The Quest Scholars Program, comprised of QuestBridge and the Quest Scholars Network (QSN), is an innovative non-profit in the San Francisco Bay area with approximately 15 full-time employees. Our mission is to provide high-achieving low-income students with educational and leadership opportunities at the nation’s best colleges.

The Quest Summer Internship program is a full-time 8-10 week program that offers undergraduates the opportunity to gain first-hand experience in a professional office setting, develop their skills, gain an holistic view of a small non-profit, and meaningfully engage in the everyday work of a nationally recognized educational organization with a groundbreaking social mission. Four Quest Summer Internships will be offered, one in each of the following areas: College Relations, Student Recruitment, Data and Technology, and QSN Program Development.

Working under close direction of a staff member, each intern will carry out work that supports the goals of the organization and enables the student to learn and grow from close interaction with staff and fellow summer interns. Staff-hosted “brown bag” discussions will provide summer interns with opportunities for mentoring and career exploration. Interns will collaborate to complete an intern project, as well as share individual reflections on what they learned by delivering a final presentation about their summer work experience at Quest. In addition, Quest Interns will have the unique experience of helping staff prepare and host the annual QuestBridge College Admissions Conferences and/or the annual Quest Liaison Training.

Qualities

• Self-starter, with ability to self-manage and take ownership of a project

• Ability to thrive working on a small collaborative team

• Keen sense of integrity and accountability, with willingness to learn and grow

• Warm, positive attitude and strong interpersonal skills

• Resourcefulness, creativity, willingness to share ideas

• Strong work ethic, with attention to project goals and meeting deadlines

• Ability to be detail-oriented without getting lost in the details

• High quality standards in terms of quantitative accuracy, text editing and visual aesthetics

• Genuine desire to further the goals and mission of QuestBridge and the Quest Scholars Network

Compensation

Interns will receive $10 per hour, up to $3,500*. The Quest Scholars Program will provide travel, lodging, and food for work-related events requiring travel, such as conferences.

*Special consideration will be given to students who qualify for federally funded work-study, although this is not required to apply. The students we select as interns will be those most qualified for their internship.

Hours & Location of Work

This is a full-time paid position. The Quest Scholars Program’s office is located in Palo Alto, California, just one mile from Stanford University and steps away from the downtown Palo Alto Caltrain Station. Housing and travel stipends are not provided as part of this internship.

Internships will last 8-10 weeks over the summer; specific dates are flexible and will be determined based on the intern’s availability and program needs.

Position Descriptions

Quest Scholars Network Program Development Intern

The intern will assist the QSN Team in building outreach and programs for Quest Scholars.

Duties will include:

• Developing materials and promotions for a career mentor network within the QSN Alumni Association

•  Organizing and building career development networks/ groups through the QSN website

• Organizing and collecting data on current Quest Scholars who have graduated from college
• Designing materials for QSN outreach: email banners, pamphlets and inserts, logos, etc.
• Supporting summer programming and other tasks, as needed

Desired qualifications:

•  Excellent organizational skills

•  Strong writing and editing skills

•  Experience with or the ability to quickly learn Excel

• Ability and ease leading group discussions with peers

QuestBridge College Relations Intern

The intern will assist the College Relations team in supporting the colleges who partner with QuestBridge to offer educational opportunities to low-income students.

Duties will include:

•  Assisting in developing materials and coordinating logistics for admissions representatives attending the College Admissions Conferences

•  Collecting and analyzing enrollment results of College Match finalists

• Analyzing trends in admissions decisions of partner colleges to better understand applicant profiles that interest our partners

• Updating partner college sections of the QuestBridge website to reflect changes in college requirements and policies

• Collaborating in the development of methods and procedures to strengthen enrollment outcomes for partner colleges

Desired qualifications:

• Detail-oriented with a high degree of accuracy

• Highly organized and flexible

• Ability to maintain confidentiality

• Interest and enthusiasm for college admissions

• Familiarity with statistics, Excel, HTML, or Joomla! a plus

QuestBridge Recruitment Intern

The intern will work on the Student Recruitment team and be involved in our communications and outreach efforts.

Duties will include:

• Participating in brainstorming new ways to communicate with and/or recruit students

• Taking a lead role in developing  fresh social media content, such as Facebook campaigns and/or researching new applications or features

• Assisting with writing and creating content for mailings, emails, and website

• Corresponding with QuestBridge applicants via email and phone

• Conducting outreach to students, educators, and organizations to encourage qualified students to apply

• Assisting staff to plan and implement College Admissions Conferences for high school students; attend and work at the conferences

• Helping develop graphic design materials, newsletters, and/or blog content

Desired qualifications:

• Strong writing and editing skills

• Background or interest in graphic design

• Experience with or interest in event planning

• Experience with Adobe Illustrator, HTML, Joomla!, Tumblr or Wordpress a plus

QuestBridge Data and Technology Intern

The intern will work on the Student Recruitment team in the area of data and technology. Through our recruitment work, we have been able to retain a wealth of information about the students who have come through our programs. We have a number of projects in mind to unleash the potential of QuestBridge’s data, but the Data and Technology Intern will have the opportunity to select among them or pitch additional ideas that would help to advance QuestBridge’s mission. Once a project has been selected, the intern will work with the technical and program staff at QuestBridge to develop requirements for their summer project, and will carry the project through design, implementation, and testing.

Project areas may include:

• Real-time system for monitoring progress and qualifications of applicant pool

• GIS system to enable visualization of the efficacy of recruitment efforts

• Development of models to better identify and attract qualified students
• Redesign of data model to make data relating to QuestBridge activities more accessible and easier to analyze

Desired qualifications:

• Strong problem solving ability

• Ability to adapt to new information

• Depending on the project selected, would benefit from being familiar with some of the following:
   o SQL
   o Database design
   o PHP (or other server-side scripting language)
   o JavaScript (or other client-side scripting language)
   o Joomla!
   o Statistics
   o Statistical modeling language (e.g. R, SPSS, SAS)
   o Data Mining/Machine learning