I completed my TECM Practicum at IEA, Inc., a Dallas-based civil engineering design firm. As a Communications Intern, I was responsible for my main internship project, an internal training document, as well as various tasks to help the Communications Department succeed.
Main Project
The cornerstone of my internship was an internal training document for IEA’s Project Managers. This internal document was designed to be a one-stop shop for any questions that Project Managers might have on company procedures or workflows.
I primarily worked with Adobe InDesign to design the layout for the chapter and body pages. I used features like Text Variables to create running headers dependent on chapter names, and developed a comprehensive text hierarchy with the Paragraph Styles function. I also used Adobe Illustrator to create graphics for the document in line with IEA’s style guide.
In addition to the document’s design, I was also responsible for its content. I edited existing content to have a unified voice and identified areas where more information was needed. I then led Subject Matter Expert (SME) interviews to help capture this additional information.
I finished my portion of this project towards the end of my internship, and it has since been implemented within IEA.
Additional Tasks
In addition to my main project, I was responsible for various tasks to support the Communications Department. These tasks gave me invaluable technical communication experience, as I was given the chance to write in various genres.
Some of my additional tasks included:
- Writing a press release for an IEA project.
- Editing an award submission.
- Authoring a web article about a promotion within the company.
- Working with the Communications Department on the company newsletter.
- Creating documentation for IEA’s Customer Relationship Management (CRM) program.
Internship Video
I compiled my experience at IEA into the following video. This video is meant to inform the TECM department of my experience at IEA and highlight how it improved my technical communication skills.
–
Image Source:
Kampus Productions, https://www.pexels.com/photo/people-sitting-at-the-table-8190804/.