Intern Insider: Building Up Interns with the Right Tools in 2025
RELI Group’s newest Intern Insider shares insights from interns and experts on how the right tools elevate internships, providing resources for hands-on experiences and real-world solutions.
In this edition of the Intern Insider, we explore how having the right tools can elevate the internship experience. Starting an internship is an exciting opportunity to gain hands-on experience and develop essential skills for your career. At RELI Group, interns are equipped with the resources they need to tackle real-world challenges, ensuring creativity, teamwork and organizational growth.
The Essential Tools for Intern Success
Design & Creativity: Canva, Adobe and Figma
Interns working in website design, social media content creation and PowerPoint presentations rely on tools like Canva, Adobe and Figma to bring their ideas to life. Canva offers user-friendly templates for polished presentations and social media posts, Adobe provides advanced editing for high-quality graphics and Figma’s collaborative interface streamlines website design.
RELI Group supports interns by providing access to these tools and mentoring them through crash courses and hands-on guidance. Team members work directly with interns to refine their skills, troubleshoot challenges and apply their knowledge to real-world projects. This mentorship helps interns grow creatively and build a strong foundation for professional design work.
Hear from some of our interns about their experiences using these tools:
“I love using the Adobe Creative Suite for all of my graphic design work. All of their products work together seamlessly, which makes my workflow so smooth. I personally use InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop the most and I love how intuitive they are. Adobe just gets it! I recently used InDesign and Illustrator to update a brand guide and the tools made it so easy to transfer content from one software to another. It’s so fun to experiment and create in these programs without any restrictions.” – Tanvi Bendigeri, Marketing & PR Intern
“Figma has been a huge asset to me as a web designer. It’s a great way to make mock-ups and try different design ideas quickly. It also allows for prototyping, so that you can create interactive designs and see exactly how features will work. Having all of those tools has helped me to design better as I can test certain layouts or functionalities and save time in the long run.” – Arden Dubiel, Web Design Intern
Project Management & Organization: Asana & Microsoft Planner
Interns at RELI Group leverage tools like Microsoft Planner and Asana to efficiently track tasks, deadlines and projects. Asana enables interns to prioritize their workload while ensuring clear communication with their team and smooth execution on projects. Microsoft Planner provides a visual layout to organize tasks, making it easier to track progress and collaborate on key initiatives.
These tools not only improve interns’ organizational skills but also prepare them for future careers. With hands-on experience and mentorship, RELI Group offers opportunities for interns to grow professionally, applying their leadership and organizational skills to both academic and career pursuits.
“As a Marketing and PR intern, using tools like Asana has been essential for staying organized and managing social media content effectively. Organization is key when juggling multiple projects, and Asana helps my team collaborate efficiently by assigning tasks, setting deadlines and using the timeline feature to keep everything on track. Working in a professional setting and observing industry workflows has been fulfilling, and the leadership and organizational skills I’ve gained have enhanced my work at RELI Group, as well as in academic and freelance projects. These hands-on learning experiences have shaped how I approach every aspect of my work, both inside and outside my internship.” – Hailey Rotz, Marketing and PR Intern
“I was first introduced to Microsoft Planner by CJ Currie, who was incredibly enthusiastic about the tool and couldn’t stop praising its features. As a full-time student, staying organized is essential to me and Microsoft planner has been a game-changer. It keeps all my tasks in one place, allowing me to add detailed notes, set deadlines and tag people in assignments for easy collaboration. It’s become part of my daily routine, helping me stay on top of everything with ease.” – Ella Leslie, Human Resources Intern
Collaboration & Communication: Microsoft Teams & Microsoft Applications
At RELI Group, interns use Microsoft Teams and other Microsoft applications to enhance collaboration and streamline communication. Microsoft Teams allows interns to participate in virtual meetings, share updates and stay connected with their teams in real time. The platform facilitates seamless communication, making it easy to coordinate tasks and stay aligned on project goals. We give interns experience anywhere from learning how to write professional emails to managing real-time team collaboration.
Microsoft applications like Word, Excel and PowerPoint are also essential for interns, providing tools to create documents, analyze data and design presentations. These applications foster efficient teamwork by allowing interns to collaborate on shared files, track progress and ensure consistent, professional outputs.
RELI interns apply these tools in real time during their internship:
“In my role as a Project Management Intern at RELI Group, Microsoft applications—especially Teams, Power Automate and Power BI—have been essential in streamlining workflows and enhancing collaboration. Teams has been my go-to for facilitating Agile meetings, coordinating with cross-functional teams and ensuring seamless communication with stakeholders. The connectivity between Microsoft tools has been particularly valuable—features like Power BI’s Live Share in Teams have made it effortless to present data-driven insights in real time, keeping stakeholders engaged and informed. Integrating Power Automate has enabled me to automate project tracking, deadline reminders and security assessment follow-ups, significantly reducing manual effort and improving efficiency. Additionally, Power BI has helped me visualize project data and security metrics, allowing for more informed decision-making and improved project visibility. These tools have played a crucial role in enhancing collaboration, optimizing resource management and ensuring accountability, making them invaluable in my day-to-day responsibilities.”- Poorajith Thenmozhi, Project Management Intern
“The Microsoft applications I use most frequently are Teams and Outlook. Since I work remotely, I depend on Teams to communicate with my co-workers. It is an incredibly effective tool for planning and holding discussions. Outlook is another application that helps my remote work run smoothly. It is where I send and receive emails, so it naturally holds great importance for the efficiency of my work.” – Nicole Radams, Project Support Intern
“As a compliance intern in the Health Informatics sector, my team uses Excel on a daily basis for all audits as well as Suite and Office programs as needed in various fashions depending on the audit and monitoring activities.” – Nick Ambrosino, Compliance Intern
AI & Innovation: ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot
At RELI Group, interns use AI tools like ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot to enhance productivity in different ways based on their unique capabilities.
ChatGPT is a versatile, all-in-one tool that interns can utilize for a wide range of tasks. Whether they are brainstorming creative ideas, drafting content, outlining documents or finding solutions to complex problems, ChatGPT provides a flexible and accessible option. It helps generate ideas quickly and supports decision-making processes, though users should be mindful of occasional inaccuracies or outdated information.
Microsoft Copilot, in contrast, is a more specialized tool embedded within the Microsoft 365 suite and integrated into Windows 11. Interns and team members use it to streamline tasks like summarizing Teams meetings, drafting action items and analyzing data within Excel. Copilot helps improve efficiency by seamlessly integrating with Office applications, making it an invaluable tool for managing day-to-day activities and enhancing collaboration within the Microsoft ecosystem.
By leveraging both ChatGPT and Copilot, interns gain valuable experience using AI to enhance productivity and collaboration. As AI continues to shape the workplace, experts like Saeed Elnaj, RELI Group’s Chief Innovation Officer, emphasize the importance of balancing technology with practical application. “AI tools like ChatGPT and Copilot empower interns at RELI by enhancing their learning, streamlining tasks and providing real-time insights, allowing them to focus on strategic thinking and professional growth,” Saeed says. “Understanding how to use these tools effectively—and safely—helps interns develop critical digital literacy skills that will be essential in the evolving workforce. As AI continues to transform the technology and government landscape, those who learn to integrate it responsibly will be better positioned to drive innovation and meet the complex challenges of the future.”
This is something we actively implement into our intern program, ensuring interns develop the skills to use AI effectively and responsibly in their roles.
Join Our Intern Team
RELI Group is dedicated to equipping our interns with the right tools, resources and hands-on learning experiences to help them grow professionally. From mastering industry-standard applications to gaining valuable insights through mentorship, we ensure that every intern has the opportunity to develop skills that will set them up for success in their future careers.
Interested in an internship that prepares you for the future? Learn more about our open positions and how you can be part of this exciting learning journey!
