Interning at The Davey Tree Expert Company

by Trenton Chavez '13

My name is Trenton Chavez, and I’m an alumnus of Kent State University. During my final semester at Kent State, where I studied public relations and marketing, I interned at The Davey Tree Expert Company’s corporate communications and marketing department. Davey Tree provides a variety of tree care, grounds maintenance and consulting services for the residential, commercial, utility and government markets.

My experience at Davey Tree was hands-on and intensive—there were no stereotypical intern coffee runs or envelopes stuffed. As a valued team member of the “corp comm” team, I juggled everything from website and content management to writing and pitching press releases. My supervisor gave me meaningful, long-term projects in various disciplinaries that I was able to call my own, something that I’m thankful for. I also have many, many clips and work examples from my time at Davey Tree.

I obtained my internship position through networking alone—this position was not listed on any job or internship boards. Early on in my Kent PR career, I knew I was interested in corporate communications. Planning ahead, I started networking and developing relationships with employees at local corporations. I connected to the vice president of corporate communications and corporate strategy through PRSSA Kent. Since networking with her, I kept communication open by sending an email every now and then. When I was in the position to do so, I asked if there were any opportunities for internships, and there was. Without networking, I would have not had the opportunity to intern at Davey Tree.

For my internship credit at Kent State, I was required to intern for at least 300 hours. Because I’ve had such an amazing experience at Davey Tree, I’ve extended my internship far beyond the 300-hour mark.

Internships are invaluable experiences that you should never discount. Graduating with five internships under my belt, I am confident to tackle the entry-level world. Below are the most important pieces of advice I’ve learned over the years:

• Network as much as you’re able (use your professors, colleagues and groups like PRSSA!), even if you’re not currently looking for an internship or job. Be genuine and courteous—don’t “take, take, take” and “pay it forward” when you can.
• Take a leap and tackle projects you don’t have experience with. You never know what you’ll learn! 
• Research potential companies you’d like to work for far before applying. There are quite a few large ones in the area most students don’t think of. Who would have thought such a great opportunity would be less than one mile away from my apartment?

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me at the below media. Go PR Kent!

Follow Trenton on Twitter @trentchavez, connect with him on LinkedIn and email him at [email protected].