Category Archives: Career Advice

Internship pulls one student out of comfort zone

This is a guest post by Sara Hollinshead, former intern at Pace Community Action Agency. She is a student at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College.

This semester I had the privilege to be a marketing intern at Pace Community Action Agency’s corporate office in Vincennes, Ind. Some of my responsibilities were to provide new marketing and advertisement strategies for Pace. Pace is a local not-for-profit Community Action Agency that offers services in three counties – Knox, Sullivan and Daviess.  Because Pace is a Community Action Agency, it supports area programs that are beneficial to the community. Underneath this Pace organization umbrella are several programs including Head Start, WIC, Energy Assistance, Neighborhood Stabilization, and even for profit businesses like CaptTech Consulting.

One of my duties at this internship was to come up with different marketing strategies for various events that Pace was sponsoring and implement those strategies. One area where I thought Pace …

Continue Reading »

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 …

Continue Reading »

Internship helps solidify career goals

This is a guest post by Constance Chasteen, former intern at Summersville Regional Medical Center. She is a computer information systems student at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College in Wabash Valley, Ind.

For my internship, I was asked to either revamp or rebuild Summersville Regional Medical Center’s Intranet site. Since their existing Intranet was only partially completed using Microsoft FrontPage 2003 (an outdated Web building program), I decided to implement a Content Management System (CMS) that could develop along with them.

I took into account that budgeting can be a struggle at small community hospitals.  Therefore, I decided to use WordPress as the CMS of choice. It is a free, open source CMS with many plug-ins to expand functionality to meet the hospital’s growing needs. Because others may need to modify what I have done, I did not want it to be excessively hard to use.

There was really no place for …

Continue Reading »

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 …

Continue Reading »

Employers: A New Age of Internship Possibilities

I invite you to clear your mind of any pre-conceived notions about internships. Now, more than ever, employers have options when selecting an intern to fit your company’s particular needs. The word “internship” is expanding to include all types of structured and supervised experiential learning beyond the traditional 12-week college internship. Each type offers a distinct approach that can produce innumerable benefits for your organization, the student and our state.

Maybe you’ve dismissed the idea of hosting an intern because you don’t have the resources to manage a semester-long office internship. Or maybe your company’s work lends itself to a different internship approach. There are several new internship trends that can address specific goals you have, help you tap into fresh talent and even recruit full-time employees. There are also different demographics you can consider for internships beyond the 20-year-old college student.

New Types

‱ Virtual internships: Low on office …

Continue Reading »

From intern to full-time employee

There is no better case for the value of internships than the rate at which they lead to full-time jobs. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, approximately 60 percent of 2012 college graduates who held paid internships received at least one job offer. Today, I join that group.

I began a full-time, paid internship in September with Indiana INTERNnet, a program managed by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce. This was my second post-graduate internship, following three months spent at the Indiana State Fair. I’ll admit that even I – a huge advocate for internships – was a little leery of doing a second post-graduate internship.

One of our mantras at Indiana INTERNnet is “Intern Today, Employee Tomorrow.” We say it because it’s often true.

After about two months into my internship with Indiana INTERNnet, I was offered a full-time job with the Indiana Chamber as an assistant …

Continue Reading »

The Forty-Year-Old Intern

This is a story by Felicia Edlin that ran in the Little Pink Book newsletter on Nov. 7, 2012.

“If you don’t like the road you’re walking, start paving another one.” – Dolly Parton

Not so long ago, internships were reserved for college students. That’s changing.

With high unemployment rates, many women are switching careers with the help of internships to learn fresh skills and widen their network.

These days, mid-career internships are viewed as an investment to a new career, not as a regression. Ideally, an internship could lead to a full-time position.

If not, it’s a way to keep up skills in between jobs.

Career expert J.T. O’Donnell says in-depth discussions with mentors and career advisors are essential to discovering what you are interested in.

O’Donnell suggests digging deeper into why you want to make the transition. Mid-career internships are most successful for those who plan a way …

Continue Reading »

Internship experience builds confidence, skill sets

This is a guest post by Nicole Francis, former intern at the Council on Domestic Abuse, Inc. (CODA) in Terre Haute. She is a psychology student at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College.

The goal of an internship at CODA is to gain a greater understanding of the field of social services by working to empower survivors of domestic violence.  After the intern successfully completes the training program, interns begin to work at the emergency shelter, transitional housing or the CODA courthouse office.

Some of the things that I did during my internship experience include: talking to the residents, listening and letting residents voice their concerns to me. I was not confined to one area because there are several cordless phones in the house, which allowed me to move about the residence and be prepared for any calls at the same time.  Interns were able to work in the donation room, linen closet, …

Continue Reading »

Discovering your career path, Part IV

This is the final installment of the series discussing methods to narrow down what jobs you’d like to pursue post-graduation. For previous entries, see personality, exploratory coursework and career aptitude tests.

You wouldn’t buy a car without taking it for a test drive. You wouldn’t marry someone without getting to know them.

Why would you jump into a career without first completing an internship or a similar form of experiential learning?

Experiential learning is a key step in your career development and is becoming less of an option and more of a necessity (see this USA Today College story). Not only can you “test drive” a career, but you acquire skills and complete real-world work in addition to what you learn in the classroom.

With that said, the goal is not to land just any internship. As you begin your search, there are several factors you want to keep in …

Continue Reading »

Discovering your career path, Part III

This is Part III of a four-part series discussing methods to narrow down what jobs you’d like to pursue post-graduation.

If you’ve taken an in-depth personality test, you have insight into how you naturally behave and in what situations you are most comfortable. If you have a college transcript with a broad range of coursework, you probably have an idea of what subject matter interests you.

Now, do you have an understanding of how you work best and what kind of work environment you might enjoy? Career aptitude tests are a great way to unearth your preferences.

One of the most trusted resources among career development professionals is the Strong Interest Inventory. This assessment enables you to identify specific courses, jobs, internships and activities you’re likely to enjoy. It helps you pinpoint your interests, preferences and personal style so you can prepare for a satisfying career. You can visit your …

Continue Reading »

Discovering your career path, Part II

This is Part II of a four-part series discussing methods to narrow down what jobs you’d like to pursue post-graduation.

One of the great things about college (that you often don’t appreciate until after you graduate) is the unbridled access you have to an immense amount of diverse knowledge. I’m not just talking about the library or free Internet access. Each college and university offers hundreds of courses with fascinating subject matter, and you never know what lessons, skills or new interests you could take away from a class off your beaten path.

I’ve talked to many people about their careers who have said something like, “I majored in XYZ in college
 but I don’t do anything related to that now.” I found that unbelievable until I entered the job market and began to understand the concept of transferable skills. You can find a piece of knowledge in each class …

Continue Reading »

Discovering your career path, Part I

This is Part I of a four-part series discussing ways to narrow down what jobs you’d like to pursue post-graduation.

“So, what do you want to do after you graduate?”

It’s a question you’ve probably fielded several times in your life. It’s a difficult one to answer, especially at the ripe old age of 19 or 20. You may have your major solidified, but many fields of study open up an infinite number of career possibilities. How can you narrow it down?

A good place to start is with an in-depth personality test, such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) assessment. Through a series of preference and situational questions, the test breaks your personality down into four categories that dissect what makes you tick. It’s a little eerie how this test knows you better than you know yourself!

By understanding how you function and how you naturally approach situations, …

Continue Reading »

The intern experience at myCOI

This is a guest post by Kyle Vail, a marketing intern at myCOI. Kyle is a 2012 graduate of Indiana University Bloomington and is from Greenfield, IN.

I am 23 and fresh out of college. I am not afraid to admit that I’m still a little unsure about what I think I will or should be doing for the rest of my life. I completed a Business Economics degree in May, but never really decided on a clear career path. I just knew I loved ideas and the work it takes to make them a reality. Knowing that, the opportunity to join the myCOI team in July as an intern was an easy and rewarding decision.

Working at myCOI as a Marketing Intern means collaborating with a creative, forward-looking team; a team that is always looking to better their product and service by focusing on end users. When a problem arises, there …

Continue Reading »

Bright prospects for Class of 2013

It seems the Class of 2013 has much to look forward to once their tassels are turned. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), employers expect to hire 13 percent more new college graduates from this school year than they did from the Class of 2012 (see Job Outlook 2013).

Take a look at what jobs are most in demand:

Source: NACE Job Outlook 2013

How can you meet representatives from companies in these and other industries? Career fairs at your school’s campus are a great place to start. Visit your school’s career services office and check out the Events Page on our website for opportunities near you.

When you do attend a career fair, you will get much more from it if you are prepared. Check out this post about Do’s and Don’ts at career fairs.

Here are five tips to make the most of …

Continue Reading »

Adopt an attitude your internship supervisor will love

Beginning a new internship can be scary, if for no other reason than the fact that you have to build a good reputation for yourself from the ground up, usually in about 10-12 weeks. Can your internship supervisor really come to trust you with meaningful work in that small timeframe?

The answer is “yes!” You can expedite the process, too, by adopting an attitude on Day 1 that your supervisor will love. From my internship experiences, here are some ways I found will help you build a good relationship with your supervisors and mentors:

1.  Act like a professional

Be pleasant and respectful. Know when to listen and when to speak. Contribute to the formal and productive office environment, don’t detract from it. Talking about your 21st birthday while the board president is within earshot is not a good idea. Texting during a meeting also won’t win you any points.

Continue Reading »

Feedback