Category Archives: Career Advice

Each April brings a lot of stress to college students. It signifies the approaching end of the spring semester. The characters of New Girl seem to understand the stress of college at this time of year.

Let’s be honest, a college student is usually stretched for time anyways. As finals are approaching, time becomes more strained. Trying to find a few minutes to eat can seem impossible. Just remember, food and water are essential to human life.

The spring semester brings prospective students to campus to tour the grounds and crowd the line at the coffee shop. If you’re in the thick of finals week, these fresh-faced young people may seem foreign to you. Just remember, you were once in the same position they are in, and one day they will be in yours.

At some point, you’re going to realize what …

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Summer internship season is quickly approaching. This is Part III of a three-part series on crafting internship postings that will attract qualified candidates on Indiana INTERNnet and elsewhere.

The first part of this series provided general tips for posting an internship, the second part highlighted the strengths of a well-written internship posting. This post will feature the use of keywords and promoting an internship.

Many students search for internships using keywords, therefore if you want your internship to be seen you should plan accordingly. For example, if a student is searching for a public relations internship they may use keywords such as communications, public relations, public affairs, community outreach and marketing. By including these keywords, the internship will be easier for candidates to find.

The best place for keywords is in the internship title. However, be selective with the words you choose. Decide which term best describes the internship and …

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Career readiness preparation begins long before a student makes it to college and begins pursuing internships to explore strengths and interests. It even begins before high school, when students are making postsecondary decisions.

Career readiness hinges on success students experience when they are much younger – even back to fifth grade!

The Gallup Student Poll (Fall 2015) measures four dimensions of student success – engagement, hope, entrepreneurial aspiration and career/financial literacy – and analyzes how those impact student behavior. The poll is administered to U.S. students, grades 5 – 12.

For example, students who are “engaged” and “hopeful” are 4.6 times more likely to say they do well in school than “actively disengaged” and “discouraged” students.

The aim of the Gallup Student Poll is to enable superintendents, principals and educators to take direct action based on the results to provide a more robust educational experience. This early action is …

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Summer internship season is quickly approaching. This is Part II of a three-part series on crafting internship postings that will attract qualified candidates on Indiana INTERNnet and elsewhere.

The first part of this series provided general tips for posting an internship. Read the full entry here. This post will highlight the strengths of a well-written internship posting. While you examine the internship posting take notice of the position title, organization biography, keywords, dates, responsibilities and qualifications.

Indiana Chamber of Commerce
Indiana INTERNnet Marketing Intern Summer 2016

Description
Indiana INTERNnet is a business-education partnership between the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, Indiana employers and Indiana education institutions to promote the quality and quantity of internship opportunities statewide. www.IndianaINTERN.net serves as the state’s online matching system connecting students and employers for internship opportunities.

Indiana INTERNnet is currently offering a paid summer internship to assist staff members with internship activities. Internship will last approximately May to August 2016 …

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Summer internship season is quickly approaching. This is Part I of a three-part series on crafting internship postings that will attract qualified candidates on Indiana INTERNnet and elsewhere.

Writing an internship description can be a challenge. Human psychology plays a major role in whether or not candidates will be interested in the position or skip to the next. The description has to catch their attention, but not overwhelm them with information. Here are some tips to help perfect your posting.

Position Title

Be descriptive – never use “Intern” for the title of a position. That’s like saying “Staff Member” for the position of Executive Director of Financial Services. What kind of intern are you looking for? Use the job description as a guide. If the intern will be performing legal services, use “Legal Intern” or “Law Student Intern.”

Organization Biography

There should be a short description of your …

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Indiana INTERNnet celebrated internship excellence on Feb. 3, 2016, at the 10th Annual IMPACT Awards luncheon. Though the event is over and the winners have been announced, we are continuing to celebrate the nominees’ successes.

These are their stories.

Ryan Palmore graduated from IUPUI in August with a BA in philosophy. After completing a summer internship with the Indiana Commission for Higher Education (CHE), he was hired by the organization as a Student Support Specialist. After several months, he was promoted to Assistant Director – Student Support Services.

Indiana INTERNnet: What did you enjoy about working in a state agency?

Ryan Palmore: Being able to experience firsthand how various public entities operate internally and across institutions–public and private–has greatly increased my awareness of and appreciation for the hard work that goes into seeing that Indiana residents’ needs and wishes are valued.

IIN: It seems lately the value of higher education has been …

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Northwest Indiana is brimming with opportunity for young professionals. One organization that truly exhibits internship excellence is Dunes Learning Center. Located in Chesterton, the organization offers internships as camp counselor and interpretive naturalist. We spoke with the Education Director, Erin Crofton, about their program.

Indiana INTERNnet: What exactly is the Dunes Learning Center and what role do you play in the organization?

Erin Crofton: Dunes Learning Center is a national model for place-based residential environmental education. Operating in partnership with the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Dunes Learning Center educators provide year-round curriculum and standards-based learning experiences in nature. Our trained education staff and 63-acre campus located inside Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore are truly unique and valuable resources.

As the Education Director, I lead education staff and programs. This includes program development, implementation, education staff recruitment, training, supervision and evaluation.

IIN: Why is the Dunes Learning Center …

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March is here! Flowers are blooming, students are relaxing during their spring breaks and the NCAA basketball tournament is in full swing. If you aren’t a basketball fanatic, March Madness may not be important to you. We will take a different approach to March Madness by relating it to searching for internships.

Selection Sunday

In basketball, this is the day the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee reveals which teams have been selected to compete. In searching for internships, this is when you select the industry you’re interested in. If you’re searching for a marketing internship, determine if you’d rather intern at a marketing agency, non-profit organization, etc. There are many options out there, so do your research!

Sweet 16

This is the round of 16 basketball teams that have made it this far in the tournament. Once you have selected the industry, you can search for organizations. …

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Spring breaks are this month for many high schools, colleges and universities. You may be planning to kick back and relax for a week, but here’s a list of productive activities you could do instead.

1 . Catch up on homework

This may sound boring, but the end of the semester brings deadlines for projects you’ve been putting off. You don’t have to spend every day at the library studying for those final exams coming up in May. Use this time to catch up, so you don’t fall behind later. Dedicate a few hours throughout the week to work on assignments.

2 . Get organized

Students have busy lives, which can leave little time for organization. Use this free time to clean out your backpack and organize your notes. If you have the momentum, clean and organize your room/apartment/house. Spring is almost here, you can get a head start …

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Indiana INTERNnet celebrated internship excellence on Feb. 3, 2016, at the 10th Annual IMPACT Awards luncheon. Though the event is over and the winners have been announced, we are continuing to celebrate the nominees’ successes.

These are their stories.

Brandon Nettrouer will graduate from Indiana State University this May. Then he will relocate to South Bend to start a full-time career with Gibson, the company he completed an internship with last summer.

Indiana INTERNnet: Congratulations on securing a full-time position with Gibson! What excites you about starting your career there?

Brandon Nettrouer: I’m ready to invest into the next chapter of my life with Gibson. They are a great company full of greater people who strive to work harder than their competition. That is what intrigues me about my future with Gibson – having the opportunity to roll up my sleeves and start meaningful work. I am humbled to …

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A simple mistake in your cover letter or resume could be costly. Many managers will move to the next applicant if yours doesn’t shine or has mistakes. It’s important to proof read everything, and possibly have someone take a look before you send it. Some have said that searching for an internship/job is like a job in itself. That might be true, but here are some tips to help the process.

A cover letter is your first impression on the organization, and it’s vital to whether you get an interview or not. It’s tempting to use a template from the internet and adjust the content to coordinate with your information. You should never do this! Human resources and hiring managers get these types of cover letters all the time. Your goal is to stand out from the crowd.

Create a template of your own, but not a word-for-word document. …

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Last week I had the opportunity to attend the Collegiate Career Expo. I experienced both sides of the table; employer and student/job seeker. This year’s event was held in the Marriott hotel in downtown Indianapolis. It’s a great venue, with delicious coffee and tea!

After registering as a student, I was given a self-adhesive name tag and a map of the different employer booths. The self-adhesive tag would eventually become my enemy. It would constantly pull my hair out and at one point it relocated itself to the back of my arm. My advice is to purchase a plastic sleeve for name badges. This way you can insert the one they give you and clip it into place.

My next piece of advice for students is to find a spot before entering the fair, if possible, and study the map of employers. In this case, there were …

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1 . Struggling through another PowerPoint presentation.

All professors have a different style of teaching. Some will write material on the dry-erase board, provide printed materials for you to follow along with, or utilize the magical PowerPoint presentation. PowerPoint is a great tool for classroom lectures, but you might only get half of your notes if you’re a slow writer. Professors may post these presentations for the class on Blackboard or Canvas. If not, students have resorted to taking photographs of the slides using their phones and later copying the information into their notes.

2 . Spending hours writing a paper and forgetting to click save.

This might have been the worst moment in Kevin’s life, spending all that time cooking the chili, bringing it to work, carrying it up the stairs only to spill it before anyone has a chance to taste it. The …

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The IMPACT Awards Employer of the Year is netlogx! We had a chance to interview one of the employees of netlogx, Sara Jones. Sara started as an intern with the organization and made her way to becoming a full-time consultant. She is a true story of a successful internship!

Indiana INTERNnet: What attracted you to intern at netlogx?

Sara Jones: When I started as an intern at netlogx, I did not have a very deep understanding of netlogx services, but I did know that netlogx was a growing small business with a great culture, which really appealed to me.

IIN: What learning experiences and projects did you have during your internship?

SJ: During my internship, I was able to take ownership of several internal administrative initiatives, but also was assigned part-time to a client project. Being part of the project team was incredibly valuable because it gave me the …

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Spring is almost here and it’s time to start thinking about graduation. College graduation is much different than high school. Teachers aren’t going to hold your hand throughout the process, you have to take the initiative to get the ball rolling.

1 . Make sure you’re ready to graduate

Contact your advisor and verify you have completed all the requirements for your degree. Many students run into being a class or two short of completion. If that’s the case, you may have to take classes over the summer, but could still walk in the graduation ceremony.

2 . Order your cap and gown

Many students are opting out of participating in the graduation ceremony. Maybe you agree, but you have put so much work into earning this degree that you deserve the recognition. This is a special day for you and your family to celebrate your great accomplishment. You …

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