How to Make the Most of Your Pre-Program Internship: Online Resources from ECPN

Landing a conservation internship or fellowship is tough at any stage of an emerging conservator’s career, but securing a position is only the beginning!  Remember, internships are a two-way street and, whether or not your position is paid or unpaid, there are certain steps you can take to make meaningful contributions and enrich your experience (and portfolio!).
To complement ECPN’s upcoming webinar How to Make the Most of Your Pre-program Internship scheduled for Tuesday, September 24 at 12:00PM ET), we’ve collected a number of online resources that we hope interns and internship supervisors alike will find helpful.
If you would like to register for the webinar, please visit: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/766549178
For Interns:  Express enthusiasm and gratitude.  Network within your institution.  Always be professional and behave like an employee.  These are just a few words of advice for making the most of your internship that you will find among the resources compiled below.
Checklist for Interns: Getting the Most out of Your Internship, Virginia Association of Museums
Making the Most of Your Internship(s), Quintessential Careers
Key Advice for Young Creatives from Four Nonprofit Professionals, NYCreative Interns
Internship Dos and Don’ts for College Students, Quintessential Careers
10 Tips to Get the Most out of Your Internship, U.S. News
For Supervisors: Thinking of taking on a pre-program intern but not quite sure?  Interested in freshening your approach to mentoring emerging conservation professionals?  Take a look at these resources and learn a few ways to maintain a mutually rewarding internship program!
Non-profit Interns, National Council for Non-profits
How to Manage Interns, Inc.com
Co-operative Education: 6 Steps to Hire an Intern, University of Arkansas

Finding an Internship: Still searching for a pre-program internship?  Don’t forget to regularly review the following sites for paid and unpaid internship opportunities!
Jobs, Internships, and Fellowship Listings, AIC’s Blog Conservator’s Converse
eNews, International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Conservation of Cultural Property (ICCROM)
Job and Fellowship Listings, International Institute for the Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (IIC)
Internship and Job listings, Art Conservation Department, University of Delaware
Career and Job HQ, American Alliance for Museums (AAM)
Listings, Indigo Arts Alliance
Funding for Pre-program Interns: Art supplies are expensive, chemistry courses are not free, and an intern has to eat! Despite the invaluable experience you will receive through your pre-program internships, we all know how difficult it can be if your position is unpaid. Recognizing this challenge faced by many emerging conservators, the Indigo Arts Alliance has established a grant in honor of Denese L. Easerly to support pre-program students and interns as they complete the numerous pre-requisites required for admission to a graduate-level training program.  If you are interested in applying for a pre-program training grant or making a contribution to the support the award of such grants, please follow the link below.
 The Denese L. Easterly Conservation Training Pre-program Grant, Indigo Arts Alliance