ACE Content Specialist Caroline Beret initially joined ACE as a Communications Intern in October, 2018. Below is a brief summary of her experience as an intern.

I learned about ACE at my local Effective Altruism (EA) group. I’ve always been passionate about helping animals and since switching to a plant-based diet and joining the EA movement, my focus has turned even more intensely towards the cause of farmed animals. As I became more serious about my role as an animal advocate, ACE’s extensive resources helped me decide where to donate and what charities to volunteer for.

In 2018, an immensely rewarding volunteer experience with a group of other animal advocates gave me the last push to pursue the path of direct work. I applied for an internship position at ACE in August and started my Communications Internship in October.

Impressions during my first week

My first impression of ACE’s team was very positive: on my first day as an intern, I joined our virtual office on Slack and immediately received a warm welcome from my new coworkers. I quickly discovered that ACE places great emphasis on building interpersonal relations between team members. Interns—just as staff and Board Members—are encouraged to participate in virtual activities like donut meetings and staff-led clubs. ACE even has a dedicated “watercooler” channel on Slack, where we get to know each other on a personal level, despite living across many different locations and time zones.

Another aspect that stood out to me was my colleagues’ openness to new ideas. My mentor, Erika, and I had already started brainstorming potential projects during my application interview, and ever since, I’ve continued to feel like chipping in with new ideas is both highly appreciated and taken seriously at ACE.

Diverse projects and professional development

I quickly realized that my internship was truly meant to be mutually rewarding for both myself and ACE. Erika continuously encouraged me to dive into projects that not only deepened my existing skills, but also supported me in my professional development. During my 6-month internship, I revised existing website content, researched best practices for file labeling, translated articles into German, wrote an article about budgeting for animal advocates, and had the opportunity to do extensive research into the topic of labeling bills that are meant to give plant-based milk producers a hard time.

I learned how to draft shares for social media, write press releases, improve SEO rankings by using tools like SEMRush, and find stock photos of farmed animals that correspond with our visual style guide. During the latter project I realized that it’s quite difficult to find bright and dynamic portraits of chicken, cows, and turkeys.

My growth as an animal advocate

My internship also helped me develop as an animal advocate overall. I attended a number of conferences like the New Food Conference, Veggienale, and EAGxNordics, where I met other advocates and joined in on a myriad of thought-provoking discussions. In addition, I completed an online course about the development of lab-grown meat and a webinar about how language can boost the sale of plant-based meals.

Being surrounded by effective animal advocates has been a great source of motivation for me to think more strategically about my advocacy. For example, I now treat experiences that I would have taken quite personally in the past more like experiments with the potential to provide interesting results. The vibrant exchange of ideas with my colleagues has truly broadened my perspective and is a continuous source of motivation and new ideas.

Do you want to intern with ACE?

To sum it up, I highly recommend applying for an internship with ACE if you want to:

help farmed animals through direct work in one of the main cause areas of effective altruism;

grow professionally and as an advocate;

work with an international team of highly motivated animal advocates;

learn more about effective animal advocacy and about how to help animals using an evidence-based approach;

experience what it’s like to work in a virtual office;

create and complete your own projects with the support of an experienced mentor.

Based on my own personal experience as an intern, here are my recommendations to prospective interns:

bring your own ideas for projects to your interview;

know that you have the ability to work in a remote environment or, at the very least, be prepared for the unique challenges (and benefits) of remote work;

be open to take on new projects and learn new skills that might not be on your radar at first—my willingness to go along with different projects was the key driver of my own personal development during my internship.

If you are interested in interning with ACE, check out our job board for details about how to apply. Research internship positions are available every 4 months and start in the first week of April and December, while Communications Internships last 4–6 months, with applications welcome year-round.

Credit: Photo by Green Chameleon on Unsplash