

Taylor, M. S. (1998) ‘Effects of College Internships on Individual Participants’, Journal of

Applied Psychology, 73(3), pp. 393-401.

True, M. (2008) Starting and maintaining a quality internship program. Grantham: Messiah
College.

Wall, S. (2006) ‘An Autoethnography on Learning About Autoethnography’, International

Journal of Qualitative Methods, 5(2), pp. 146-160.

Wilmore, E.L. & Bratlien, M.J. (2005) ‘Mentoring and tutoring within administrative
internship programs in American universities’, Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in
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Zhao, H. & Liden, R.C. (2011) ‘Internship: A recruitment and selection perspective’, Journal
of Applied Psychology, 96(1), pp. 221-229. doi: 10.1037/a0021295.

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Zook, L.M. (1967) Training the editor: Skills are not enough. Alexandria: George
Washington UNIV Alexandria VA Human Resources Research Office.

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Secondary Reference List

Capasso, R.L. & Daresh, J.C. (2000) The school administrator internship handbook:
Leading, mentoring, and participating in the internship program. Thousand Oaks [US]:
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Dyson, C. & Briant, S. (2018) ‘Breaking down barriers for WIL engagement: Flexible,
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Holman, J.S., Adams, T.E. & Ellis, C. (eds.) (2013) Handbook of Autoethnography. London:
Taylor & Francis Group.

Jones, C., Lorenzen, M. & Sapsed, J. (eds.) (2015) The Oxford Handbook of Creative
Industries. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Kroll, J. & Harper, G. (eds.) (2012) Research methods in creative writing. London: Springer
Nature Limited.

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Appendix 1

University/Department, Student, and Employee Roles in Internship Programs.

Divine, R., Miller, R., Wilson, J.H. & Linrud, J. (2008) ‘Key philosophical decisions to
consider when designing an internship program’, Journal of Management and Marketing
Research, 1, p. 2.

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Appendix 2

True, M. (2008) Starting and maintaining a quality internship program. Grantham: Messiah
College, p. 7.

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Appendix 3
Goals
What does your company hope to achieve
from the program?
Are you a small company searching for
additional help on a project?
Is your company growing quickly and
having difficulty finding motivated new
employees?
Are you a non-profit that doesn’t have a lot
of money to pay, but can provide an
interesting and rewarding experience?
Is your organisation searching out new
employees with management potential?
Set in line with True’s (2008, p. 3) recommendations.
14
We are hoping to achieve a reduced
workload for our editors, and to take on a
new co-editor.
Yes, we are looking for additional help for
our editors filtering and selecting
submissions for the 2021 edition of
Superlative.
No, at the moment we are a relatively stable
size, as our main project only comes around
once per year, and only wish to take on one
new co-editor.
Yes, we hope to provide our interns with
interesting and rewarding experience that
will furnish them with a multitude of long-
term benefits, as discussed in my essay.
Not at this time, only a new co-editor.
Ross Turner

Appendix 4

Planning
Will you pay the intern? No, all our staff are unpaid.
Where will you put the intern? As discussed in my essay, this will be a
remote position.
What sort of academic background and I want an intern with a relevant academic
experience do you want in an intern? background (e.g.: creative writing, English
language, etc) at the equivalent of a
minimum of undergraduate level, but who
has no/very limited editorial experience in
the ‘real world’.
Who will have the primary responsibility for Ross Turner.
the intern?
How many hours per week will the intern 5-10 hours/week for 4-6 weeks.
work?
What will the intern be doing? Working alongside our editors, the intern’s
task will be twofold: to read short stories,
pieces of flash fiction, and mini sagas that
Superlative receives during the 2021
submission window, and assign them either
‘maybe’ or ‘rejected’ status; and then, once
all ‘maybe’ choices are compiled, to re-read
them and assign them either ‘accepted’ or
‘rejected’ status.
Do you want to plan a program beyond the If the internship were to be successful, and
work you give your interns? we took on the intern as a new co-editor, I
would plan a mentoring scheme that would
continue throughout the new co-editor’s
involvement with Superlative.
Who will be the intern’s assigned Ross Turner.
mentor/supervisor?

Set in line with True’s (2008, pp. 3-4) recommendations.

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Appendix 5

Recruitment/Selection
When will you begin searching for an intern? I am beginning my search now, as suggested,
3-4 months before they will be required to
start, in August.
Where will you search for an intern? Through online platforms such as LinkedIn,
Indeed, StudentJob.co.uk, Prospects.co.uk,
and through wider social media.
How will candidates be interviewed? Due to geographical and ongoing Covid-19
related considerations, interviews will be
conducted via webcam. This will also
provide a good indicator of how candidates
cope with working remotely, as they will be
required to do for the duration of their
internship.
What will you consider during the interview? Is the intern truly motivated, or do they just
want a job?
Will the intern fit into our culture?
Do they have the level of experience we
need?
How will final selections be made? Rather than through a complicated
scoring/rating system, selections will be
made based on whether candidates fulfil
basic requirement, rapport, and perceived
best fit. I would also, if necessary, consider
taking on multiple interns, if it became
apparent that more than one candidate was
suitable.

Set in line with True’s (2008, pp. 4-5) recommendations.

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