Category Archives: On The Job
How to Ace a Phone Interview
As I searched for a job after I graduated college, I was navigating a new kind of hiring process. In my previous experiences, I would receive a request for a face-to-face interview, and they either hired me or they didnât. I became used to excelling in those types of interviews, and thought my job search would be easy. It wasnât. For the first time in my life, employers were requesting a phone interview instead of in-person. This meant all my face-to-face skills were worthless, as my interviewer couldnât see my body language or facial expressions. A phone interview is structured differently from an in-person interview. So hereâs what you need to know to ace one.
Set up the ideal environment.
If youâve never had a phone interview, itâs exactly what it sounds like. You schedule a specific time for a phone call, and the interviewer asks you questions over the …
The Job Search and Dating: More Similar Than You’d Think
After I graduated, I was still in the midst of my job search for an âadultâ job/career. So I continued at my internship and working retail, searching for that coveted full-time position. At the same time, I navigated the dating world, trying both online dating sites and various events to meet people.
I noticed uncomfortable similarities between dating and my job search. Here are the two biggest lessons I learned.
Both parties won’t immediately reveal their true intentions.
Most of the time, on that first or second date, you won’t be completely honest with each other. You won’t say that youâre hung up on your ex, and youâre trying to date to forget them. Your date wonât say that theyâre just lonely because theyâre living by themselves, and have no intention of talking to you after this date because they have commitment issues. But you both feign interest, and warily …
Tips to Become an Intern-to-Hire Success
At Indiana INTERNnet, we love a good intern-to-hire story. Weâre always on the lookout for tales of individuals around the state who were able to turn their internship into a full-time job offer. As a senior in college, I enjoy these stories on a personal level for the hope that they bring me. Throughout this summer, Iâve heard of several different people who were hired after their internship was over, and itâs made me wonder â what could I do to help make that happen? So, for both your benefit and my own, here are some tips to help all of us interns (hopefully) get hired:
Take Initiative
It is not unusual for interns to run out of things to do at work. Rather than give in to the temptation of playing on your phone or doing other non-work-related activities on your down time, find ways to be productive. If …
How to Overcome the Afternoon âWallâ
I am always at my most productive in the morning. Armed with a hot cup of coffee and a delightfully full to-do list, I can sit down and start tackling tasks left and right. It feels great to cross multiple things off my list before lunchtime! Without fail though, I come up on an anti-productivity wall in the afternoon. Sometimes even by 2 p.m., my creativity feels used up and Iâm craving a refill in my coffee mug (which is not necessarily a healthy solution). Based on my experience and research, Iâve come up with a few things that make it easier to overcome âthe wallâ.
Move!
When your work requires that you be seated at a desk in front of a computer, itâs important to take time to get up every once and a while. Taking a lap around the office can …
How To Handle Feedback Like A Pro
Being an intern can be hard. Youâre juggling school work, internship work, along with the other aspects of being in your 20s. Sometimes youâre doing so many things you question if youâre doing them right. This is why feedback is the most important aspect of your internship, but sometimes it can be hard knowing what to do with it. Below Iâve included three strategies to use feedback to its fullest potential.
Take it and run.
Feedback from your supervisors and peers can be a great asset, especially if itâs in a form of a mid-term review or working feedback. The best thing to do with feedback is to take it and use it. If your supervisor says that your work needs to be double checked, you should make sure to double check your work in the future. This will not only show your supervisor that you value their opinion, but …
Farewell from the Summer Intern!
Today is my last day as the videography and marketing intern for Indiana INTERNnet! Iâm very sad for my time here to be overâit flew by so quickly. Thanks to everyone who watched my videos, read my blogs, or just kept in touch with Indiana INTERNnet during this fun summer.
Iâve lived in Indianapolis for my whole life, but this internship has allowed me to experience some wonderful new things in my city. I got to work in the middle of downtown, spend the day at The Childrenâs Museum of Indianapolis as an adult (and see their behind-the-scenes collections!), network with fellow interns at the Rooftop Garden at the Fountain Square Theatre Building, spend a whole day exploring the Indiana State Fair, and more. One of the goals of Indiana INTERNnet is to retain local talent through engagement events, and it was so fun to be in the center of …
Tips & Tricks for a Polished LinkedIn Profile
If youâre a college student, thereâs no doubt youâve heard of LinkedIn. The professional social network is extremely popular, and Iâm sure more than one professor, career counselor or mentor has told you to join it.
LinkedIn can be intimidating to use at first for inexperienced students, but a solid LinkedIn profile can go a long way in your internship and post-grad career search. According to LinkedIn, 9 in 10 companies use LinkedIn to recruit new hires. Additionally, you can apply for many jobs and internships directly through LinkedIn.
Here are five suggestions for students to polish their LinkedIn profiles.
Add a (good!) photo.
This one is more important than you might thinkâaccording to LinkedIn, profiles with pictures get viewed 14 times more than those without! Use a clear, high-quality photo of you in appropriate clothing. No grainy shots, cropped group pictures or crazy expressions. A simple smiling photo is …
Interns Connect for Indy’s Future
Last Friday, the Indy Chamber hosted Indy Intern Connection in partnership with Indiana INTERNnet at the Fountain Square Theatre Building. Employers and interns from all over the city were invited to hang out on the rooftop garden, play duckpin bowling, and network.
The Director of Policy & Civic Engagement at the Indy Chamber and Indiana INTERNnet Board of Directors Member, Matt Impink, played a big part in organizing the event. He said that one of the main goals of the event was to encourage connections between interns, who will ideally be the future professionals of Indiana. He, and many other groups in Indiana, hope to encourage young Hoosiers to continue to live and work here. This combats the âbrain drainâ issueâthat many of Indianaâs best and brightest leave Indiana to work elsewhere.
Many interns were from Indiana, but there was a decent handful who werenât. In addition to encouraging current Indiana …
Shoes, HR, and Shadows
Hattie Hynes is a Recruiting/HR Marketing Intern with Milliner & Associates. She will graduate from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business in 2019.
Through my internship with Milliner & Associates, I have ample opportunity to network and learn about the community of Indianapolis businesses. So much so that I was able attend an afternoon job shadow with seven different human resource (HR) representatives at Finish Line, Inc.
Finish Line is an Indianapolis-based company that brings primarily athletic shoes to the consumer in retail stores nationwide. Employing over 10,000 people at over 900 retail locations, Finish Line prides themselves on delivering âthe epic finishâ to all customers. There are six full-time Milliner & Associates employees and an intern (thatâs me) heading over to such a massive company for half a day was a shock to say the least. Iâm not going to lie to you guys⊠I was a bit nervous going …
Jack-of-All-Trades or Master of None?
I went to a small high school with extremely limited class choices. The only language available to take was Spanish, and the electives didnât go much beyond drama or choir. When I decided to go to Indiana University, I was so excited to have a variety of options. IU is hugeâI could learn anything I wanted to! I could learn how to write code, then turn around and read about famous Mexican muralists, then get some advice from a Pulitzer-winning journalist. (All things Iâve done, by the way. Thanks, IU!) The possibilities were endless.
As I progressed in my college career, I realized how difficult it is to master more than a few skills or subjects. It seemed like every job opportunity I came across wanted me to have infinite abilitiesâwriting, editing, graphic design, social media, videography, photography, web design, event planning, marketing, and the list goes on. Overwhelmed by …
Meet the New Intern!
Hi, all! Iâm so excited to be the marketing and videography intern this summer at Indiana INTERNnet! Iâm going into my senior year of college at Indiana University, where I study journalism and Spanish. I was born and raised in Indianapolis. I love this city, and am thrilled to be working right downtown.
Iâve been creating videos for fun since high school, but I never thought about making it into a career until an IU student organization I’m involved with, RUF, asked me if I would make videos for them.
This is the first time that Indiana INTERNnet has taken on a marketing and videography intern, and Iâm so glad they did! But why hire a videography intern?
In our Internet-immersed culture, video can make a huge impact! Take it from the countless viral videos floating around on social media these daysâpeople love a good video, and a good video will …
Intern Queen’s Tips for Graduation and Career Success
Lauren Berger, CEO and founder of InternQueen.com, is a highly sought after career and internship expert. She has published two books, âWelcome to the Real Worldâ and âAll Work, No Pay.â Earlier this month, Berger shared advice in a webinar about graduation and career success for recent and upcoming graduates. For more post-college and career advice, visit laurenbergerinc.com.
Preparing for graduation
If you donât have a job lined up, calm down! The hiring process differs among industries, so your offer may come later than your roommate. You should set a three-month deadline to have a job after graduation. A deadline will help you stay on track to obtaining your goal.
Make sure youâre passing your classes and all of your credits are obtained. There are plenty of students who were forced to delay their graduation due to failed classes or a missed credit. If youâre participating in the graduation …
The Expectation Versus Reality of my Internship
Kelsey Davis is the marketing and public relations intern at the Crossroads of America Council. She is a junior at Butler University, double majoring in marketing and art + design.
My first impression of an internship was at nine years old with the movie, âThe Devil Wears Prada.â From that moment on, I feared the day I would have to face my own version of Miranda Priestly.
When I became a junior at Butler University, it was time to start applying for internships and inching towards a life-long career. Interviews often have a stigma for being brutal. These situations make you question your own thoughts and actions and wonder if itâs too soon for a follow-up call. If an offer is secured, you can only breathe momentarily until your first day.
Iâve compiled my top five expectations versus realities of an internship. Specifically, this applies to my role as …
Chase Bogan: Making an IMPACT
Indiana INTERNnet celebrated internship excellence on February 8, 2017, at the 11th Annual IMPACT Awards Luncheon. Though the event is over and the winners have been announced, we are continuing to celebrate the nomineesâ successes.
These are their stories.
Chase Bogan graduated from Indiana University-Bloomington in 2016 with a bachelorâs degree in studio art, with a concentration in graphic design. He interned with Hanapin Marketing, and was hired as a full-time employee.
Indiana INTERNnet: How did you like your internship with Hanapin Marketing?
Chase Bogan: It was actually much different than I anticipated. I knew nothing about Hanapin Marketing before applying, and assumed I wouldnât really fit in, or enjoy an internship at a marketing place. I was the typical college student that didn’t know what I wanted to do, but thought I knew what I did not want to do. Luckily, I knew almost right away that I’d …
Four Ways to Gain Experience Before an Internship
Many college students run into the hurdle of not having enough experience for an internship. This is a common issue: how do you gain experience to gain experience at an internship? The good news is that there are other ways to bulk up your resume and enhance your skills. Check out my suggestions below!
1 . Side hustle
A part-time job, or side hustle, is a great way to develop various skills to add to your resume. Part-time jobs can enhance your soft skills: communication, decision-making, teamwork, work ethic and more. While it may be difficult to balance your class schedule with a job, the practice can improve your organization and planning skills. For tips on how to manage this juggling act, check out this blog.
2 . Campus involvement
Campus involvement looks great on your resume for added experience and shows you have initiative. Leadership development and civic-engagement programs, …