Students: Internships Serve As Catalysts

Entry by Pat Patterson, Chief Blogger

Welcome to Indiana INTERNnation, a blog dedicated to decreasing the “brain drain” in Indiana!

As Indiana INTERNnet launches its blog, I feel that there are still some students who are unaware of the value of internships or who may be unsure where to find one. That being said, perhaps highlighting the importance of internships and describing how to acquire one through IndianaINTERN.net is an appropriate starting point for our blog.

To help all students with their internship apprehension and search, I provided a list of frequently asked questions with answers to such concerns in our February INTERNnetwork e-newsletter. The article is reprinted below. To subscribe to our monthly e-newsletter, click the link at the bottom of the page: https://www.workandlearnindiana.com/newsletters.asp. Please feel free to add any comments or questions.

1. Why are internships important?

As a student, it is easy to become preoccupied with everyday school tasks, spending little thought about life after graduation. While you may not have definite future plans, you can be sure there are students who know what they want who are preparing to get there. Especially in a tough economy, with competition at a peak, knowing more about what you want may give you a distinct advantage in an employer’s eyes.

That is where internships come into play. Internships help define and narrow your career path while simultaneously providing the experience employers look for in qualified candidates. Employers are more likely to hire someone for a position who has related job experience rather than taking a risk with someone who may not.

Even if you are unsure of your career path, as an intern, you will:

– enhance your educational experience,

– test out a new organization or industry,

– be exposed to multiple departments within an organization,

– discover your talents and aspects of a job that you find appealing,

– gain real world job experience,

– learn new skills,

– build your resume,

– make new connections/network, and

– potentially set yourself up for full-time employment.

This last point is important. In an economy where money is tight, employers may choose to hire interns as full-time employees rather than spending the time and money recruiting. Just ask Joanna Jessup, Communications Manager with The Greater Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce, who got her start with the Fort Wayne Chamber as a Communications Intern. Jessup asserts that, “Internships are the catalysts that make your classroom and textbook learning become real – it puts what you have learned in the classroom into a real world perspective. Internships can also be a vital stepping stone into a full-time job – my college internship led me straight into a great full-time position!”

2. What are the advantages of using Indiana INTERNnet for my internship search?

Indiana INTERNnet is a free statewide system with various internships in diverse industries. In addition to acting as a search mechanism, Indiana INTERNnet has information on career events across the state, diverse industry descriptions and outlooks, regional information, links to educational resources, and articles to aid you in your internship search.

Joanna Jessup also enjoys the ease of searching for internships with the preference-based automated search, noting that, “Indiana INTERNnet does some of the search work for you – rather than going out on your own and compiling lists of possibilities, which could take an extensive amount of time, the site already has all of that information compiled for you to browse.”

In addition, although you may already use another database for your internship search, diversifying your options with another search mechanism gives you a larger pool of internships to search while making yourself visible to more employers.

3. How do I begin my free Indiana INTERNnet account?

On the home page (www.workandlearnindiana.com), click on the “new user” tab of the login box on the right side of your screen. You will be required to select a participation category, and should select “student.” Upon reading and accepting the terms and conditions, you will be asked to complete a short registration form. Upon submitting this form, you will receive your username and computer-generated password in your Email inbox within 24 hours.

4. I have an account and lost my password. How may I retrieve it?

On the home page (www.workandlearnindiana.com) you may click on the “Lost Password” link in the login box. You may also contact the webmaster to receive your password by calling 1-866-646-3434 or via email internnet@indianachamber.com.

5. Where are internships available?

Indiana INTERNnet offers internship opportunities throughout the state of Indiana. The computerized system allows you to search for internships by various regions throughout the state.

6. What steps should I take before I begin applying?

Before you begin applying, there are several steps to take to ensure a smooth search. After adding your contact information, complete your student profile by indicating your school, degree, GPA, areas of interest, industry and job preferences, and overall objective. Creating your student profile will enable you to search for internships based on your preferences.

After creating your student profile, it is important to complete your student resume. You can upload a resume you may have on file and/or add to the established web format by adding your educational background, previous job/internship experience, skills, references, and work samples. It is only after you create and activate your student resume that you will be added to the employer search database.

Before you begin applying, you should identify potential career paths, industries, and companies of interest. Therefore, when you begin applying, you will spend less time navigating through the database. You will also be able to add more industry/job specific information to your resume, which will make you a more competitive candidate. However, you may not want to limit your search too strictly, as Jessup comments, “Don’t limit yourself in terms of categories of internships you are willing to look at – you might be surprised what you find.”

7. How does the system work?

Indiana INTERNnet is a high-tech and high-touch system for students seeking internships in Indiana. The high-tech portion allows students to enter online resumes, cover letters and interests about the internship they are seeking. If an employer’s needs match the student’s interests, the employer can view the resume and the student can view the internship description. Additionally, Indiana INTERNnet offers high-touch services that enable you to receive personal consultation and the same services offered within the high-tech services.

Each student seeking an internship can search for matches by utilizing any combination or all of the following fields: degree, geographic location, job category, industry, and company name. The student can view results of each search and save it for future use, save specific records or matches, and contact the employer of interest via email. The same matching system is used for the high-touch methodology.

When a match is made online, the intern can save the match for future use or can immediately apply via email. However, you must always remember to keep your information up-to-date. Jessup maintains that, “Once you have filled out your profile, the system is pretty easy to use. As long as you keep your information up to date, you can be sure that when you apply for positions or if employers browse your profile, what they are seeing is useful in deciding whether you are a good fit.”