Category Archives: Internship and Job Search

March is here! Flowers are blooming, students are relaxing during their spring breaks and the NCAA basketball tournament is in full swing. If you aren’t a basketball fanatic, March Madness may not be important to you. We will take a different approach to March Madness by relating it to searching for internships.

Selection Sunday

In basketball, this is the day the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee reveals which teams have been selected to compete. In searching for internships, this is when you select the industry you’re interested in. If you’re searching for a marketing internship, determine if you’d rather intern at a marketing agency, non-profit organization, etc. There are many options out there, so do your research!

Sweet 16

This is the round of 16 basketball teams that have made it this far in the tournament. Once you have selected the industry, you can search for organizations. …

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Spring breaks are this month for many high schools, colleges and universities. You may be planning to kick back and relax for a week, but here’s a list of productive activities you could do instead.

1 . Catch up on homework

This may sound boring, but the end of the semester brings deadlines for projects you’ve been putting off. You don’t have to spend every day at the library studying for those final exams coming up in May. Use this time to catch up, so you don’t fall behind later. Dedicate a few hours throughout the week to work on assignments.

2 . Get organized

Students have busy lives, which can leave little time for organization. Use this free time to clean out your backpack and organize your notes. If you have the momentum, clean and organize your room/apartment/house. Spring is almost here, you can get a head start …

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A simple mistake in your cover letter or resume could be costly. Many managers will move to the next applicant if yours doesn’t shine or has mistakes. It’s important to proof read everything, and possibly have someone take a look before you send it. Some have said that searching for an internship/job is like a job in itself. That might be true, but here are some tips to help the process.

A cover letter is your first impression on the organization, and it’s vital to whether you get an interview or not. It’s tempting to use a template from the internet and adjust the content to coordinate with your information. You should never do this! Human resources and hiring managers get these types of cover letters all the time. Your goal is to stand out from the crowd.

Create a template of your own, but not a word-for-word document. …

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Last week I had the opportunity to attend the Collegiate Career Expo. I experienced both sides of the table; employer and student/job seeker. This year’s event was held in the Marriott hotel in downtown Indianapolis. It’s a great venue, with delicious coffee and tea!

After registering as a student, I was given a self-adhesive name tag and a map of the different employer booths. The self-adhesive tag would eventually become my enemy. It would constantly pull my hair out and at one point it relocated itself to the back of my arm. My advice is to purchase a plastic sleeve for name badges. This way you can insert the one they give you and clip it into place.

My next piece of advice for students is to find a spot before entering the fair, if possible, and study the map of employers. In this case, there were …

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1. Research the organization before the interview

Before an interview you should research the organization. No need to spend hours in the Restricted Section at Hogwarts; simply find out what its mission is, who the key staff members are, who its audience is, etc. This shows you are willing to put forth the effort and are interested in the organization. After your research, think of something the organization is doing well. For example, “the company’s presence on social media is great, however I could help increase awareness on Twitter.” Then discuss how your experience would accomplish this task. If you want to take it to the next level, you could look into the challenges the organization faces and brain storm possible improvements.

2. Dress the part

First impressions are a big deal, it can negatively or positively affect the way in …

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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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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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Lynn Zeheralis is a recent graduate of Butler University and former development intern at Make-a-Wish Foundation.

As a new college graduate currently going through the job search process, I am grateful for the experiences and skills I gained through Butler’s internship program. Oftentimes, you gain more than just skills to put on a resume, and those turn out to be things you value most.

In March of my junior year, I was extended an offer to serve as the Development Intern for the Make-A-Wish Foundation in Indianapolis. I had no idea when accepting this internship that not only would I gain skills many future employers would find impressive, but I would also have to opportunity to directly impact the lives of kids and their families.

In the three months I spent working for Make-A-Wish, I became much more confident in the work I did and realized how much I …

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After long winter months and tough internships, spring break is finally here for college students. If your spring break has some built-in downtime, use it to learn a new skill and build your resumé.

Intern Queen Lauren Berger has this advice for doing (a little!) work during spring break.

Get Tech: There are many online outlets to learn tech skills outside of the classroom. Check out https://www.coursera.org/ to learn basic HTML or CSS coding. If you took a technology class last semester, show what you’ve learned in the skills section of your resumé as well. Take an Externship: Spring break may be too short for a full-blown internship, but that does not mean you are out of options. Many companies host externships or job shadowing opportunities. Visit your school’s career center to find spring break openings in your area. Be Social: If you’ve always wanted to try a new …

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Many job and internship searches today begin at a computer. Whether it is following up with a recruiter from a career fair or sending a blind email after seeing a posting on a job board, chances are you’ll send your resume and cover letter via email.

Great Resumes Fast recently compiled a list of errors people make when sending their application information online. Be sure to avoid these costly mistakes to keep your email out of the trash folder.

Don’t get attached: While it makes sense to attach both your resume and cover letter to an email, it’s likely that the recruiter will ignore your cover letter entirely. They’ll opt to view your resume only. Instead, copy and paste it to the body of your email below your message, where it’s much more accessible. Keep it short and sweet: Recruiters’ time is precious. Don’t waste it on unnecessary details. Include …

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This is a guest blog by Alecia Kissel, HR/Recruiting intern at Milliner & Associates, LLC in Indianapolis.

I was just getting settled into my fall schedule, yet I already need to prepare for a new semester all over again – my last semester!

Nostalgia can move to the backburner for now.

On my mind are questions like, “What do I want to do?” “Where do I apply?” “What if I end up at the wrong company?” Valid questions, all worth discussing, but who do I talk to?

I’m lucky to have more than one mentor I truly trust. Regarding my job search though, I immediately go to my boss, Nicole. For other people, this may be a slippery slope talking to an employer about other employment opportunities, depending on the relationship. Thankfully, my boss is one of my most trusted mentors.

If I didn’t have this kind of mentorship …

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Rising seniors headed back to school face a year of important decisions. Between going out as often as possible and procuring a class schedule that begins at noon, the concept of applying for full-time jobs is an overwhelming task.

Career development professionals and college/university career centers are great resources for students looking for jobs, and a new National Association of for Colleges and Employers (NACE) study of more than 43,000 college seniors (http://bit.ly/1slNS9Z) demonstrates that more students are flocking to these offices than ever before.

The 2014 Student Survey, which NACE will release in its entirety this fall, shows a 7% increase from 2013 in the number of students visiting their schools’ career centers more than once, representing an all-time high.

Tellingly, students who reported using these career centers were more likely to have a job upon graduation. These offices are a great way to attain job leads and career …

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“Align,” “engage” and “advance” turned out to be more than just political buzzwords on Tuesday.

I had the opportunity to attend Align, Engage, Advance: Transforming Indiana’s Workforce cohosted by the Center for Education and Career Innovation and Education Workforce Innovation Network. The conference presented the Indiana Career Council’s strategic plan, and opened my eyes to the challenges Indiana faces with employment. It also reassured me the Indiana INTERNnet will play a significant role in helping provide paths for career success in Indiana.

The biggest lesson I took away from the day is that experiential learning is a driving force in the efforts to elevate Indiana’s workforce.

Lt. Gov. Sue Ellspermann said that she and the rest of the Indiana Career Council hope 60% of Indiana’s workforce will have postsecondary credentials by 2025. This includes industry-recognized certifications, apprenticeships and certificates, among others. Internships provide hands-on, real-world context to classroom studies and …

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Interviews are notoriously stressful. From your resume to your clothes and posture, it is no wonder interviewees often get little sleep before the big day. Augmenting this stress is the fact that one of the hardest questions always comes at the end.

“What questions do you have for us?”

Every job candidate expects it, but it still presents a challenge, especially if the recruiter already covered some of the ones you had prepared. While saying that all of your questions have been answered is clearly not the right response, many find it difficult to think on their feet. Luckily, there are some tried and true themes that can help guide your questions and show the recruiter that you want to know more about the position and organization.

Any place where you spend the majority of your days should share your values, so it helps to ask the recruiter what values …

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Kristen Fuhs Wells is the director of communications and development for Indiana Humanities, a statewide nonprofit that encourages Hoosiers to think, read and talk. She has been interviewing, selecting and managing interns in this role and a previous position since 2007.

Make a good first impression. I can tell a lot within the first five minutes based on your timeliness, appearance, handshake and your first few statements. Smile, speak eloquently, shake hands firmly and dress professionally. Show some personality. You’re competing with a lot of other top candidates – don’t just tell me what you think I want to hear. Give me a reason that I can’t NOT hire you. Tell me you’re the perfect candidate by connecting to our mission, explaining why you love Indiana or how your hobbies make you a more well-rounded person. I always start off asking candidates to tell me about themselves. We’re going …

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