Los Santos Insider | SANFIRE Internship With ULSA Paves Way For Hopeful Interns

[Lomadias]

---

 

 

SANFIRE Internship With ULSA Paves Way For Hopeful Interns

Written & Photography by Holly Miller

---

 

In an effort to prepare the next generation of SFM hopefuls for their future careers, SANFIRE has joined forces with ULSA to offer an exciting opportunity for attending students, interested in a future career with the agency. An internship program has been designed and offered through the University, offering aspiring members of the SFM family an all important step closer towards their chosen career path. 

 

The internship offers students a role within SFM as a Junior PR Intern, which promises interns valuable first-hand exposure into the daily workings of an SFM employee and life in the world of Public Relations, while building a strong set of essential skills for future development.

 

 

Following the announcement of this exciting opportunity, we were able to secure an interview with SFM's own Senior Public Information Officer Riley Miller, as shown later in this article.

 

But what are the benefits of an Internship with SANFIRE? As explained in the interview, an internship with the department offers more than skills for the resume. 

 

Practical Experience:

 

This internship scheme with ULSA provides the interested student an opportunity to work alongside the rest of the SFM family, getting hands on experience in the daily activities that the agency has the scope to deal with. As a Junior PR Intern, students will work closely with the rest of the PR team, preparing press releases, handling media relations and and offering a first-hand perspective and official statements on SFM matters. This may include everything from educational and promotional material, to official statements and press releases.

 

Industry Exposure & Fire Safety Understanding:

 

As can be expected, an internship with SANFIRE will broaden a students knowledge into Fire hazards and safety. While the department actively investigate fires caused intentionally as part of crime, they are also responsible for the education and promotion of Fire Safety measures. Taking part in this as an intern will enable the student to begin to understand the intricacies of Fire Safety.

 

Salary:

 

Perhaps the most exciting part of the offered internship, is the salary offered by SANFIRE during the student's tenure with them. As a Junior PR Intern, students will earn $54,000 per twenty hour salary, which is a hugely impactful sum for any student.

 

The benefits of an internship extend beyond the points listed above. Each internship is unique, and with SANFIRE a competitive salary and working in an ever-changing environment certainly adds unique flavour.

 

---

Interview with SANFIRE

 

LSI have been able to conduct an interview with Senior Public Information Officer Riley Miller, who built the framework for the program and will work closely with interns throughout their time with SANFIRE. The interview has been dissected, hoping to provide more insight into the internship for students reading this article.

 

 

Quote

What are SANFIRE's goals with this internship program?

 

R.Miller: "The internship program has been established as a collaboration between ULSA and SFM, this goes for multiple reasons. The main angle for us is recruitment. We will be providing them real-world experience and provide learning experience so that the students who are studying something related to Public Relations get to see the field work and the real life tasks of a PR employee. This becomes valuable for both the University and SFM, because for the students it's something that the university is unable to provide. 

 

Of course, the students will be providing us knowledge and a different approach that they are taught at the University, and could help us with PR related research which could come up with valuable information for us to improve our department."

 

SANFIRE's goal is to prioritize developing the future generation of potential Marshalls and Civilian employees. With this internship, the hope is for students to join the SFM family after graduation, becoming full-time employees. 

 

SANFIRE also recognize the need for continuous improvement, and this internship program will enable the department to find ways of more efficient working practices thanks to the students involvements.

 

Quote

Who first pitched the idea of the internship program?

 

R.Miller: “SFM has reached out to the University to establish this internship, and since I'm assigned the ULSA liaison it would have been me who established the internships in their current form. And very receptive, they have numerous internships with different companies and agencies within Los Santos. So to be able to add another one to their list, it's the more the merrier for them. They get to offer their students a wide variety of internships, and hopefully one for each subject they have courses in.”

 

An excellent step forward in harboring new education opportunities in future, agencies and businesses working closely with ULSA offer more opportunities to students so they may get relevant experience and build specific skills to give them a head start in their chosen career path.

 

Quote

Who is funding the internship? Are Sanfire and ULSA working together in that regard?

 

R.Miller: “The internships are funded by Sanfire in the sense of, once the intern has shown interest to their internship coordinator, they will be introduced to me personally. We will then have an intake interview with them and if they are accepted to the program, we will be paying them a salary based on twenty working hours a week. They will be paid $54.000 for their work week.”

 

 

An attractive salary is guaranteed to be a huge motivator for students, allowing them to pay off university fees and general cost of living while still studying.

 

Quote

What does the average say for an intern look like?

 

R.Miller: “That would depend on the studies they would follow. We will make assignments depending on their studies, and in consultation with their coordinator. But to give you an insight.. they will be given a training program which will cover various aspects that a PIO would face. Like, media relations, social media management and public outreach.

 

 

They will be involved in fire safety campaigns, press releases and public events. These are all ways to gain hands-on experience and apply their knowledge taught at the University in practical scenarios.”

 

 

It seems that SANFIRE intend for interns to get directly involved, so students can rest assured that there is plenty of opportunity for learning and development during this internship under the wings of the capable professionals they will learn from.

 

Quote

Following the internship, what roles could be available to graduating students?

 

R.Miller: “They will start as junior PR intern during the program, and after that they are able to progress into the roles of Public Information Officer and progress from there through the different ranks within PR. Or, they could use their experience and familiarity with SFM, to enroll into the academy and become a sworn marshal. From there on they have access to all the other divisions. Arson prevention team, Canine, Training, and recruitment to name a few. all our divisions will be giving guest lectures at the University too for the students to attend and get another introduction to the other departments. These are given by my colleagues from each respective department.”

 

 

SANFIRE offers a multitude of possibilities for students completing the program, with the internship acting very much as a gateway into a career into SANFIRE, not limited only to the PR department. Students will be able to join lectures held by the best of the best to gain insight into the other aspects of the agency.

 

Quote

If a student is interested in registering for the internship, are there any requirements?

 

R.Miller: “I can't speak for the university on what is required to apply for an internship in general. From our side the only requirement is that ULSA supports your pick for the intern and that it has something to do with what you are studying.”

 

 

If you, as ... Senior Public Information Officer Riley Miller, could impart any advice to students interested in signing up for the internship, what would you say to them?

 

 

R.Miller: “ I would like to tell them to not be 'intimidated' by the fact that we are a law enforcement agency. Despite certain events not being under our control, we will be offering a training program that will help them to build up the workload and familiarize them with the department before they will be helping with writing up press releases of fires.”

 

 

What are the highlights of working at SFM for you? What do students have to look forward to after they graduate from the program?

 

 

R.Miller: “For me, I found a lot of enjoyment in connecting with the public and especially this collaboration with ULSA has been extremely fun to set up. It's the first big project that I have been granted full lead over.

 

 

Other than my personal achievements, I would say that the day to day tasks of SFM are never the same. Since we of course are responding and commenting on different events that are outside of our power.

 

 

So you won't be working your repetitive nine to five, you never know what will happen.”

 

---

 

The internship is an exciting opportunity for those interested in pursuing a career within SANFIRE, with a world of opportunities opening up to interns once they have completed the full term of their internship. The internship is live, and students may apply via the ULSA portal.

 

---

 

---

Comments Are: Enabled

---

Name: 
Comment: 

Edited July 12, 2023 by Lomadias

[Gamble]

Name: Jayzer32
Comment:  All my homies hate Emilia Schmidt

[WatchingEye]

11 minutes ago, Gamble said:

Name: Jayzer32
Comment:  All my homies hate Emilia Schmidt

Name: EmSchmidt66

Comment: And all my homies hate Jaime Cardona

[Dama]

1 hour ago, WatchingEye said:

Name: EmSchmidt66

Comment: And all my homies hate Jaime Cardona

Name: MasryGamed

Comment: Zain Thabet is the GOAT, he's much better than all of these names.

Edited July 13, 2023 by Dama

[Jorgensen]

3 minutes ago, Dama said:

Name: MasryGamed

Comment: Zain Thabet is the GOAT, he's much better than all of these names.

 

Name: AJorge97

Comment: Hey Zain.

Edited July 13, 2023 by Jorgensen

[waynezx]

Name: Pineapplepizzaluvr
Comment: I love Los San Fire

[Degu]

Name: ArtScarp
Comment: We're very happy to have this internship available to our students! A big thanks again to San Fire for offering this up to the University. I look forwards to seeing what our students achieve under your wing.

[orca112]

Name: ATB25
Comment: How are these interns paid more than trained professionals?