Internship Opportunity: Communications Intern, Denver

State of Colorado; Denver (CO); On-site; USD 24,000 - 34,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid sick leave

Job summary

Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) is offering a paid temporary Student Trainee II internship in the Office of Communications at CDOT Headquarters in Denver. The program provides hands-on experience in writing, social media, internal communications, and public relations while supporting a Creative Services team and social media calendar.

You will work with the team to develop graphics, updates, and reports, gaining practical skills in campaigns, content creation, and event support

Qualifications

• Transcripts must show school name, completed credits, and degree conferred (official/unofficial).
• If degree from outside the U.S., must have US equivalency via NACES evaluation.

Responsibilities

• Assist with posting news releases and monitor updates on codot.gov.
• Assist with accessibility remediation on CDOT websites including PDFs and links.
• Assist with MailChimp template updates and clean up of user lists.
• Create graphics for outreach campaigns using Canva.

Education

College student (Associates/Bachelors/Masters/Ph.D.)

Recent graduate (within 3 years)

Job description

Applications will be considered from residents and non-residents of Colorado.

This is a paid temporary position limited to a maximum of 9 months from the date of hire. In addition to being a fantastic place to work, CDOT offers all temporary employees paid sick leave. Temporary employees accrue one hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked, capped at 48 hours.

About CDOT

Do you want to make a difference in Coloradans' lives? Do you have a passion for helping people and keeping them safe? At the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT), you'll have the opportunity to do just that. The work our people do contributes to keeping Coloradans and visitors safe and provides freedom, connection, and experience through travel. Please visit our careers page to learn about CDOT and how we are making Colorado a great place to live, work and play, now and for the future! Also, check out our excellent benefits package for permanent positions!

CDOT for All

CDOT’s strength is our people, and our commitment to our people is to shape, support, and sustain the employee experience and ultimately create a supportive workplace where everyone, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, religion, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, citizenship status, education, disability, socioeconomic status, or any other identity, has the opportunity to thrive.

This position is not covered by the Partnership Agreement between the State of Colorado and Colorado Workers for Innovative and New Solutions (COWins).

Student Trainee II - $21.00 hourly

The Colorado Department of Transportation, Office of Communications is seeking a motivated and responsible college student or recent graduate pursuing a career in communications and public relations. Our intern will gain experience in a wide range of communications disciplines, including writing, social media, internal communications and public relations.

Typical intern assignments include writing, coordinating employee communications and events, supporting internal communications, and producing multimedia content. A potential intern should be comfortable working independently but also working with a team and a supervisor. During your internship, you will be expected to:

Support the Creative Services team by updating and managing content on various platforms including:

• Assist with posting news releases and monitor web ticket updates for CDOT's public-facing website codot.gov.
• Assist with accessibility remediation tasks on all CDOT-managed external and internal websites, including PDFs, broken links, content updates and alignment with CDOT Web Standards.
• Assist with MailChimp template updates and clean up of user list in the platform.
• Assist with creating graphics for outreach campaigns and requests in Canva.

Serve as customer service and social media specialist by:

• Creating and coordinating social media posts, reels, graphics and videos for CDOT’s social media channels on Facebook, X, Instagram, TikTok, Youtube and Linkedin.
• Serving as the point of contact for the Communications Social Media Calendar
• Monitoring and responding to questions and comments
• Assist with executing live broadcasts and sharing for special events/press conferences
• Update monthly reports and trend analysis data and report out to the team

Provide communications strategy development and implementation of one selected program or project (upon discussion with supervisor).

• Develop a marketing plan and presentation to pitch your social media project to the Director of Communications, Creative Services Manager and Communications team.
• Responsible for creating content and executing your project to meet goals by the end of the internship period.
• Gather metrics and create a final presentation of your project to the Communications team and/or CDOT Intern Report Out quarterly meeting.

Serve as a communications specialist by gathering and producing communications collateral including:

• Creating graphics and materials for specialized campaigns in Canva or Adobe Creative Suite products
• Writing internal announcements to support web communications projects and priorities
• Assist with coordination and participation in CDOT special events (as needed)

Work Environment:

1. This position is based at CDOT's Headquarters Complex located at 2829 W. Howard Place, Denver, CO 80204.
2. Expected work schedule is between Monday through Friday.
3. It is anticipated that this role will work approximately 24-40 hours per week.
4. Use a computer, tablet or personal cell phone to accomplish everyday work duties.

Minimum Qualifications

This experience must be specifically documented on your application. Additional information submitted after the closing date of this announcement will not be considered in the review of your application.

Qualified candidates must be either:

• Any college student enrolled in an accredited community college, college or university seeking an Associates, Bachelors, Masters or Ph.D. degree.

• A recent college graduate. Recently graduated means the individual should have attended an accredited college or university and have graduated with an Associates, Bachelors, Masters or Ph.D. degree within three calendar years.

A legible copy of your official or unofficial college transcript(s) or an official foreign credential evaluation report (NACES) must be submitted with your application.

• Transcripts must show the name of the school, completed credit hours, and (if applicable) that a degree was conferred.
• Transcripts from colleges or universities outside of the United States must have been assessed for U.S. equivalency by a NACES educational credential evaluation service. The credential evaluation report must be an official report. Failure to provide a transcript or official foreign credential evaluation report may result in your application being rejected and you will not be able to continue in the selection process for this position.

Conditions of Employment

• Must pass a pre-employment screening which may include social security number trace, criminal records check, public court records check, educational records, and driving records checks. More information in the supplemental information section.
• A current valid driver’s license is required for all Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) positions which require operating a state or personal motor vehicle to perform one or more essential functions of the position.

The Exceptional Candidate

• Strong interest in the duties listed in the Description of the Job section.
• Majoring in communications, graphic design, marketing curriculum or a related discipline;
• Knowledge and experience with social media and graphics, webcontent, etc.;
• Experience with writing and editing content:
• Excellent interpersonal skills.
• Excellent verbal communication skills.
• Ability to perform duties with minimal supervision.
• Familiarity with the Microsoft Office suite, Google mail ("Gmail"),

Applicant Checklist

• A complete CDOT Application for Announced Vacancy.
• A complete Supplemental Questionnaire.
• A copy of a work sample.
• A detailed chronological resume. Resumes must be uploaded as an attachment to your online application.
• A copy of your official or unofficial transcript showing that your degree has been conferred and the name of your school, or your NACES accreditation. Please submit this as an attachment to your online application.

Please note that you may redact information on your attachments that identifies your age, date of birth, or dates of attendance at or graduation from an educational institution.

Only complete applications submitted by the closing date for this announcement will be given consideration. Every effort must be made to submit all application materials by the announcement close date. Where unusual circumstances prevent timely acquisition of transcripts, they must be submitted within five business days of the announcement close date. Resumes will not be accepted in lieu of a completed application. Failure to submit properly completed documents by the closing date of this announcement may result in your application being rejected.

The State of Colorado strives to create a Colorado for All by building and maintaining workplaces that value and respect all Coloradans through a commitment to equal opportunity and hiring based on merit and fitness.

The State is resolute in non-discriminatory practices in everything we do, including hiring, employment, and advancement opportunities.

Notifications

All correspondence regarding your status in the selection/examination process will be via email. Include your current working email address on your application and check your email frequently as you could receive time sensitive correspondence regarding this position. We highly recommend that you set up your email to accept messages from "state.co.us" and "[e-mail]" addresses. It is your responsibility to ensure that your email will accept these notices and/or review your junk mail and spam filtered email. Immediately after you submit your application you should receive an email that confirms that you successfully submitted an application for this position. If you do not, try submitting again until you receive the confirmation email. Be sure to also check your junk folder for email communications from the State of Colorado's website.

Employment Screening

If an applicant reaches the finalist stage of the hiring process, the Colorado Department of Transportation may procure a consumer report and/or investigative consumer report on the applicant in connection with his/her application for employment purposes, as defined under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. These reports may be obtained at any time after receipt of the applicant's authorization. As part of the employment screening an applicant will be requested to disclose any deferred judgments and convictions as well as an explanation of the circumstances around any arrest or conviction. In the event that a screening returns information that the applicant believes is not accurate, he or she will have an opportunity to dispute the information with "Accurate." Accurate, a consumer reporting agency, will obtain the report for CDOT. Further information regarding Accurate including its privacy policy, may be found online at www.accurate.com. Accurate is located at 200 Spectrum Center Drive Suite 1100, Irvine, CA 92618. The report may contain information bearing on the applicant's character, general reputation, personal characteristics, and mode of living. The information that may be included in the report includes social security number trace, criminal records check, public court records checks, educational records, and driving records checks. CDOTwill only request credit reports insofar as they relate to the position for which the applicant is applying. The information contained in the report will be obtained from private and/or public record sources. The applicant will have the right, upon written request made within a reasonable time after receipt of a notice, to request disclosure of the nature and scope of any investigative consumer report.

ADAAA accommodations

CDOT is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals. As part of this commitment, our agency will assist individuals who have a disability as defined by the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA) with any reasonable accommodation requests related to employment, including completing the application process, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or participating in the employee selection process, and/or to perform essential job functions where the requested accommodation does not impose an undue hardship. If you have a disability and require reasonable accommodation to ensure you have a positive experience applying or interviewing for this position, please direct your inquiries to HR Specialist Name at Email Address or call Phone Number.

Former State Employees

Former employees of the Colorado Department of Transportation System or any other State of Colorado Department or Agency, who were disciplinarily terminated or resigned in lieu of termination, must disclose this information on his/her application.

MKV (HQ Comms Intern-08/26)