Category Archives: Internship

The introduction to “State of College Hiring 2015,” opens with a statement that we at Indiana INTERNnet find to be absolute truth.

“Internships help students develop experience, better understand their careers and increase future job prospects and salaries.”

Looksharp surveyed more than 50,000 college students and recent graduates to find trends among work-and-learn experiences. Part of the study’s purpose was to show college students how to set themselves apart from the competition.

To get the “edge” in the job market, Looksharp found that multiple internships, high GPA and online career profiles help increase the chances of graduates landing the right job for them after college. From a personal perspective, I’m hoping these findings prove to be true.

As an intern at Indiana INTERNnet, I’ve been immersed in social media, a key component of many communication jobs. As my internship here creeps closer to its conclusion, I know I’m not a …

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There’s a simple way to streamline your internship search while you’re on the go.

You can bookmark www.IndianaINTERN.net to your phone’s home screen and it will look like an app amongst all your other favorites. The shortcut will take you to Indiana INTERNnet’s mobile site, where you can perform a personalized search for internships, learn more about employers searching for interns on our site, and check out our blog.

Here is how to add a shortcut to www.IndianaINTERN.net on your iPhone or Android home screen, courtesy of SpinWeb.

For iOS

Step #1: Launch a “private” Safari tab and go to www.IndianaINTERN.net.

Step #2: Tap the square icon with the upward arrow in the middle of the row.

Step #3: Tap “Add to Home Screen.”

Step #4: Confirm the name you want displayed and hit “Add.”

For Android

Since there are so many versions of Android’s …

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Ashley Hager is a fall intern with Milliner & Associates, a staffing and recruiting agency for accounting, finance, HR and administrative employment positions.

In October, I attended the Indiana Means Business Career Fair. It seemed like a normal career fair with students, alumni and employers. It was a unique experience for me, though.

I had the pleasure of attending as an employer and as a student. I got to see how it operated on both ends of the spectrum. I must say, it was extremely interesting and I learned a lot.

I have been to a career fair before, solely as a student. I have been the nervous college kid walking up to an employer, not quite knowing what to say or how to act.

This time, I got to be the employer that nervous college kids approach. I was nervous at first myself, but I was passionate about …

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Firdas Abamislimova is a senior at IUPUI’s Kelley School of Business. She is studying Management, HR and International Studies.

Can you believe Thanksgiving has come and gone?

It seems like I interviewed for my internship with Milliner & Associates (M&A) just a few weeks ago; the time has passed quickly for me.

As the Fall season winds down, this is a great opportunity to contemplate all the things for which we can be thankful.

Here at M&A, we started celebrating Thanksgiving a week before the holiday. On November 19, our team had a pitch in, where everyone shared their homemade goods to show appreciation for each other. In order for our associates to spend a little extra time with family and enjoy the holiday, our office worked a half day on Nov. 25 and was closed the rest of the week. What a great opportunity for a family get-together!

…

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The temperature is dropping. The nights are getting longer. That means it’s time to start thinking about … summer internships?

That’s right! Many students have begun searching for summer opportunities, and some employers have hired their summer interns already. Like holiday music in the mall, the process seems to start earlier each year.

If your employer utilizes www.IndianaINTERN.net, I encourage you to post your openings soon and begin searching for the perfect intern. Be thorough when describing the expectations and duties so you attract the right type of candidates for the position. Create an intern work plan and offer students as much real-world experience as possible. Remember, you are grooming the future workforce.

However, if your employer has encountered obstacles in creating an internship program, you are not alone. The Indiana Chamber’s 2015 Employer Survey revealed there is work to be done to address barriers to entry and facilitate partnerships …

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A new report from Grace College found that unemployment has fallen about 7% for 20- to 24-year-olds. There are many reasons for upcoming college graduates to be optimistic about their job searches, but there are also noteworthy trends that should keep expectations in check and even inspire extra effort. Internships and other work-and-learn opportunities continue to be a step toward work readiness and, in many cases, job offers.

The Class of 2015 has planned ahead for the future. According to Dan Kadlec of Time, 82% of current seniors considered the availability of jobs in their field before choosing a major – a 7% increase from 2014. The Accenture Strategy 2015 U.S. College Graduate Employment Study backs this up: 63% of 2015 grads were encouraged to pursue a STEM degree (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math), compared to 52% of grads from 2013 and 2014. Jobs in STEM fields are often high-wage and high-demand, …

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Ashley Hager is a fall intern with Milliner & Associates, a staffing and recruiting agency for accounting, finance, HR and administrative employment positions.

What thoughts come to mind when you think about the word “internship”?

Are they positive, negative or somewhere in between? I never really had an opinion about them. My professors kept saying how important they were, but I just couldn’t see the value at the time. Now, I’m disappointed I waited until my senior year to even start applying for an internship, but there’s no point in regretting the past. I can only change the future.

I started applying for internships knowing that they were extremely important and that I needed one to put on my résumé. I knew I would gain experience and knowledge, but I had no idea to what extent. My time here at Milliner & Associates is unlike anything I could have imagined. …

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Casey Spivey was named Intern of the Year at the annual IMPACT Awards luncheon in 2013. Today, she is a full-time employee with the Indiana State Personnel Department – the same organization she worked for as an intern when she earned the award.

Indiana INTERNnet: What have you been up to career-wise since graduation and earning an IMPACT Award?

Casey Spivey: I started my internship with the State of Indiana the day after I graduated from college. Thankfully, the Indiana State Personnel Department (SPD) offered me a Benefits Specialist positon before the conclusion of my internship, so I was able to transition directly into full-time employment with the State! I spent about a year in SPD’s Benefits Division before transferring to a Generalist position supporting the Indiana Department of Correction (IDOC). Currently, I manage Human Resources for the Pendleton Correctional Complex, which consists of three IDOC facilities.

IIN: How …

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As you know, this time of year brings the chance to transform into someone or something else. To maintain course on the education and career front, however, there are some “spooky” behaviors that do not translate well in the workplace.

You’ve nailed the interview and landed the internship that will be vital to your education and future career. Now, it’s time to avoid turning the opportunity into a horror story. Based on Universal Studios’ classic monsters, these are the kinds of interns you don’t want to be.

The Invisible Man intern: Being present is not enough. While on the job, strive to impress. One way to do this is by not displaying the bad temperament of the H. G. Wells character. Accept assignments with enthusiasm and offer your assistance regularly. Smiling while exchanging greetings with those you encounter in the workplace is also a good idea.

The Frankenstein …

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This clip is from the Indianapolis Business Journal: The Interview Issue.

Jeff Papa estimates he’s been to 45 countries in the last 25 years—for either teaching, volunteerism or vacations. He helped create an orphanage in Nepal. And last year, he went to Guantanamo Bay in Cuba to be an observer for prisoner hearings.

But international work isn’t his full-time job—even though he might like it to be.

Instead, the 46-year-old works as chief of staff for the Indiana Senate, a position he’s held since 2007. And this past June, he became Zionsville’s first mayor.

IBJ: What got you into working with government initially?

Jeff Papa: I accidentally did an internship with the [Indiana] Senate.

IBJ: How did you accidentally do an internship with the Senate?

Jeff Papa: I was a Rose-Hulman [Institute of Technology] student, and I was going out of town for the weekend with my friend …

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Firdas Abamislimova is a senior at IUPUI’s Kelley School of Business. She is studying Management, HR and International Studies.

My name is Firdas, and I am the first member of my family to go to college!

My family moved to the United States 10 years ago when I was only 13 years old.  At the time, I already knew that going to college would be a given for me. My parents gave up all their life savings and their loved ones in order to move to the land of opportunities. You see, my parents never had the opportunity to go to college, so they have always dreamed about being able to give the opportunity to their children. Where I am from, going to college was a dream that came true only for the wealthy. Finding a job upon graduation was for those of true Russian ethnicity. Why, you may …

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The answer to the question, “Is college worth it?” is a no-brainer for this grad. I answer with an emphatic, “Yes!”

The question is a central theme of the recently released Gallup-Purdue Index 2015 Report. The report surveyed more than 29,000 U.S. college graduates. One of the questions asked graduates how certain experiences in college influenced well-being and workplace engagement after graduation. A finding of particular interest to us here at Indiana INTERNnet pertained to the value of internships:

“If recent graduates strongly agree that they had any of three experiential learning opportunities — an internship related to their studies, active involvement in extracurricular activities or a project that took a semester or more to complete — their odds that they strongly agree that their education was worth the cost increase by 1.5 times.” – Gallup-Purdue Index 2015 Report

We are pleased but not exactly surprised by this figure. The …

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Ashley Hager is a fall intern with Milliner & Associates, a staffing and recruiting agency for accounting, finance, HR and administrative employment positions.

Stress. Overload. Pressure. Worry.

These are a few words that come to mind when I think about working 20 hours a week and taking 18 credit hours this semester.

You know what, though?

Experience. Mentor. Learning. Opportunity. Thankful.

These are a few words that come to mind when I think about my internship.

Still to this day, an entire month after my first day, I am shocked that I get to work at Milliner & Associates for a whole semester. This is an amazing opportunity.

I wake up at 5:30 a.m. and get home at 9:30 p.m. from my evening classes. I have never had problems with time management before. I’ve also never really had a full schedule like this before either. It is hard finding time …

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Did you know that employers nationwide offered full-time positions to their interns nearly 65% of the time in 2013? And 79% of the interns accepted the offer.

I find these figures from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) fascinating because they are a testament to the value of internships. Many employers now treat internships as an extended job interview of sorts – training the next generation of talent in order to build their workforce. A 2015 survey by NACE confirms this trend. The report reveals about 70% of employers indicated that seeking full-time, entry-level employees is a main function of their internship programs.

An additional benefit to internships is the return on investment. A study cited by Purdue University Calumet showed that in 2012, college students with internship experience made on average 15% more money than those who did not complete an internship. More coin in the pocket …

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In school, I learned about the Revolutionary War, the Pythagorean Theorem and racial injustice from “To Kill a Mockingbird.”

All this knowledge is useful in certain settings, but one has to admit there is an array of valuable skills acquired mostly from experiences outside of school.

For example, I had to figure out on my own how to properly manage finances. I recall on more than one occasion rotating Ramen noodles and peanut butter sandwiches for daily meals because I valued the latest video game over nutrition. One thing is for sure, scraping by certainly builds character.

As for professional skills, another example of life education is learning the role of government, especially at the local levels. My initial introduction came in the form of a speeding ticket. As I entered the courtroom as a teenager, I recall being as nervous as a small bird with a hungry-cat neighbor. The …

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