Internships

Daily Work Assignments
As an intern for the Training and Organizational Development division, I track and update certificates for City employees who have completed training courses. I assist in the coordination of online postings and registrations for upcoming training courses. I also collect and analyze data on existing programs. Lastly, I process LiveScan documents for interns and volunteers

Internship Highlight
Something I am proud of is creating a spreadsheet to analyze data on existing Epic training courses to identify which courses have been taken from least to most by City employees and determine future offerings based on the results. Another highlight has been meeting and working with professionals who genuinely care for the success of interns.

Career Aspirations
I am pursuing a career in Human Resources. I want to help make a positive impact on employees and organizations using the knowledge I have gained from my degree in Psychology and the valuable experience from my internship..

Advice
Learn as much as possible during your internship, ask questions, and do your best in every task and responsibility you are given. Also, network with the professionals you are surrounded by because they can be great help to your career.

Daily Work Assignments
I check in technological equipment ordered for city employees; by labeling, storing, and recording the items in our asset management system. I also troubleshoot to assist users with technical device issues to determine the root cause and provide the appropriate solution. I prepare computers for deployment by putting an image on the machine, placing it on the city's domain, and connecting it to the user's department. Finally, I assist in deploying equipment for workstations, used for new hire onboarding and group session phone deployments

Internship Highlight
The highlight of my internship is working with the amazing Client Services team. They took me in as their own. They have been so open and helpful in my personal and professional growth. I have learned so much from all of them. I have worked on putting my best foot forward and helping them out as much as possible. As a result, they trust me that I can handle client services responsibilities competently on my own. All of this is best summed up by what my manager Rosalinda Acosta says during our team meetings, "We don't even consider Kelvin as an intern; we consider him part of the team."

Career Aspirations
During college, I planned to be an economics analyst. After my first few years, I taught myself how to program and developed a fascination with programming. I soon realized I would love to work a job that is half statistical analyst and half programming. Then I discovered Data Analysis and Data Science. That is my eventual career goal. I want to get into something that challenges me; working with constantly emerging data tools, statistical methods, and AI developments is the dynamic challenge I am looking for..

Advice
       The best thing you can do in your professional career is to take all the opportunities that present themselves to you. You have so much to learn and grow when you are young, so don't feel like any little task or extra work is too small for your development. Every extra ounce of work you put in is an investment in yourself. You are growing yourself and your future opportunities. And if you want to get to somewhere you've never been before, you have to do things you've never done before.

Daily Work Assignments
I help collect research-based data for policies and special projects for the Training and Development division. Also, I administer livescans for interns, volunteers, and incoming employees. Lastly, I help the team prepare for trainings by collecting materials such as supplies for activities, participant guides, and scales.

Internship Highlight
A highlight from my internship that means a lot to me is being able to work on a training for future interns for “Intern Power Hour” in which they will be able to build their own portfolio and take with them as a valuable piece to applying to jobs which will aid with their early career development. Also, being able to work with the training team and having a positive culture shift from previous jobs has been an important piece for me to learn because I was able to see the importance of what it takes to have an effective team. In addition, the City of Riverside allows interns an opportunity to grow and evolve professionally.

Career Aspirations
As an I-O psychologist I want to go into Human Resources and directly work with people and make a difference in the workplace. I want to be able to make improvements that will benefit organizations and leave an imprint with the effective strategies I am able to bring to the table through employee selection, training and development, motivation, teamwork, and the development of future leaders.

Advice
Take the opportunities through the internships to learn what route you want to go in your career as well as build your resume because it is a reflection of what you were able to accomplish. Also, network with those who are in the career path you want to go in because it will help you leverage relationships that may bring job opportunities. Lastly, even if you think you are not fit for the job due to experience, still go for it, you never know what can happen!

Daily Work Assignments
When I worked for Human Resources, I created or edited over 20 web pages for HR. Since moving down to IT department, I’m working with Cognos reports, like creating customized prompts, and learning how to use ArcGIS which includes doing scripts in Python language.

Internship Highlight
My major project was creating Open Enrollment web page from scratch. This required some research on which codes to use and many hours of hunting down coding errors, which was fun experience in all.

Career Aspirations
I want to continue with my studies in computer programming, I want to be an IT analyst someday. It’s always been my wish to seek a job with the City of Riverside. I think it’s a great place to work and get some experience on job.

Supervisor’s Statement
“Dan’s first task in the Applications Division, has been COGNOS report development. He has proven to be a self-learner and has completed numerous reports with little supervision. Now he also assists with our GIS Division and is currently working on a script for ArcGis. Dan is eager to learn and a pleasure to work with.” – Carol Carr, Applications Manager in IT.

Advice
Go for it. If you are interested in public service, then you can’t pass it up. Apply even if you think you have no relevant experience, you never know you might land an internship with the city. I applied right away in my first semester at RCC, and I got the internship. I know the city will give you plentiful opportunities to gain experience in various areas.

School/Certificate
Cal State San Bernardino
Business Administration with a focus in Human Resources

Daily Work Assignments
I am tasked to set-up new claims, gather medical records, authorize treatment, and keep the medical network providers list updated. I was also recently assigned to assist the Safety Division with policy updates and other tasks

Internship Highlight
One highlight is the amount of encouragement and the amount of knowledge each person offers when working with them. Another highlight is the Intern Power Hours because they present invaluable insight as to what it takes to work in the public sector

Career Aspirations
Ultimately, I would love to be a Human Resources Director for a government agency – specifically with the City of Riverside. I know I have a long road ahead of me in reaching these goals, but with the help of the Riverside Workforce Intern Program Team, I have developed a roadmap on how to get there

Advice
APPLY! APPLY! APPLY! Even if you are missing some of the desired requirements, you never know how you will stand apart from the other applicants. Be prepared to learn and never pass up an opportunity to be a part of a project

School/Certificate
Riverside School of Career Education
Administrative Office Professional Certificate

Daily Work Assignments
Creating department forms and spreadsheets for the Arts & Cultural Affairs Division.

Internship Highlight
The work environment is consistently empowering - the employees are approachable and always willing to assist you.

Career Aspirations
Acquire permanent employment with a company that provides ample opportunity for learning and growth.

Advice
Complete an internship at Riverside City Hall! It's a great place that provides opportunity to learn, progress and contribute.

College/Certificate
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo
Library/Information Technology Certificate

Daily Work Assignments
Responsible for a program that is attached to the Library's Teen Hangout event called "Monster of the Week".

Internship Highlight
Alongside with my supervisor, I performed a story time, which included telling stories and creating crafts in front of a group of children and adults.

Career Aspirations
Pursue a Master's Degree in order to become a Librarian and also broaden my skill set in Programming.

Advice
Seek out and be open to as many new experiences as possible; do something outside your current realm of knowledge or comfort zone.

College/Degree
Cal State University, San Bernardino
Business Administration - HR Concentration

Daily Work Assignments
Helped with New Employee Onboarding, scheduled background check appointments and prepared binders for the Recruitment Division.

Internship Highlight
After approximately 11 months of working as an Intern, a full-time position opened. I applied for the position and was hired!

Career Aspirations
Hold a position as a Human Resources Analyst with the City of Riverside.

Advice
Remember that no matter how little the task, take it seriously and demonstrate you can get it done.

School/Certificate
University of California Riverside
Degree/Major: Business Administration

Daily Work Assignments
From researching grants to learning about business permits, I gained valuable knowledge that I could put to use both in and outside the workforce. One of my favorite projects was helping design the Community Altar for Dias De Los Muertos. I learned how an event was built, created spreadsheets for event budgets, and even assisted in the production.

Internship Highlight
During the Monthly Intern Power Hours, I was able to meet other interns working in different departments, could talk to professional workers about their work with the City, and went through different trainings.

Career Aspirations
To construct diverse community-oriented events, utilizing promotional marketing, and designing media relations.

Advice
At first it might seem intimidating, but it is a once in a life time experience that will help you in your career path, help you gain professional experience, and will help you build a wide spectrum of connections.