By Jeffrey Barnhart
Interns can become a valuable member of your team, working closely with association executives to gain hands-on experience and a deep understanding of how the organizations’ day-to-day operations are run.
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Sandra Penas Mur (left), summer intern, Jeff Barnhart (center), President and CEO, and Gabrielle Copperwheat, Director of Operations, review client reports at CMA Association Management.
This past summer, CMA Association Management, a full-service association management firm, provided Sandra Penas Mur, a Rider University MBA candidate, with an opportunity to work with the North American Association of Commencement Officers (NAACO) and the Third Party Marketers Association (3PM).
"Working at CMA gave me the exposure I was looking for," said Mur, who is from Barcelona, Spain. "For instance, I've been able to observe NAACO board meetings and see firsthand how decisions are made." Mur’s responsibilities included researching potential members for NAACO and 3PM, as well as potential sponsors for both associations. She also made outbound calls to universities in Mexico in an effort to expand NAACO’s presence. "It was very interesting to see how universities in other countries are structured differently," she added.
"Being multi-lingual is a must working with international associations, and since Sandra is fluent in Spanish, we asked her to make contacts in Puerto Rico and Mexico that we are now pursuing," added Gabrielle Copperwheat, Director of Operations at CMA Association Management. "She had exposure to what really drives associations and learned the foundations of association best practices and governance."
Mur attended board meetings, worked with member management systems, prepared materials for meetings and worked with committee reports and financial documents.
"I was able to apply the research skills learned in the classroom, and the projects I worked on helped me understand the business world more," she said." I decided to major in finance after I took my first finance course at Rider. I realized then that finance takes a huge role in every company and that being knowledgeable in the subject would make a valuable asset."
Offering college students the opportunity to work and participate will give them hands-on business and marketing experience that will hopefully give them a leg up when they graduate. Internships are a way to nurture the business leaders of tomorrow. More than 150 students have participated in the program in the 27 years CMA Association Management has welcomed interns.
Each semester, CMA Association Management regularly recruits and selects students to participate in the company’s rigorous internship program. Students from Rider University, Rutgers University, Rowan University, The College of New Jersey, Penn State, and Mercer County Community College regularly participate in the program.
The company reaches out to the university’s career services departments or equivalent throughout the year. To be eligible for the program, interested students submit an application, which is reviewed to ensure their major and studies align with the services CMA Association Management offers. After the skill sets are matched, prospective interns are brought in for a series of interviews with human resources and prospective department heads.
Selected candidates are then offered internship opportunities. Depending upon their course program or university requirements, some students receive course credit for their internships. Others participate in the program just for the enriching, hands-on experiences that is offered.
Our program focuses on matching the students and employees so both parties benefit from it. The intern program gives staff in every department a chance to mentor someone who was probably just like them when they started their careers and they needed someone to look up to. Interns work closely with the mentors they are matched up with and are given real tasks to complete for the associations. All departments work with students, whether it is association management, marketing, public relations, graphic design, or accounting and finance.
At the end of the internship, there is a dual review process that takes place as part of the exit strategy for each intern. Their supervisor evaluates the interns’ performance and the interns also review and evaluate their experiences. The company uses the feedback from the students to improve the program for future interns.
A great intern program relies on matching prospective interns with staff members who want to be involved and have a bit of time to work with the student. It takes time to develop a program that works with your expertise so there is a synergy between the association and the students.
Jeffrey Barnhart is President and CEO, CMA Association Management, a full-service firm accredited by the Association Management Company Institute. It is also a member of the Advertising Specialty Institute and International Association of Travel Agents. He can be reached through their website at www.thinkcma.com.