Category Archives: Employers
Half-way there: Ensuring Your Intern has the Best Experience Possible
Entry by Ashley Cashen, Talent Acquisition and Retention Coordinator, digitalKnowledge
I canât believe that Bartâs internship is at the halfway mark. While he has plenty of work to show for his time with us, time really has flown by. I was sitting at my desk a week or two ago and realized that with the halfway point approaching, our mid-internship evaluation would be soon. I created an evaluation form prior to the start of the internship, but I wanted to make sure that the evaluation process was not just about filling out a form and filing it away â I wanted to use this experience to make sure that Bartâs second half of the internship was even better than the first.
I want to take the time to fully prepare for the evaluation with Bart and make sure that he is getting the most value from his time with us. …
Take Me Out to the Career Game
Entry by Pam Norman, Indiana INTERNnet Executive Director
Last week I had the good fortune to enjoy baseball, hotdogs and career conversation.  A beautiful Indiana evening at Victory Field proved to be the perfect setting as university career services professionals and employers met to further relationships to benefit the students of Indiana. Sponsored by Career Development Professionals of Indiana, the College Career Center Consortium, Harrison College, Indiana University Career Development Center, and Northwestern Mutual Financial Network, the event attracted 106 attendees representing 59 employers and 25 college career centers. While networking was the ultimate goal of the evening, many stayed to cheer the Indians on to a 9-1 victory over the Durham Bulls.Â
As I think about the conversations I participated in, it was evident that higher education staff members work as advocates for Indiana students in a variety of ways. Discussions surrounding employer campus visits, internships, and talent …
Pace Community Action Agency’s Internship Program
Entry by Colleen Borgmeier, Summer Coordinator Intern, PACE Community Action Agency
Pace has always wanted to implement an internship program, but the funds were not available until 2009 when stimulus dollars became available through the American Recovery Reinvestment Act. This Internship Program is providing summer employment opportunities for college students, giving us the opportunity to acquire skills, gain valuable work experience, and help finance our return to school. Opportunities are being offered within Pace facilities in Washington and Vincennes and will run for a 13-week period beginning May 11th and completing August 6th.
As summer coordinator interns, Andrew and I have already learned valuable skills to use next year after graduation. We have been working to monitor the high school workers who have been placed around various small businesses in Vincennes and Washington. We are also organizing and implementing a volunteer day and researching and creating surveys and other documents …
âEmployers, be brave, donât rule anything out, and youâll be surprised by the level of work of your virtual internsâŠâ
Entry by Anastasiya Elaeva, Indiana INTERNnet Intern
Still not feeling ready to start a virtual internship program at your organization? Maybe reading another organizationâs success story may persuade you. Interactive Intelligence Inc., a global provider of IP unified business communications solutions, headquartered in Indianapolis, has been hosting virtual interns for several years. Their corporate recruiter, Debbie Linville, shared with me how the idea of running a virtual internship program was born and what types of projects interns were working on remotely.
Interactive Intelligence launched their summer internship program in 2006. That year the company hosted six bright interns from different schools in Indiana. When the summer was coming to an end, and it was almost time for the students to return to their universities, one of the companyâs managers came up with the idea that the interns could keep contributing to Interactive Intelligence projects by working remotely from their …
Educators: Creating Virtual Internship Opportunities
Entry by Pat Patterson
In the June INTERNnetwork, we included an article about virtual internships, employers hiring an intern to work outside of their organizationâs office. As an educator, when recruiting employers to offer internship opportunities for your students, it would be wise of you to discuss the possibility of such employers offering virtual internships.
A virtual internship may be an ideal situation for an employer who may not have the office space for a student. Just yesterday, I visited an intern who is interning for an advertisement agency in downtown Indianapolis. The studentâs supervisor mentioned that the only challenge she encountered was finding office space for the student. A virtual internship eliminates the need for more space or additional office equipment.
Another reason why employers may be hesitant to host an intern may be the lack of personnel that they have available to supervise the student. With a virtual …
Employers: How Do You Choose the Right Candidate for a Virtual Internship?
Entry by Pat Patterson
In the June INTERNnetwork, we included an article about virtual internships, hiring on an intern to work outside of your organizationâs office. Although there are many benefits associated with hiring a virtual intern (no office space or personnel needed for constant supervision), not every student can excel as a virtual intern.
I included this checklist in the e-newsletter, which identifies some key characteristics of a student who may be more likely to excel as a virtual intern:
Checklist of Ideal Virtual Intern Characteristics Previous internship experience Self-motivated Independent/ability to thrive with minimal supervision Technology savvy Interest in electronic communication Flexible Value/goal driven Trustworthy Timely/ability to meet deadlines More certain of career aspirations
Although this list may not be an exhaustive list of characteristics, and all students are unique, it may be a beneficial reference to use when deciding who you may hire.
With the growth of …
Avoiding Intern Isolation
Entry by Ashley Cashen, Talent Acquisition and Retention Coordinator, digitalKnowledge
Several things can lend to a negative experience for an intern â in my opinion, one of the biggest pitfalls can be isolating your intern from the rest of the company. One of the internâs expectations is to dive deeper into your company and the industry â to get an insiderâs look at how your company operates. Companies who treat their interns like temporary employees who come in and work on tasks that quite frankly, no one else wants to do, are neglecting their interns of valuable experiences.
There are several ways that we have chosen to involve Bart in the company and allow him to feel like he is a true member of the dK team. The first being very simple, but important – his location in the office. A lot of the work that Bart is participating in …
Employers – Registering with Indiana INTERNnet (Video)
For all employers who have not yet registered with Indiana INTERNnet, here is a video tutorial, which will walk you through the registration process.
What exactly is Indiana INTERNnet?
Indiana INTERNnet is an internship-matching program linking employers, students, high schools, colleges and universities by providing both high-tech and high-touch support. It is a powerful high-tech Web-based search, matching and reporting system coupled with âhigh touchâ personal assistance, a toll-free hotline to answer questions and provide internship guidance, resource materials, creating or expanding high quality internship opportunities within the state.
What if we CAN have a successful internship program?
Entry by Ashley Cashen, Talent Acquisition and Retention Coordinator, digitalKnowledge
Founded in 2003, digitalKnowledge is a smaller, but mighty IT consulting firm. Last fall it became very apparent that digitalKnowledge was missing out on a great opportunity â hosting an intern. When the idea first began circling the office, it made perfect sense. We are a smaller company, but that lends to our unique office culture – a culture that is a perfect educational environment for an undergrad intern.
Several months later, here we are, with the first dK internship program well under way. The process to get here consisted of a lot of research and conversations pondering that never-ending question, what if? What if we donât have enough work to keep the intern busy? What if we canât pay the intern enough? What if we donât have the staff to oversee the intern? And so on, and so on.
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Employers – Indiana INTERNnet: Your One-Stop Shop for Quality Internships
Entry by Pat Patterson
As all students may not understand the value of internship experience, not all employers may be aware of the benefits of hiring an intern or even how and where to find one. To help all employers with their internship apprehension and intern 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. How will my company benefit from hiring an intern?
An internship is a unique opportunity for your company. It allows you to bring fresh ideas and talent, the latest technologies, and energetic students into your company. This increases exposure to the most innovative concepts circulating in your specific market. In addition, internships are becoming …