FAQs About the Viget Internship

This week, we opened our applications for the 2019 intern class. Our summer internship is one of our favorite traditions around here, and we always look forward to the new class of students and early career professionals that join our ranks for a few months. Over the years, candidates have had some repeat questions about our internship, so we’ve compiled a list for you to read through. If you have another question, feel free to leave it in the comments!

What are the details?
Every summer, Viget hosts a class of interns across our three offices (Durham, Boulder, and Falls Church) for ten weeks. We’ve had classes as small as four and as big as ten.  

Who is this internship for?
Our internships are designed for college students and recent graduates that are interested in developing both job-specific and more general skills valued in this industry. Our interns tend to have a wide range of backgrounds — from computer science, to graphic design, to linguistics, to journalism.  The common threads of our interns, though, are curiosity and drive.

Is it paid?
No, it’s an officially unpaid internship, focused on learning and close mentorship. However, we award our interns a $2,500 housing stipend.

What’s the day to day like?
This will differ depending on the internship role. We have intern roles in design, development, UX, copywriting, and data & analytics, so the things interns are exposed to vary accordingly. But here’s what every intern can count on:

• A dedicated advisor throughout the internship who provides one-on-one mentorship.
• A customized curriculum to guide your learning over the ten weeks.
• A place on your discipline team, from where you can participate in discussions, review sessions, planning, and knowledge-sharing.
• A warm welcome and open invitation to shadow and learn from anyone and everyone at the company.
• Collaborative experience designing and building a digital product with a team in 8 weeks.
• Guidance as you develop and enrich your portfolio.
• Encouragement to be an active, engaged, and social member of your office and the company overall.
• A strong network of alumni

Which office are interns in in?
Viget has offices in three different locations - Falls Church, VA, Durham, NC, and Boulder, CO. Every winter we determine where we’ll have an available advisor for each discipline during the upcoming summer and we advertise internship opportunities accordingly. For example, this summer we are able to offer a UX internship in any of our three offices, but our Design and Copywriting internships are only offered at our HQ office outside Washington, DC.

Do I work on client projects?
Interns are ineligible to work on client work; they are here to learn, shadow, and grow. Our internships are meant to be like a bootcamp for participants, with intensive training from the heart of a leading digital agency. Interns do get exposure to client projects and can sit in on client meetings and shadow full-timers, but we don’t have interns do client work.

Will there be snacks?
Oh, yes. There will be snacks, seltzer, and more. We have a great Free Lunch Friday tradition and interns join our fun-time TTT events. The list of tangible perks goes on, but where people really benefit are the spontaneous moments of creativity and kindness around our (sometimes quirky) offices.

What’s the communication/feedback structure like?
This is one of the most important aspects of our internship. When the summer starts, interns and their advisors build out a ten-week curriculum and set goals. Throughout the summer, advisors give feedback, support, and guidance as interns work towards those goals. At the end of the internship, advisors provide concrete feedback, areas for improvement, and clear next steps to prepare for entering the job market.

What if an intern wanted to…?
Oh! We love, ‘What if’s’! And we love when interns think of unique ways to enrich their experience and our team culture. Bring on the, ‘what if’s!’

There are a lot of options out there for internships, and while we don’t know which is the perfect fit for you, we do know we’ve invested a lot in making our internship a unique, robust experience. Our 2019 summer internship program is officially open, and you can read through the roles and apply here.