The Freddie Factor: Tales from one of Indiana INTERNnet’s own

An internship, as defined by Webster’s Dictionary, is “a student or recent graduate who works for a period of time at a job in order to gain experience.” The goal of Indiana INTERNnet is to be an internship-matching program linking employers, students, high schools, colleges and universities. It works—well, it did for me!

Here’s how:

Ever since my arrival as a freshman student at Indiana University, internships have been stressed by faculty and staff as important learning experiences. Not wanting to disappoint, that very year, I went on- the-hunt for the mighty internship. The process seemed straight forward: make a great resume, apply, and interview. How do you find the internship, though? Most colleges have career services, which provide help locating internships and jobs, as well as preparing your resume for career fairs and interviews. These services are invaluable. In addition to checking out my college’s career services offerings, I also started to use Indiana INTERNnet. A few years—and several internships later—I’ve learned a lot about the internship searching process.

This August, I will begin a new journey attending graduate school. (I’m not quite ready to leave IU, so I’m going back to Bloomington.) With this program, not only did I want an internship for the summer, it is required! I went back on the internship trail to find coveted summer employment by using Indiana INTERNnet’s online internship matching service. The site was straight-forward and easy-to-use.

I uploaded my resume and filled out some informational fields…and then, I waited. I was surprised at the number of companies which viewed my profile, and this lead to me apply for their positions listed.

I happened to notice that Indiana INTERNnet themselves had an opening for a summer intern. The internship seemed to fit my field, so I immediately applied—and here I am. I had a phone interview, as well as two in-person interviews, and now I am writing to you in hopes of offering insight and knowledge about internships. I plan on writing about my experience as an intern and also subjects and matters relating to the job market, Indiana INTERNnet, and anything else I can come up with during my time here.

Thanks for reading!

— Fredrick Starks