VA, in collaboration with the Department of State, is once again opening applications for the Virtual Student Federal Service (VSFS) Internship Program for the 2024-2025 academic year. This virtual internship opportunity is designed for U.S. citizens who are passionate about serving our nation’s Veterans while gaining professional experience in digital communications and beyond.
Who can apply to this virtual internship?
To be a part of this internship, applicants must:
Be a U.S. citizen
Be a high school graduate enrolled in a degree-seeking program in an accredited college or university
Be an Undergraduate, Graduate, or Doctorate Student for the duration of the internship/academic year
A student is an individual who is enrolled in a degree-seeking program in an accredited college or university
An individual is still considered a student if he/she has been out of school, between semesters or school years, for not more than five (5) months and has plans to return to school within five (5) months or less
An individual enrolled in school and receiving credit toward their degree for participating in the Student Internship Program is also considered a student
The student should attach an official or unofficial transcript to their application confirming current student status or confirmation of enrollment in school if no transcript is available.
You are eligible to apply for this program if you have not yet completed your registration at a college or university for graduate or post-graduate studies (including law school) or are awaiting an admissions determination for graduate or post-graduate studies (including law school). However, if selected for an internship, you must provide proof that you have registered, or have been accepted for enrollment for studies in the semester or quarter immediately following the internship before you can begin your internship.
Why join the Digital Media Engagement team?
VA’s Digital Media Engagement (DME) team, in the Office of Public Affairs, stands at the forefront of digital communications within VA Central Office in Washington D.C. It manages. VA’s main social media accounts and this VA News website; our team engages with over 2 million followers, sharing valuable information about Veterans’ benefits and health services, and honoring the service of our country’s Veterans. DME has offered this Virtual Internship to more than 1,000 students through the Virtual Student Federal Service since 2016.
Hundreds of virtual internship positions available
We are offering a wide range of virtual internships, including but not limited to:
Writing and editing articles for Honoring Veterans
Digital media research
Graphic design
Accessibility internship
Prompt Engineering (AI)
Web analytics
Social media management and analytics
Leadership and project management
Social media content creation
Newsletter
See below for a full listing of virtual internship opportunities with links to apply.
These virtual internship positions offer a chance to make a significant impact while honing your professional skills in a real-world setting.
Application process
Application open period: February 2024
Review/interview: March/April 2024
Selection notification: By May 2024
Virtual internship duration: September 2024 – May 2025
All applications must be submitted by the end of February 2024. For more details about the VSFS program and to start your application for a virtual internship, visit the VSFS information page.
Don’t miss this opportunity
This virtual internship represents more than just a learning experience; it’s a chance to contribute to meaningful projects that support and honor our nation’s Veterans. You’ll work alongside a dedicated team of professionals at VA and gain insights that only a federal service program can offer.
We encourage all eligible students to apply for their virtual internship before the deadline and embark on this rewarding journey. Together, we can make a difference in the lives of those who have served our country.
Full list of virtual internship opportunities with links
All of our virtual internship opportunities for the 2024 – 2025 cycle are listed below. To learn more about these internships and apply for them, please click the associated links.
Write Articles Honoring Veterans at the Department of Veterans Affairs
Writing interns create articles about the service of our nation’s Veterans.
Edit Articles Honoring Veterans at the Department of Veterans Affairs
Editing interns edit the articles written by our writing interns.
Digital Media Research Internship at the Department of Veterans Affairs
Research interns conduct research online to verify facts related to the content created by our writing interns. This very important task helps to ensure that we are only sharing factual information about the Veterans we honor.
Graphic Design Internship at the Department of Veterans Affairs
Graphic Design interns create web and social media graphics to accompany the articles written by our writing interns.
Accessibility interns assist with creating documents that are accessible to people with disabilitiesl they also scan our internship website to ensure that proper accessibility practices are followed, such as adding appropriate alternative text to each image.
Social Media Intern – Comment Moderator
Social Media Comment Moderation interns help flag scam and spam comments on our social media posts that are targeted at our Veteran followers. They also help identify posts that may need to be reviewed by staff from the Veterans Crisis Line.
Podcast Host – DME Interns Podcast
The DME Interns Podcast Host hosts the DME Interns Podcast, which interviews current interns and discusses various internship-related topics.
Podcast Production Assistant – DME Interns podcast
The Podcast Production Assistant internship helps produce the DME Interns podcast.
Intern Engagement and Retention Specialist
Intern Engagement and Retention Specialist interns help keep virtual interns engaged, with the goal of minimizing virtual internship attrition. They manage various engagement programs and conduct surveys.
Hone Your Project Management Skills on DME’s External Affairs Team
External Affairs interns work with various VA offices outside of DME who need assistance from the DME Interns. They are responsible for managing projects, identifying deliverables, finding interns with necessary skills, establishing deadlines, and delivering end products.
Leadership Intern – Lead a Team of Fellow Interns
Leadership interns are responsible for the output of various teams. They help coordinate necessary efforts, disseminate important information and ensure the overall success of their assigned team.
Metrics Analysts are responsible for tracking various internship-related metrics. They are responsible for maintaining our weekly reporting forms and tracking who has submitted weekly reports. They identify amounts of tasks being completed, and hours of work performed for all interns on the team.
Digital Communications Intern – Newsletter Development
Newsletter interns maintain the internal internship newsletter, helping keep the interns aware of latest internship-related information. Additionally, they work with the Veterans Experience Office to produce the #VeteransResources newsletter; a weekly newsletter that is sent to more than 14 million people. Finally, they reach out to college and university staff to provide them with information about our virtual internship opportunities.
Prompt Engineer: AI Content Creation Specialist Role at VA
The Prompt Engineer internship is our newest virtual internship. Prompt Engineer interns are pioneering the concept of using AI tools to create content. Experience using AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude II or Perplexity AI is strongly encouraged.
Reddit Community Manager interns are responsible for maintaining and growing our internship subreddits:
These interns create content for the subreddits, find articles to post, respond to posts from others, crosspost various articles to larger subreddits where appropriate and act as mods for the subreddits.
Social Media Analytics Intern – How Are We Doing On Social?
Social Media Analytics Interns are responsible for analyzing the engagement metrics from VA’s main social media channels, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. They provide the social media engagement report each week to the DME director.
Instagram Social Media Internship at Veterans Affairs
Instagram interns help find and create content to be used on VA’s Instagram channel, which has more than 375,000 followers. They scan the social media posts from various VA Medical Centers and other program offices and highlight the ones that can be repurposed for VA’s main Instagram account.
Social Media Intern – Social Media Special Projects
Social Media Special Projects interns perform a variety of tasks. One of the primary tasks of these interns is to review VA’s content calendar and identify various observances for which VA needs to create content for our social media channels. Additionally, they may work with the Reddit Community Managers to post content to our subreddits. They perform many other tasks as well.
Transcription/Video Captioner – DME Video Production Team
Transcription interns help the Video team create high quality and accurate transcripts for various video products.
Web Analytics Intern – Help Us Take VA News to the Next Level!
Web Analytics interns analyze VA’s Google Analytics data and help create weekly reports and identify trends in our web traffic.
WordPress Web Content Management at VA
Web Content Management interns help create and/or publish content on the internship website. WordPress experience is strongly suggested.
Web Development interns help build web pages and internship training courses on the Internship website. They also update plugins, themes and WordPress core as necessary. They maintain offsite backups and ensure website security practices are followed. They create user accounts for fellow interns, assist with login issues and password resets, and many other tasks related to managing a WordPress website. Strong WordPress web development experience is required.
Writing Intern – Borne the Battle Podcast
Borne the Battle Podcast Writing interns are responsible for helping to create articles and social media content to accompany each Borne the Battle Podcast episode.
A portion of this story was generated by AI. None of the data we reported included personal or sensitive information, and it was fact-checked and edited by a human copy editor prior to publishing.
