Category Archives: Internship and Job Search
Making Yourself Indispensible in the Workplace
Entry by Jennifer Weinmann, Student Employment Consultant for the IUPUI Office of Student Employment in Indianapolis, IN
While working at a University, I have the opportunity to learn from both students and staff. Since many on-campus staff are also student employers, I hear about a variety of things that occur in the workplace. Because a part-time job or internship can often be the gateway to full-time employment, it is important that a student employee be aware of the way he or she behaves in the workplace.Â
For many students, they know that getting a job can be a challenge, but they donât often think beyond this first step. Once they have secured a position, they may be at a loss for the next steps to take in their newly found position.
Here are a few things I have determined will make you stand out and show how …
Want to Perform Your Best at Your Next Internship Interview?
Entry by Pat Patterson
Aside from the usual interview preparation â researching the organization and opportunity, preparing answers to questions, dressing in appropriate professional attire, etc. â the key to performing your best at your next internship interview is to get enough sleep the night before, so be prepared to catch some zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzsâŠâŠâŠ
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According to studies discussed in Brain Rules, a book by molecular biologist Dr. John Medina, sleep helps our brains function at peak performance:
To highlight this, Medina refers to a study in which math graduate students were given a problem and told the way to solve it.Â
âIt was a bonehead solution,â Medina says. âUnbeknownst to students, there was a much more elegant way to solve the math problem.â
The researchers, who wanted to study the effect of sleep on cognition, broke the students into two groups, Group A and Group B. With 12 …
Networking for Introverts
Entry by Jennifer Weinmann, Student Employment Consultant for the IUPUI Office of Student Employment in Indianapolis, IN
As a Student Employment Consultant, one of the biggest issues I come across is students who are uncomfortable networking. Whether itâs a part-time position, internship, or full-time position, networking is increasingly the best way to make connections that could land you a position.
If youâre like me, you may not consider yourself an extrovertâŠand that could mean anxiety at the thought of attending a networking event. For those who shy away at the thought of meeting and greeting in a room of strangers, Iâd like to suggest a âbaby stepâ to a public gathering: LinkedIn.com
Many of you may know of the site. For those who are not familiar, the main objective of the site is to bring professionals together and provide an online environment for networking. …
Students: Why You Should Have a Mentor
Entry by Pat Patterson
Let’s say you are a basketball player and would like to take your game to the next level. Now, let’s say you have an opportunity to practice your jump shot on a regular basis with Larry Bird as your coach. Would you pass up that opportunity? Of course not.
Now, apply that same logic to your career. It doesn’t make much sense to pass up an opportunity to learn from a professional who has the career you aspire to have one day. That’s where mentors come into play.
Mentors provide career and personal growth coaching. If you want more information about a particular industry or are hesitant about pursuing a certain career, you can benefit from working with a mentor.
A mentor can assist you in the following areas:
Identifying career interests and goals Assessing your strengths and weaknesses Understanding a particular industry …
Internships Open Doors
Entry by Pat Patterson – from the January 2011 INTERNnetwork
You never know when opportunity may come knocking on your door. Nick Ewing is a great example. A few days before graduating from Columbia City High School, Ewing received an unexpected call. Working at a Dairy Queen with no intention to attend college, Ewing received an internship offer that would soon alter the course of his life.
As a student at Columbia City High School, Ewing was involved with numerous video projects, as he completed more than 10 video related courses and worked as a lead anchor for his school news. When the Whitley County Community Foundation needed an intern familiar with video, Ewing’s name was mentioned, and the director of the Foundation was impressed with his work that she viewed on YouTube.
When Ewing was introduced to the Whitley County Community Foundation’s opportunity, he did not know too much …
Students: Common Interviewing Mistakes
Entry by Pat Patterson
The âdead fish handshakeâ â Always shake your interviewerâs hand firmly and confidently (just make sure you donât over do it).Â
The âpoker faceâ â When you answer questions, do so with a smile on your face and at least appear as if you are enjoying yourself. A pleasant attitude is contagious, and your interviewer will remember you as a positive person if you are pleasant.Â
Forgetting to breathe â I donât mean literally forgetting to breathe and passing out (I hope no one is that nervous during an interview) â I mean try not to talk too quickly. Take some deep breaths and slow your speech enough to be understood. If you think you may be speaking too quickly, there is a good chance that you are. Practice answering questions with a friend to gauge a good talking speed.Â
âThanks Tom, uhhâŠI …
Employers: Non-traditional Interviewing Approaches
Entry by Pat Patterson – from the January 2011 INTERNnetwork
Non-traditional Interviews
Virtual Interview
With today’s technology, interviews do not necessarily need to be face-to-face. If you are unable to meet with students for interviews or vice versa, conducting an interview via video/audio equipment may be a viable option. Many career services offices have webcams and Skype accounts to accommodate students and employers for virtual interviews. If your organization typically conducts preliminary phone screening interviews, you may even consider a virtual interview as a substitute.
Meal Interview
If you have a client-focused organization that regularly involves interacting with different individuals, including lunch or dinner meetings, consider interviewing students over lunch or dinner. By doing so, you may be able to gauge a student’s social skills and mannerisms in a more relaxed setting. Even if you are not a client-focused organization, conducting interviews over meals may …
Interview Like a S.T.A.R.
Entry by Pat Patterson
From the January 2011 INTERNnetwork:
In internship interviews, employers commonly ask behavioral interview questions that focus on past events in your life and your responses. Since a student will typically not have much work experience, behavioral interview questions are open-ended questions that focus on past performances to assess behavior â in particular, how you may respond to similar situations in the future. âCan you tell me about a goal you accomplished at a previous job?â is an example of a behavioral interview question.
Since behavioral interview questions are open-ended, they can be difficult to answer. Therefore, you need to be prepared. The S.T.A.R. technique for interviewing is a method for thoroughly answering behavioral interview questions. Using the S.T.A.R. technique, you describe your actions in past situations to answer behavioral questions.Â
S.T.A.R. is an acronym for Situation, Task, Action, Result.
Situation â Provide some …
Students: What Employers Want
Entry by Pat Patterson
Before an internship or job interview, it is important to learn as much as you can about the particular opportunity and organization. The more you know about an opportunity and organization, the more you can understand an employerâs needs, and how you may address such needs if hired. However, in general, employers will look for certain skills/qualities in potential hires. According to NACEâs Job Outlook 2011 survey, employers listed verbal communication skills as the top quality they look for:
Survey respondents indicate that verbal communication skills topped the list of âsoftâ skills they seek in new college graduates looking to join their organizations, followed by strong work ethic, teamwork skills, analytical skills, and initiative.
Employers Rank Top 5 Candidate Skills/Qualities
Verbal Communication Skills Strong Work Ethic Teamwork Skills Analytical Skills Initiative
Read more.Â
To hone your verbal communication skills, make sure you practice your elevator …
Networking to the Right Internship for YOU
Entry by Nicole Goble, Director of Recruiting and Development in the financial services industry in Zionsville, IN
Each month I have the opportunity to take someone from within our office (staff or financial representative) for breakfast and interview them for the monthly newsletter I write. It is a neat deal; I ask them 5 pretty simple questions for the newsletter and spend the rest of the time focusing on them, how their business is going and what is new personally. This week I sat down with a representative that has been with our company for 10 years and has really been a huge benefit to me as a recruiter; therefore, we talked recruiting for a good portion of the breakfast. He told me a story about a former representative that found his dream job using our sales cycle. It was so simple but so astounding, how had …
Turkey Break: You Can Never Overcook Your Intership Search
Entry by Pat Patterson
Students and employers, Thanksgiving break is a great opportunity to prepare for upcoming career fairs. Although it may not sound like fun, researching and preparing for career fairs will help all you students land internships and all you employers find the perfect internsâŠnot to mention, make you feel better after stuffing your face. After all, what else are you going to do for the six to eight hours that your turkey is cooking?
Students and employers, check out Indiana INTERNnetâs event page to view upcoming career fairs near you.
Students, check out past blog entries for career fair advice:Â Students: Preparing for a Career Fair, Career Fair Game Plan, Career Fairs 101: Create Customized Resumes, Career Fairs 101: Avoid the Herd Mentality, and Career Fairs 101: After the Career Fair.
Employers, check out our past blog entry: Career Fairs 101: Selling Your Company …
Homework for the Holidays
Entry by Brittney Horn, Membership Intern, Greater Lafayette Commerce
So I realize the title of this post may scare most readers away because who really wants to do homework over the holidays? But I promise you if you do just a little work, it will pay off tremendously in the end.
Anyone still reading out there? Moving onâŠ
The homework I am assigning to you is looking for that summer internship! (See itâs not so badâŠ). A summer internship is your time to shine and show off all that knowledge that you learn during school. Internships also provide an excuse to get away for 2-3 months to wherever you want to go! Participating in a summer internship can help you find what you want to do for the rest of your life, which is pretty important to happiness if you ask me. You can learn so much from other co-workers …
Students: Looking for Something to do this Weekend?
Entry by Pat Patterson
Are you looking for something to do this weekend? Why not polish up your resume? Now, I bet youâre all thinking, âYeah, rightâŠI thought this blog entry was going to be about some fun event or promotion.â Just keep readingâŠ
Iâm not suggesting you spend all weekend working on your resume, but it may be a good idea to add recent internships that you have not yet added. The more time that elapses after your internship, the more you will forget important details. You never know when an opportunity may arise when you will need to submit your resume, especially given the fact that college hiring and recruiting is expected to increase: Â
NACEâs current hiring index shows college hiring at 126.4, compared with 86.8 last year at this time. The October poll also found that nearly half of responding employers expect to increase …
Passion Trumps Salary When Looking for a Job or Internship
Entry by Valerie Petrey, Public Relations & Event Planning Intern, Purdue Liberal Arts Career Development
When job and internship searching there is one important question we must ask ourselves: am I going to LOVE this position? Salary, benefits, location and values all count when choosing the right position, but passion really trumps them all.
For my current internship with Purdue Liberal Arts Career Development, I conducted a survey, which circulated among liberal arts students. 89.4% of students who responded to the survey (536 students responded) said passion matters most to them in job. I couldnât agree more. While salary and location are also extremely important to my particular job search, passion is by far the number one thing that drives me.
Picture your life one year from now. Do you really want to be sitting at a desk with nothing to do, a boss you donât like …
The Secret to Finding the Perfect Job (Er, Internship)
Entry by Brittney Horn, Membership Intern, Greater Lafayette Commerce
Okay well maybe not the secret because letâs be honest, itâs still really hard to find a job at all. Iâve searched high and low, far and wide for almost a year now and itâs still a rough economy. That doesnât mean that everyone that is graduating within the year is doomed to be jobless for the rest of their lives but it does mean the more experience you have (ahem, internships), the better chance you have of getting a job. But searching for internships can be pretty frightening too. It can be a daunting task to search through websites, internship postings, and company profiles to find the perfect internship. I have become a self-proclaimed âproâ at finding great resources for finding pretty much any kind of internship you can imagine. Hopefully youâll be able to use one …