Internship Opportunities

Eligibility

• Undergraduate juniors and seniors, recent graduates, and graduate students.
• Minimum 3.0 GPA (on 4.0 scale) or equivalent.
• Availability: Most Summer Term interns will be full time. Spring and Fall interns attending college will often be part time, but should be available at least two days a week.
• Please view specific internship openings below, as requirements may vary by department.

Terms

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis until all positions are filled for the term.

Spring Term. Runs from January through May. Applications accepted starting October 15th.

Summer Term. Runs from May/June through August/September. Applications accepted starting March 15th. Flexible start and end dates. Full-time interns strongly preferred.

Fall Term. Runs from September through December.  Applications accepted starting July 15th.

To Apply

Once we begin accepting applications for your desired session, send your materials to internship@trumancnp.org. Be sure to include:

• Subject line: Last name, first initial, desired term & year (Ex: “Hurley, R., fall 1998″)
• Resume
• Cover letter addressed to Victoria Glynn (no calls, please)
• Preference order (1-4) of internship placements that match your skills
• Additional materials requested for Training & Public Engagement, Communications, and Leadership Development openings; please see below for details

When possible, we prefer interns to bring their own laptops to work at Truman/CNP. However, lack of a personal laptop will not count against any qualified candidate. Please simply note in your email if you cannot provide your own computer.

Please understand that the high volume of applications may prevent us from responding individually to your application.

This is an unpaid internship.

No calls, please.

Available Internships

Fundraising, Logistics, & Operations

Number of interns wanted for Summer 2013: 4 (3 Development, 1 Operations)

The Fundraising, Logistics, & Operations interns support two departments: Development and Operations. Interns report to one or the other, but explore both – and work with the entire Truman/CNP team, including senior leadership. These departments are responsible for the nuts-and-bolts of one of the best-run progressive organizations in America. You’ll be exposed to the action-packed world of non-profit management and strategic fundraising, assisting with long-term strategic planning and day-to-day operations: human resources, finance & budgets, fundraising, management, grant-writing, event planning, and everything in between.

Sample intern tasks:

• Research prospective donors
• Plan for fundraisers in DC and nationwide
• Write and edit donor communications
• Develop new systems to improve office efficiency
• Monitor program budgets and track credit card expenses
• Co-manage logistics at weekly policy events
• Help execute an upcoming office move, liaise with vendors

Policy

Number of interns wanted for Summer 2013: 2-3

The policy team develops and pushes for cutting edge 21st-century progressive security policies, and builds programs that educate and advocate around these policies. Policy interns may be assigned to support policy department staff or the Executive Director, Mike Breen. The ideal policy intern should be:

• An excellent researcher
• Technologically savvy (Office, Google products at minimum; HTML, WordPress, databases helpful) and quick to learn new platforms
• Detail-oriented
• Self-motivated
• Comfortable interacting with Hill staffers, issue experts, and others on a daily basis
• A strong writer

Sample intern tasks:

• Research national security-related legislative issues
• Write memos on key security issues, potentially for internal & external audiences
• Coordinate security, defense, and media trainings
• Help plan and execute weekly policy events and panels at our Capitol Hill office
• Assist with logistics and recruitment for our Congressional Security Scholars and Intern Springboard programs
• Attend and summarize panels and briefings

Communications

Number of interns wanted for Summer 2013: 3

The communications team connects Truman/CNP – and our broader community of policy, political, and national security experts – to the press, social media, policy publications, and the blogosphere. You can see a slice of our work on our in-house blog The Doctrine, our three Twitter feeds, our three Facebook pages, the high-volume In the News blog where we collect our press coverage, the UStream where we live-stream our policy events, our directory of the in-house experts we place in publications and book on radio/TV, and our Press Releases page. Interns are integral and essential to our team, getting immediate hands-on experience in a fast-paced, exciting operation. The ideal communications intern would:

• Have some experience with rapid-response writing, social media, media/press engagement, or blogging
• Write clearly and concisely
• Work fast and meet short deadlines
• Research quickly
• Think on your feet and solve problems independently
• Collaborate well with the other interns on your team, without close staff supervision
• Behave confidently on the phone and in person with members of the press
• Be enthusiastic and creative

Bonus skills:

• Event planning
• Graphic design, to create basic Facebook content
• Photography or videography; video editing
• HTML or database experience
• Know how to use some (or any!) of these programs: Excel, Google products, Vocus, Hootsuite, Tweetdeck, Salsa, WordPress, Photoshop, Facebook, Twitter

Additional application requirements for this position:

• Contact information for 2 references
• Bonus: example of basic photography, photo editing/meme-making, social media, or website skills

Political

Number of interns wanted for Summer 2013: 1

The political team builds political power for progressives who care about national security. We train elected officials, candidates, and other political leaders on national security and foreign policy topics, and help our community members to build their political profiles. Political interns are the type of people who have run for student government or ran the class president’s campaign. They would rather make 20 phone calls and make 20 friends than write a paper. The ideal political team interns should be:

• Tenacious, energetic, and dedicated
• Familiar with databases like VAN, NGP, or Salsa
• Experienced with Microsoft Office and Google Drive
• Able to manage multiple projects at one time (and figure out which one is more important to prioritize)
• Comfortable and confident reaching out to people via phone
• Willing to stay late for social and recruitment events (it may help to be 21+)
• Experienced with organizing in some way

Training & Public Engagement

Number of interns wanted for Summer 2013: 1

This year, Truman/CNP has launched a Department of Training & Public Engagement. Headed by our award-winning former Advocacy Director, this department will be building a year-long curriculum for members of our community. It will consist of training modules on policy, politics, and communication that will give our members, political campaigns, elected officials, and allied organizations the skills they need to win on our key issues. This department is also in charge of planning our annual 3-day conference, which can include booking VIP speakers, developing video products, and planning and executing events and logistics. The ideal Training intern would be:

• Outgoing, with stellar networking skills
• Experienced with basic graphic design and video editing
• Familiar with basics of PowerPoint and Prezi
• Familiar with Excel and basic budgeting
• A strong researcher
• Bonus: experienced with databases like Salsa

Additional application requirements for this position:

• Writing sample (2-3 pages)
• Contact information for 2 references
• Bonus: video you edited, PowerPoint or Prezi you created, graphic design sample

Sample intern tasks:

• Assist the Director – scheduling, writing reports, etc.
• Outreach to like-minded organizations, elected officials, and campaigns to build partnerships
• Research and writing on broad variety of subjects
• Updating our database
• Help design and update training modules

Advocacy

Number of interns wanted for Summer 2013: 1

The Advocacy team manages Truman/CNP’s strategic campaign efforts, including its award-winning Operation Free and International Development initiatives.  We leverage the voices in our community to win policy fights and influence lawmakers on the federal, state, and local level.  Whether it’s bringing in veterans to lobby members of Congress on Capitol Hill, writing language for a clean energy bill in California, or cutting powerful political TV ads – the Advocacy Department is where policy, politics, and action intersect.

We’re looking for someone who loves political strategy and the buzz of a fast-paced campaign office.  They believe the best way to support a cause or candidate is through action – engaging with voters, calling their Congressman, or writing a letter-to-the-editor.  The ideal advocacy intern:

• Possesses an interest in political campaigns and legislative advocacy tactics
• Has strong research and analytical skills
• Is fearless in contributing his or her ideas
• Enjoys organizing people and planning events
• Understands Truman values and is comfortable communicating them to others

Advocacy interns will develop valuable skills as they help the department:

• Design, write, and execute campaign plans
• Research political targets
• Track legislative affairs and offer tactical recommendations
• Plan public events
• Use traditional and social media to tell a story
• Educate, motivate, and empower members of the Truman community

Leadership Development: Veterans Leadership Academy, Political Partnership, and Security Fellowship

Number of interns wanted for Summer 2013: 3 (1 for each of the 3 programs)

Leadership Development interns work with the Truman Project’s three membership programs: The Security Fellowship, the Political Partnership, and the Veterans Leadership Academy.

Are you a can-do person? Can you can figure it out and get it done, no matter what the problem? Are you resourceful? We know there aren't many of you out there, so if you want to learn about what careers lay in store for you, then you'll have that change through the Leadership Development department.

You must enjoy meeting, e-mailing and working with policymakers from the Department of State and Department of Defense.  If you dislike meeting presidential and congressional campaign managers and political operatives then this is not the internship for you.  If you think people from the CIA and the US Marine Corps lead boring lives then you’re probably right and you should stay away from our department. You will work with the Truman Project’s three programs: The Security Fellowship, the Political Partnership, and the Veterans Leadership Academy. Each intern will report to one of the three programs, but will work with the whole team for some tasks. The ideal Leadership Development interns will be:

• Passionate about making the world a safer and happier place to live
• Storytellers and organizers
• Experienced using (or willing to learn) databases like Google Drive, Excel and Salsa
• Big-time team players
• Quick, efficient workers under pressure
• Familiar with some HTML, or tech-savvy enough to learn some on the job
• Confident and comfortable talking on the phone

For the Veterans Leadership Academy position, veterans, current ROTC participants, and members of military families are particularly encouraged to apply.

Also essential: Share Truman’s values.

Sample intern tasks:

• Managing member data
• Plan and execute policy briefings, political trainings, and social events for members
• Manage and manipulate membership data to produce targeted contact lists
• Write newsletters, announcements and invitations for a community of 1,000 policymakers, politicos and veterans.
• Make phone calls to members and vendors
• Sit in on off-the-record policy and political briefings

Additional application requirements for this position:

• Writing sample, preferably a blog post (max 300 words)