Trying out life at Corrections: Summer interns (left to right) Kathleen Kuang,
Logan Mudge, Nicola McCarthy and Jonathon Milne.
Doing time at Corrections has not meant prison for four Victoria University students, instead it has been a chance to experience life in the public service as a summer intern.
The four have not become office baristas either, as their teams must give them meaningful work.
“Writing for Corrections News and doing press releases has been excellent. It’s really exciting to see your work published,” says Logan Mudge, who worked in the head office Communications Unit.
All the interns are very positive about their experiences, citing highlights such as Parole Board hearings and prison visits as real “eye openers”.
A quick survey of Corrections managers shows the benefits were not at all one-sided - typical quotes were; “if only he could stay” and “her work was absolutely brilliant”.
State Services Commission Internship Programme Co-ordinator Kate Hutchison, who runs the internship programme, says it is a real achievement to be selected as an intern, given the high-quality applications.
“To give you some idea of the competition - we had nearly 500 applications for 42 internships across 15 different agencies,” she says.
The interns returned to university at the end of February with valuable work experience and a firm idea of what they can offer Corrections and the public sector when they graduate.
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Email commdesk@corrections.govt.nz or phone (04) 460 3365.
ISSN 1178-8453