Category Archives: Internship
Appreciate & Communicate
Entry by Brittney Horn, Membership Intern, Greater Lafayette Commerce
No matter where you work, there is most likely going to be someone that you just donāt see eye-to-eye with.Ā Letās face it ā itās inevitable that you arenāt going to get along with every single person you meet in your entire life.Ā In the work place, it is even more prone to happen because you are surrounded by the same people for at least 40 hours a week.
Unless if you are one of those āI get along with everyone all the time no matter whatā kinds of people (which is rare, and if you are one of those people, I congratulate you) you will experience feelings of frustration with other co-workers.Ā These feelings happen especially when you donāt understand where the other person is coming from.Ā This can happen often when you work with people with different types of …
Yet Even More Reasons for Internships
Entry by Pat Patterson
For students, if you have yet to do an internship, the findings from a recent employer poll through the National Association of Colleges and Employers may motivate you to do so.Ā The survey indicates that a majority of employers use internship programs to identify full-time hires:
Among employers responding to NACEās 2010 Internship Survey, 83.4 percent say internship programs are designed to help the organization recruit entry-level college hires. Around one-third (31.1 percent) say the programs are there to help students gain experience, and just under 20 percent report offering internships as a way to build relationships with key schools. (Note: Respondents were able to offer multiple answers.)
For employers who are still hesitant to hire interns, the survey also points to a positive correlation between internships and employee retention:
The survey also found a correlation between doing an internshipāeither with the full-time employing organization or …
Will The Great Internship Please Stand Up?
Entry by Brittney Horn, Membership Intern, Greater Lafayette Commerce
Whatever major you have during college, most students are urged to do as many internships that they can while they are finishing their undergrad. Itās obvious why itās important, I mean how else are you supposed to get experience? Whatās more important to search for is the GREAT internship. I feel as though there are 3 different kinds of internships: the great, the good, and the really bad. Here are few tips for finding the perfect internship.
Before accepting the internship, make sure you ask if you will have a mentor/supervisor. Most companies that provide internships will have a specific person appointed to be in charge of all of the interns. This is extremely important because if you have no one to report to then you may not learn much from the experience. Talk with previous interns from that company. These …
New Blog Author: Brittney Horn
Entry by Brittney Horn, Membership Intern, Greater Lafayette Commerce
Hi everyone! My name is Brittney Horn and I will be submitting blog posts this semester detailing my experience of being an intern! I am currently interning with the Greater Lafayette Commerce in Lafayette, Indiana. My title is āMembership Internā but Iām pretty much the āDo whatever is thrown to me internā and I love it. Letās rewind a little here though and give you a little background information about me.
I graduated from Purdue University this past May with a degree in Public Relations & Rhetorical Advocacy. I completed two internships during school while also living in a cooperative house and taking on leadership positions during my 3 1/5 years at Purdue (I first went to Indiana University).Ā These experiences led me to Vail, Colorado for this past summer working with a vacation rental company as their Public Relations Intern. …
Immersing Yourself in Career Services
Entry by Jake Zielinski, Peer Career Advisor, Wabash College Career Services
Iām Jake Zielinski, a junior Rhetoric major from South Bend, IN. Iām a Wally with high entrepreneurial spirits. In the last year I have been involved in various business activities and programs; however, Iām not exactly sure where I would like to be in a few years.Ā Dealing with business, social environments, traveling, and negotiation are all very important aspects in whatever my future shall bring.
During last summer, I was fortunate enough to work for the Wabash College Career Service office. My official title was: Event Management Intern. Within the time allotted, I was able to collaborate with two fellow interns, Brady Young and Bobby Wade, to coordinate the 5th Annual Wabash College Community Fair. Being a large event, we started preparing months in advance. Duties included communicating with local business owners to increase event participation, marketing the …
Career Services Team Building
Entry by Kristijonas Paltanavicius, Peer Career Advisor, Wabash College Career Services
My name is Kristijonas Paltanavicius. I am an international student from Lithuania at Wabash College. I am a junior theater major and aspire to have a career in theatrical directing. During my two years at Wabash I presented at a few scholarly events, received three grants to do research, did two major directing projects and found many other ways to express my creative self. This semester is particularly exciting to me because, besides all my projects and classes, I am a part of the peer career advisor team at the Career Services.
Just two months ago I was in Washington DC, and somebody at the airport asked me about my accent and where I was from. āIām from Indiana,ā I said. It came out unintentionally, and I immediately realized it was true in terms of how I felt about …
Embracing the āFairestā Things in Life
Entry by Courtney Sampson, Marketing and Communications Intern, Indiana State Fair
Let it be known to all! Hereās my new sloganā¦maybe Iāll suggest it to the āHead Fredā of the Indiana State Fair. Probably not. Anyway, here it goes ā The 2010 Great Indiana State Fair ā Making Memories Happen.
OK ā but really, this one-line slogan sums up my entire summer! Thereās been no shortage of things to do around here; I canāt say Iām surprised, though. The Indiana State Fair draws more than 900,000 visitors over 17 days. Hereās a taste of my favorite fair memories:
10 ā Riding The Blizzard with my co-worker, Kris Karolā¦AFTER he ate 2 pieces of fried chicken, green beans, mashed potatoes, and water. Good thing he didnāt drink Pepsi. It might have put āem over the edge. Oh yeah, and he sat on the outside, so I got to slam …
Highlighting Your Summer Internship on Your Resume
Entry by Pat Patterson
Now that your summer internship is complete or may come to an end soon, there is no better time than now to update your resume.Ā It is a great idea to update your resume with your recent internship as soon as possible because your experience will still be fresh in your mind.Ā
Remember to highlight your tasks, major projects, and also the results of your work.Ā Whenever possible be specific and quantify your work.Ā For example, instead of stating, ācoordinated company networking eventsā, be more specific, such as, ācoordinated three separate networking events, one for each month, which led to a 10% increase in client leads.āĀ Also, if you are still at your internship or keep in contact with your employer (which you should be doing), you can ask your supervisor to review the information you add on your resume to ensure it accurately reflects your …
Transitioning from Intern to Full-time Employee
Entry by Courtney Sampson, Marketing and Communications Intern, Indiana State Fair
I havenāt submitted an entry to Indiana INTERNnation in awhile, but thatās because Iāve been extremely busy taking advantage of the 12ā¦15ā¦18 hour days that my internship requires! Itās been really fun working at the Indiana State Fair; I canāt believe weāre finally in full-swing. As I write this, the State Fair is at the Ā½ way mark. Whatās this mean for you? It means you get to read an entry from me, and it means if you havenāt attended the Fair yet, time is running out ā what are you waiting for?
Donāt worry, Iām finishing pitching the Fair. In other newsā¦Iāve had a few opportunities come up throughout the past week. The good news? Potentially a job. The bad news? Iām still taking it day-by-day at the Fair! But, as internships wrap up, it got me thinkingā¦how …
The Final Countdown
Entry by Ali Norman, Career and Technical Education Intern, Department of Workforce Development
Last week was my final week at The Department of Workforce Development. As I have been wrapping up the last couple days by taking down personal touches to my little cube, I have to say that Iāve been a bit nostalgic while doing so. My experience has been nothing short of great this summer. Iāve had a wonderful job experience, done some great networking, added to my resume and made fabulous new friends along the way.
Iāve also been thinking about my favorite parts of this internship and came to this realization: You get what you put into your experience. My experience this summer was so stellar that I would recommend it to anyone. All the qualities of a great internship any college student would want was included: versatility in projects, a great work atmosphere, participation and …
Keeping the Communication Lines Open After the Internship
Entry by Ashley Cashen, Talent Acquisition and Retention Coordinator, digitalKnowledge
Once your companyās internship ends, itās important to make sure the communication does not end with it.Ā Hopefully at the end of an internship, both a company and its intern are parting ways with a positive experience to look back on.Ā And if everything goes as planned, both that company and the intern will want to work together in the future.Ā
Most interns still have one, maybe even two or three, years of school left before entering the āreal world.āĀ So a company can go from communicating with their intern on a daily basis to not speaking to them for a year.Ā But, a lot of things can happen in that last year of school ā your intern may attend career fairs, have job interviews, and meet potential employers.Ā How are you going to continue to stick …
How to End Your Internship on a Good Note
Entry by Pat Patterson
It is that time of the year again ā your internship is wrapping up and it becomes harder for you to focus, as thoughts of the upcoming school year flood your mind.Ā But before you pack up your materials, say your goodbyes, and take that final step out the door, it is important to make sure that you leave your internship on a positive note.Ā You may have learned a lot, contributed significantly to the organization you worked with, and made great connections and even friends, but the way you end your internship may ultimately be the way you will be remembered ā you donāt want to āpull a LeBron Jamesā and leave on a negative note with your former boss releasing an open letter expressing his disapproval after you leave (sorry about that ā Iām originally from Cleveland).
Anyways, with that being said, on AdAge.com …
An Internship Can Change Your Life
Entry by Pat Patterson
This summer, I had the privilege of coordinating internships for 59 high school interns through the Common Goal Internship Program, a collaborative effort between Indiana INTERNnet and the Indianapolis Chamber aimed at motivating at-risk high school students to continue their education, graduate, and pursue higher education.Ā Yesterday, we celebrated the studentās successful completion of the program and recognized their host employers for offering the internship opportunities. (See pictures below)
A student intern with her employer mentor.
Throughout the summer, I visited several of the students at their places of business, and at the celebration conference, a few of the students shared their experiences at the podium on stage.Ā After learning more about the studentsā experiences during their visits and the few studentsā presentations, it became apparent how influential the internships have been in their lives.Ā
During their internships, the students were able to test out their …
The Benefits of using Partnerships to Grow Your Internship
Entry by Ashley Cashen, Talent Acquisition and Retention Coordinator, digitalKnowledge
As you may recall in my earlier blog entries, digitalKnowledge chose to team up with the Interns for Indiana Program through Purdue University for their first internship.Ā We chose to go this route for a couple of reasons.Ā First and foremost, with this being our first internship in company history we could use the help.Ā Interns for Indiana has supported our internship from the beginning, including sending us resumes of students who fit our criteria and setting up an āinterview fairā for us to meet these candidates. Secondly, Interns for Indiana offers funding for smaller start-up companies.Ā
Choosing to partner with Interns for Indiana has without a doubt been one of the best decisions we could have made.Ā Not only do they offer administrative support to employers, but they also provide the interns with additional educational opportunities.Ā Bart has had …
Lessons from the Corner Office
Entry by Courtney Sampson, Marketing and Communications Intern, Indiana State Fair
You know, nothingās typical at the Indiana State Fair. Weāre the biggest fair in the state, attracting nearly 975,000 visitors throughout 17 days. Weāve got āthe worldās largest boarā and a 25-foot tall sculpture based upon Grant Woodās āAmerican Gothic.ā Weāve even got gigantic pumpkins, big deals and steep discounts, and real-life bears. (Oh my!)
Not that Iām biased or anything, but weāre the biggest and the best! And we sure arenāt typical. So, let me share a secret with you. Itās been a lifelong goal of mine to reach the ācorner office.ā You know, once you get to the corner office, it means youāre the big kahunaā¦the big cheeseā¦youāve made it to the top! Well guess what, folks? It may all be downhill from here ā cause Iāve got the corner office at the Indiana State Fairgrounds!
Really, …