The DME internship thrives due to the dedication and skills of our interns. In these posts highlighting the work of individual interns, you can get a sneak peek into what they do, how it’s developing them, and whether DME might be a good fit for you too! If you’re interested in joining us, please see the link at the bottom of the blog post.
For this intern spotlight, we spoke with Lonn Dugan, the Department Head for the Web Development department. He explained why he decided to join the DME Interns team and how it has helped him to continue to develop professionally.
Interested in seeing what other interns are up to? Check out our other intern spotlights here!
What do you contribute to the DME team and how do you further their goals?
I lead a team of interns at www.dmeinterns.org with a mission of implementing and managing website functionality and content to advance goals such as improving public awareness, enhancing intern recruiting, assisting with new intern onboarding, and providing public profiles for publication whenever an intern’s work is featured across any of the public-facing social media accounts used by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
How does your work at DME help you reach your professional goals?
I joined the DME Interns program to achieve important professional goals. These goals included: 1) gaining practical real-world experience serving on a large governmental digital communication team with a valuable mission; 2) gaining a powerful resume/skills-building experience; and 3) attracting larger clients serving noble causes to my web development and web design practice. As a veteran myself, I very much appreciate the work of the VA. As a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) owner, I work as a self-employed web developer and designer. Most of my work to date has been for small businesses, or small non-profits. But I wanted to change that. Serving at www.dmeinterns.org has already helped me move my goal forward as recommendations from supervisors in the program helped me land two new non-profit clients serving veterans nationwide, even worldwide, with mentoring, networking, and career assistance services.
Why would you recommend DME to others?
The DME Interns program offers an amazing opportunity for students to participate in a federal internship that allows them to work remotely around their academic schedule, translating concepts learned in school into a real-world experience that will open doors in their future!
Interested in joining the DME Interns team? Click here to find out more and sign up to be notified when applications open!