News Archives
Five Simple Truths About Internships
This guest post is written by Elizabeth P. Cipolla, a business communications professional specializing in the areas of leadership training, creative recruitment strategies, professional development and executive coaching for more than 13 years. Cipolla is featured weekly in the Jamestown Post-Journal’s business section, where this column was published orginally on March 10, 2013.
Each year, millions of students and adults race to find the perfect internship in the industry of their dreams. What many fail to understand is the simple truth behind what they can do to get the most out of their experience at any internship assignment, every time.
Truth No. 1: Despite what you’ve been told, studying hard and getting good grades is not the only path to career success.
As a seasoned human resource management professional, I can assure you that savvy hiring managers want something more than good grades. In fact, many will not even consider hiring a …
Top 100 Twitter Accounts Job Seekers Must Follow in 2013
The following post was originally written in late 2012 by our friends @YouTern, led by @YouTernMark. They offer great advice for both intern and job-seekers. If you’re on Twitter, please follow them, and don’t forget — @IndianaINTERN is active on Twitter, too!
Let’s face it… there are many self-proclaimed career gurus, ninjas and experts on Twitter. So, how do you know where to turn for the really good advice? In alphabetical order and with abundant respect, here are YouTern’s Top 100 for 2013…
@Absolutely_Abby Always positive; a genuine soul and teacher.
@alevit Alexandra delivers some of the best career advice in the business.
@AlisonDoyle Always beneficial information for job and internship seekers on About.com.
@AllisonCheston A career expert, author and blogger; highly valued advice.
@AmyatCiti A terrific reputation on Twitter – and a welcome voice from the corporate side.
@amyruberg A college and career consultant who “gets it” – …
Thoughts from a former TPMA intern
Editor’s Note: Thomas P. Miller and Associates (TPMA) is and Indianapolis-based company with a mission to align people, technology and initiatives to enhance the economic value of communities, educational institutions and companies. Former TPMA Intern Calli Duggins reflects on her internship and what she learned while at TPMA. Duggins is now a graduate student at IUPUI.
Working with TPMA as an intern was a critical part of my professional development during my undergraduate work at Butler University. Prior to this internship, I had interned at a large non-profit organization and a state government agency. While both of those experiences were valuable because they introduced me into the work environment and helped me improve my interpersonal skills, TPMA afforded me an incredibly well-rounded experience.
The projects assigned to me in the first summer included the development of a new website for TPMA and the creation of community asset inventories to be used in …
Marketing internship provides applicable work experience
Megan Nelson is a student at St. Mary-of-the-Woods College in Terre Haute, Indiana. She is an employee at Lake Land College (LLC) in Mattoon, Illinois.
The goal of my internship was to use online marketing to increase the college’s non-traditional audience, expand its brand, and get noticed on the Internet. Part of my assignments involved using avenues like Google AdWords to reach this goal. I spent the majority of my first two weeks researching Google AdWords and how it worked before I determined the best way to learn was to “dive in head first” and create one. I generated three text ads on AdWords and conceptualized a single video ad to reach adult students from start to finish. I also explored the possibility of advertising on Pandora Radio by gathering demographic information and creating a survey via SurveyMonkey.com to help determine if that opportunity would be worth the investment.
During …
One intern’s experience: Thinking about a career in law enforcement?
This guest post is written by Jennie Faker, a criminal justice major and psychology, sociology, and women’s studies minor at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College.
Since the Criminal Justice program started at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College about six years ago, there has never been an intern at the Terre Haute Police Department – until now. As the City Department’s first SMWC intern I was excited to pave the way for future interns.
The Terre Haute Police Department has 136 sworn officers ranging from the uniform division to investigations. The main goal of the department is to protect and serve the people of Terre Haute as well as providing safety. I did not sit at a desk filing paperwork, stapling, mailing, or typing. I was in the middle of all the action! I rode with uniformed officers and conducted traffic stops, responded to domestic disputes, and served warrants. With the investigations division I sat …
First-time intern gets top-notch experience at Juvenile Detention Center
This guest post is from Krista Rangel, a St. Mary-of-the-Woods student majoring in Criminal Justice and minoring in Sociology and Psychology. Krista will graduate in 2013.
My internship at Chicago Juvenile Detention Center was not only my first internship, but I was also the first intern to my site supervisor. I can honestly say this was one of the best experiences I have ever had. I learned about so many facets of the system — from the judges to simply being in the building; I would not have been able to gain these hands-on experiences in a classroom.
My internship at the detention center allowed me to see the system’s process first-hand. Working in a big building with a bunch of lawyers and judges was initially intimidating because I had never been in a corporate environment. After a few weeks, I got to know some of my co-workers and realized that although they have “big …
Ben Davis University student applies classroom skills to real world internship
Tyler is a guest blogger who wanted to share the lessons learned as a high school intern. Indiana INTERNnet supports experiental learning for all individuals, including high school students, traditional college students, and career changers.
Hi, my name is Tyler. I’m a senior at Ben Davis University High School, a school where students take high school and college courses–not just a course or two–but two years of college courses. With the help of MSD of Wayne Township and Vincennes University, in just a few days, I will be graduating with my Core 40, a Technical Honors diploma, and my Associate’s Degree in Information Technology. Just about all my classmates will receive their college degrees in one of four majors: including Health Careers, Business, Liberal Arts, and Information Technology. There are 75 of us who will earn this honor.
I’ve been applying my classroom skills to real-life projects in an internship …
High school intern makes big impact on community
Jose Fregozo is not your typical high school student. A senior at Evansville North High School, he balances a full class schedule, works 30 to 35 hours weekly as a Papa John’s assistant manager, interns at architecture and engineering firm Three I Design, competes on cross country and track teams, and takes part in a variety of philanthropy events. In a nutshell, Fregozo is one of North High School’s shining stars, and he has a humble spirit, too.
Many employers may not traditionally consider a high school student for their internship program, but Three I Design was open to the concept after communicating with Andy Beadles, Fregozo’s teacher at the Southern Indiana Career and Technical Center (SICTC). The facility provides high school students with classroom and hands-on training in 18 diverse areas of study using the latest emerging technologies and equipment.
The management team at Three I …
Indiana Career Explorer: A Useful Tool
Today, society expects students to know their major and future career plans long before entering college. This puts a lot of pressure on students to pick a field of study, often times without fully getting to explore their options. The truth is over half of college students change their majors at least once before graduation. I was one of these students who thought I knew what I wanted, but ended up changing my mind. I recently found Indianacareerexplorer.org, which is made for students trying to decide what they want and what careers best suit their skills and values.
After registering for the site, the first step is to take three assessment tests. The first, Kuder Career Search with Person Match, gives you sixty sets of three activities. You are asked to rank which activity you would prefer to do first, second, and third. Then, you are given results about …
6th Annual IMPACT Awards Wrap Up
February 21st marked the date of the 6th annual Indiana INTERNnet IMPACT awards, honoring outstanding employers, career development professionals, and interns. This year, the awards luncheon was held at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art in downtown Indianapolis. The awards were such a popular event this year that it sold out!
The afternoon began with a delicious soup, salad, and dessert lunch. Nancy Ahlrichs, vice president of talent management at United Way of Central Indiana, spoke about the importance of interns and the outstanding employers willing to mentor interns. Next came a short video featuring interns and employers talking about their internship experiences.
The awards followed the keynote address. The first category was for outstanding career development professional. Several mentors were nominated for their excellence in assisting students with their career paths, however the award went to Saint Mary-of-the-Woods’ Susan Gresham. Susan is the director of the …
College student finds meaning in higher education internship
This guest post was written by Kaitlin Owings, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods student. Owings reflects on the challenges and exciting moments during her internship in a college admissions office.
When many college students think about future internship possibilities, large companies in “Corporate America” seem to come to mind. However, when I thought of doing an internship in a higher education office, I thought of no better place than Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, my home at heart.
The Office of Admission at SMWC accomplishes many tasks throughout the year. One would think that the function of this office is simple because their main goal is to either admit or decline prospective student applications. While this may be their main task, how they get to this point is complicated and requires a lot of hard work and dedication. Recruiting these prospective students takes a considerable amount of time and energy to travel to various high …
Indiana INTERNnet adds its own intern to the team
This guest post is written by Indiana INTERNnet’s own intern, Tabitha Atwood, IUPUI student.
When people asked me, “Tabitha, what do you want to be when you grow up?” I always thought I knew the answer. I wanted to be a pharmacist, but I considered dentistry as a “backup plan.” I started college eager to begin all my science classes. I also joined a freshman interest group where I lived with other students with the same interests and we immersed ourselves in all things medical field related. I was so sure I was doing what I loved.
After a couple of semesters, I realized I did not love my science classes as much as I had hoped. I had such a dilemma. I didn’t know if I should give up my original dream and move on to something else, or if I should just sick to …
Reconnecting With Your Internship Network
This guest post is from Jennifer Weinmann, Student Employment Consultant at IUPUI.
In recent weeks, I have been helping my sister (who will soon be graduating) implement strategies for her upcoming job search. In my recent conversations with her, networking has come up time and again. As many of us are aware, networking today most often consists of LinkedIn and other electronic sources of reaching out to individuals. Striking up a conversation with an old contact sometimes seems hard to do in an online environment.
That is the question I wanted to help answer:
How do I reach out to my internship network for help with my job search?
In my sister’s final years of her undergraduate degree, she completed two internships and two immersive learning projects. All of which have left her with a great deal of knowledge and an excellent group of contacts in her LinkedIn profile. …
A “Mental Health” Internship – Challenging, Unique, Fulfilling
This is a guest blog post, written by Saint Mary-of-the-Woods student, Shandi Gerkin, who interned with IU Health Bloomington Hospital Behavioral Health Unit.
For many of you, a behavior health clinic is not something with which you are familiar, so first, let me share my perspective on my internship environment. The IU Health Bloomington Hospital Behavioral Health Unit is an acute care facility that services Central and Southern Indiana. The Behavioral Health Unit provides acute care to individuals who are experiencing crisis or extreme stress in their daily lives and who need a positive healing environment in which to recover their own stability. The Access Center of the Behavioral Health Unit addresses calls for admission made to the unit. The Access Counselors provide an initial assessment of the patient’s problem in order to identify the type of help that is needed. When a patient requires acute inpatient care, they …
Stretch Your Mind in 2012 with WGU Indiana
The guest post is from Allison Barber, Chancellor, WGU Indiana. If you are not familiar with WGU Indiana’s programs, please visit www.indiana.wgu.edu to learn more about Indiana’s only fully-accredited online university.
P.S. @WGUIndiana on Twitter; WGU Indiana on Facebook and YouTube!
The New Year approaches, many of us resolve to takes steps to become healthier and to stretch our minds. We set goals we dare to achieve in the coming year. And for the 840,000 Hoosiers who have some college but no degree, why not set a goal of going back to school to finish what you started? The sense of satisfaction and pride felt by college graduates is enormous as they can say “I did it!”
For those who started college but didn’t finish, their dream for a college degree never died. Life just got in the way. We hear from them that they need individual encouragement coupled …