Category Archives: On The Job
Ryan Palmore: Making an IMPACT
Indiana INTERNnet celebrated internship excellence on Feb. 3, 2016, at the 10th 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.
Ryan Palmore graduated from IUPUI in August with a BA in philosophy. After completing a summer internship with the Indiana Commission for Higher Education (CHE), he was hired by the organization as a Student Support Specialist. After several months, he was promoted to Assistant Director â Student Support Services.
Indiana INTERNnet: What did you enjoy about working in a state agency?
Ryan Palmore: Being able to experience firsthand how various public entities operate internally and across institutions–public and private–has greatly increased my awareness of and appreciation for the hard work that goes into seeing that Indiana residents’ needs and wishes are valued.
IIN: It seems lately the value of higher education has been …
March Madness: Internship Style
March is here! Flowers are blooming, students are relaxing during their spring breaks and the NCAA basketball tournament is in full swing. If you arenât 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 Menâs Basketball Committee reveals which teams have been selected to compete. In searching for internships, this is when you select the industry youâre interested in. If youâre searching for a marketing internship, determine if youâd 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. …
Brandon Nettrouer: Making an IMPACT
Indiana INTERNnet celebrated internship excellence on Feb. 3, 2016, at the 10th 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.
Brandon Nettrouer will graduate from Indiana State University this May. Then he will relocate to South Bend to start a full-time career with Gibson, the company he completed an internship with last summer.
Indiana INTERNnet: Congratulations on securing a full-time position with Gibson! What excites you about starting your career there?
Brandon Nettrouer: I’m ready to invest into the next chapter of my life with Gibson. They are a great company full of greater people who strive to work harder than their competition. That is what intrigues me about my future with Gibson â having the opportunity to roll up my sleeves and start meaningful work. I am humbled to …
How to Rock a Career Fair
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 yearâs event was held in the Marriott hotel in downtown Indianapolis. Itâs 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 …
7 Ways “The Office” Relates to College Life
1 . Struggling through another PowerPoint presentation.
All professors have a different style of teaching. Some will write material on the dry-erase board, provide printed materials for you to follow along with, or utilize the magical PowerPoint presentation. PowerPoint is a great tool for classroom lectures, but you might only get half of your notes if youâre a slow writer. Professors may post these presentations for the class on Blackboard or Canvas. If not, students have resorted to taking photographs of the slides using their phones and later copying the information into their notes.
2 . Spending hours writing a paper and forgetting to click save.
This might have been the worst moment in Kevinâs life, spending all that time cooking the chili, bringing it to work, carrying it up the stairs only to spill it before anyone has a chance to taste it. The …
Michelle Tannerâs Guide to Balancing School and Internships
Follow these internship tips in the style of the lovable twin from Full House and âyouâve got it, dude!â
When youâre parked in a three hour parking spot outside your internship and youâve almost passed the limit.
Parking can be a difficult task, especially in a downtown location. It can also be expensive if your internship doesnât offer a parking allowance. Before you spend hundreds of dollars in garage parking, research alternative options. You may have a longer distance to walk, but it could save you more money in the long run.
Sometimes you might complete a project at your internship that youâre uncertain about.
Internships can be intimating at times. You want to impress your supervisor, but on the other hand youâre still learning the ropes. If an assignment is unclear, ask questions! Itâs better to ask questions than wasting time …
Making an IMPACT: Sara Jones
The IMPACT Awards Employer of the Year is netlogx! We had a chance to interview one of the employees of netlogx, Sara Jones. Sara started as an intern with the organization and made her way to becoming a full-time consultant. She is a true story of a successful internship!
Indiana INTERNnet: What attracted you to intern at netlogx?
Sara Jones: When I started as an intern at netlogx, I did not have a very deep understanding of netlogx services, but I did know that netlogx was a growing small business with a great culture, which really appealed to me.
IIN: What learning experiences and projects did you have during your internship?
SJ: During my internship, I was able to take ownership of several internal administrative initiatives, but also was assigned part-time to a client project. Being part of the project team was incredibly valuable because it gave me the …
Steps to Prep for Graduation
Spring is almost here and itâs time to start thinking about graduation. College graduation is much different than high school. Teachers arenât going to hold your hand throughout the process, you have to take the initiative to get the ball rolling.
1 . Make sure youâre ready to graduate
Contact your advisor and verify you have completed all the requirements for your degree. Many students run into being a class or two short of completion. If thatâs the case, you may have to take classes over the summer, but could still walk in the graduation ceremony.
2Â . Order your cap and gown
Many students are opting out of participating in the graduation ceremony. Maybe you agree, but you have put so much work into earning this degree that you deserve the recognition. This is a special day for you and your family to celebrate your great accomplishment. You …
Former Indiana INTERNnet student user utilizes web site as employer
Allison Becker is the HR Generalist at Becker Landscape in Indianapolis, and she oversees recruiting, hiring, employee issues, insurance claims and benefits. She utilized Indiana INTERNnetâs resources as a student and now uses the web site as an employer.
Indiana INTERNnet: Tell us why you love internships!
Allison Becker: Internships are wonderful because they offer so many new experiences for students that they donât receive in a school setting. Students learn to adapt and think on their feet. My internships were vital because I got to work with a variety of people from different socioeconomic and geographic areas and learned how they see the world, especially the working world. For me, learning to interact with people is one of the most rewarding things.
IIN: What internships did you complete as a student?
AB: I completed internships with a nursery called CM Hobbs. I was a research aid for a semester …
Experience produces lifetime internship advocate
Over the 17 weeks as a marketing intern for Indiana INTERNnet, I found my stride in helping the small nonprofit achieve its mission of connecting interns and employers throughout the state.
Not surprisingly for an organization that promotes internships, Indiana INTERNnet knows how to provide an excellent experience for its intern. I managed its social media networks, approved employers registering to use its services and generated blogs about internship topics. All of these tasks bolstered my résumé and upped my odds of landing my dream job.
On Facebook and Twitter, I shared materials on interns, internships and job search tactics such as cover letter and rĂ©sumĂ© writing. I posted Indy-related photos to Instagram and wrote a weekly announcement on LinkedIn. I measured Indiana INTERNnetâs success through web analytics and generated a weekly social media report for the staff. I grew from a clumsy social media novice to a skillful knowledge-sharing …
Research, personal experience reinforce value of internships
The introduction to âState of College Hiring 2015,â opens with a statement that we at Indiana INTERNnet find to be absolute truth.
âInternships help students develop experience, better understand their careers and increase future job prospects and salaries.â
Looksharp surveyed more than 50,000 college students and recent graduates to find trends among work-and-learn experiences. Part of the studyâs purpose was to show college students how to set themselves apart from the competition.
To get the âedgeâ 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, Iâm hoping these findings prove to be true.
As an intern at Indiana INTERNnet, Iâve been immersed in social media, a key component of many communication jobs. As my internship here creeps closer to its conclusion, I know Iâm not a …
Gen Z: Coming to a workplace near you
In recent discussions about generational differences, Millennials dominated the conversation.
However, experts such as Nancy Ahlrichs of FlashPoint say another generation is emerging. Called âGeneration Z,â people born between 1990 and 1999 are beginning to enter the workplace. The introduction of Gen Z makes five generations in todayâs workforce: Veterans (70 and older), Boomers (Ages 51-69), Generation X (Ages 39-50), Millennials (Ages 26-38) and Generation Z (Ages 16-25).
Ahlrichs says as with Millennials, employers should consider the characteristics and expectations of Gen Z in order to foster high productivity and retain top talent.
Gen Z prefers a teaching-style of leadership rather than following orders without explanation. The preferred communication channels for Gen Z are face-to-face; tweets and texts; Instagram, Vine, Snapchat; and no phone calls/meetings. Interestingly, Gen Z typically does not use Facebook because thatâs the social media site used by their parents and grandparents. Gen Z requires feedback on …
Internships increasingly important in post-graduation job search
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 â 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, …
Casey Spivey: Making an IMPACT
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 â 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 SPDâs 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 …
Avoid âspookyâ behavior in the workplace
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 âspookyâ behaviors that do not translate well in the workplace.
Youâve nailed the interview and landed the internship that will be vital to your education and future career. Now, itâs time to avoid turning the opportunity into a horror story. Based on Universal Studiosâ classic monsters, these are the kinds of interns you donât 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 …