Category Archives: Social Media

Megan Nelson is a student at St. Mary-of-the-Woods College in Terre Haute, Indiana. She is an employee at Lake Land College (LLC) in Mattoon, Illinois.

The goal of my internship was to use online marketing to increase the college’s non-traditional audience, expand its brand, and get noticed on the Internet. Part of my assignments involved using avenues like Google AdWords to reach this goal. I spent the majority of my first two weeks researching Google AdWords and how it worked before I determined the best way to learn was to “dive in head first” and create one. I generated three text ads on AdWords and conceptualized a single video ad to reach adult students from start to finish. I also explored the possibility of advertising on Pandora Radio by gathering demographic information and creating a survey via SurveyMonkey.com  to help determine if that opportunity would be worth the investment.

During …

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(Click above to view our video featuring Slingshot SEO)

Although Slingshot SEO is just six years old, its prominence in Indianapolis and the “search industry” is unparalleled. Slingshot provides search engine services for nearly 150 clients. With the evolution of search and the nature of constant change in the search industry, Slingshot relies on young professionals to fulfill their clients’ needs.

Slingshot SEO has launched a new-and-improved internship program called the “Search Scholars.” The company hosts interns in every department, including sales, marketing, client success, SEO consulting, search media, IT and human resources.

The program now includes:

1-2 résumé-worthy projects Mentor program Networking development A unique intern group project Variety of trainings for professional and personal growth Weekly structured meetings Final presentations at the conclusion of their internship

You may apply for Slingshot internships using Indiana INTERNnet, but we’d encourage you to check out Slingshot’s website, too. Best of …

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This is a guest blog by Samantha Morrison. She is a student at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College and summer intern at USA Football.

I had the pleasure of working for a company called USA Football this past summer. USA Football is the national governing body of youth football in the United States. They strive to help make the game better and safer for those who play, coach, officiate, and organize football. This company is constantly providing new resources for the game, as well as perfecting drills to promote safer game practices such as heads up tackling. I know that more recently concussions have become a hot topic, so USA Football has put a major emphasis on concussion awareness.

I love what USA Football does and I love sports, so I was super excited when I found out I would be working as a Digital Sales Intern for them this summer. My main …

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Virtual internships. They’re the bee’s knees, the cat’s pajamas, and the tiger’s spots. Virtual internships are not always considered by students or employers, but the obvious benefit is that it allows interns to work from anywhere. Interns who work remotely could be ideal for organizations that may not have the office space or personnel need for supervision.

What’s not to love? Some advantages of virtual internships include: flexibility, less limitations and more opportunities, and the chance to find a field which best suits you. If you’re a student interested in an internship, virtual gigs are perfect for someone with a part-time job, classes, or other obligations. Virtual internships give you flexibility to do your work when you want—as long as you know how to manage your time and are self-motivated. These internships may even save you money. You don’t have to dress up for work or use …

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According to Online Colleges Columnist Michael Lemaire, 37% employers use social media to research job candidates. Let that sink in. I’m talking Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social media sites such as the popular Pinterest or even YouTube. Why should this scare you a little? Well, hiring managers say they’re using social media to discover more than what is usually revealed during a traditional interview.

Allow me to attest for the majority of college students out there regarding Facebook and Twitter—employers, on many occasions, will be seeing the things potential employees actually try to hide in interviews. Even more serious for us students—65% of employers use social media sites to see if the candidate presents himself/herself professionally. Professionally? This calls for some editing.

However, this study also reports that 79% of college students are likely conformable with their online profiles being reviewed because they’ve cleaned up their pages and created …

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This guest post is from Jennifer Weinmann, Student Employment Consultant at IUPUI.

In recent weeks, I have been helping my sister (who will soon be graduating) implement strategies for her upcoming job search.  In my recent conversations with her, networking has come up time and again.  As many of us are aware, networking today most often consists of LinkedIn and other electronic sources of reaching out to individuals.  Striking up a conversation with an old contact sometimes seems hard to do in an online environment.

 That is the question I wanted to help answer:

How do I reach out to my internship network for help with my job search?

In my sister’s final years of her undergraduate degree, she completed two internships and two immersive learning projects.  All of which have left her with a great deal of knowledge and an excellent group of contacts in her LinkedIn profile.  …

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This post was written by Allison Gardner. Allison will graduate from Butler University in December with a degree in political science and international studies. She spent her summer interning on an organic coffee farm in Hawaii but returned home to Indiana to complete her degree.  

I have lived in Indiana, an expanse of verdant agricultural land, for 21 years. That being said, I am a little embarrassed to admit that my first immersion in farming took place not in the countryside of the Hoosier state, but halfway across the world. My earliest memories of traveling always include leaving the busy pace of Indianapolis and staring, with fascination, out of the windows of my mom’s minivan at fields of corn and beans. Annual visits to the state fair were a treat, highlighted by strolls through rows of chickens and goats and horses. It was like visiting a foreign country. The closest …

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I’m passionate about a lot of issues, ideas, and organizations, but one thing I enjoy more than anything else is talking with and listening to people. I genuinely enjoy learning and making connections between people. This has bode well for me thus far in my short career tenure; I’ve landed jobs because I enjoy networking and putting forth my best effort. But — networking isn’t exactly something they teach you in college, unfortunately. It’s a skill that must be learned, and it takes work, patience, and sometimes a few bucks to attend quality events. 

Looking back on my college experience, the last thing I wanted to make time for between classes, homework, student organizations, being an RA, and interning was figuring out how to network; however, I made it a priority, beginning my freshman year by joining student organizations related to my major and keeping my social media profiles professional. …

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As you wrap-up your internship, you may find that you have a few treasured weeks of summer left. What are going to do during this time? Maybe you’ll vacation, eat pizza, catch up on the latest blockbusters, relax, or prepare your dorm room or apartment. While these are all great ideas, if you do have a few spare minutes, you should consider utilizing the time to work on documenting your professional experiences.

Here at the Freddie Factor, I’m hoping for an upcoming school year packed with interviews for full-time employment. During those interviews, recruiters and other interviewers will want to hear about your internship, personal, and academic accomplishments. They also want to see and hear that you’ve prepared for the interview by researching the company, the position, and tailoring your answers accordingly.

Now is the time to update your resume—demonstrating what you did during your internships and results that …

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Chances are, you’ve heard about virtual internships—but have any of you actually been a virtual intern? (I’m guessing no, but if the answer is yes, please leave a comment below, and tell us about your experience!) Personally, I was never a virtual intern, but I’ve had friends with great virtual internship stories to share, so I thought I’d do a little research and explain to you what I’ve learned.

Both The Wall Street Journal and USA Today recently covered the increasing popularity of virtual internships—specifically opportunities with start-up companies, which are more likely to be found on the coasts and in Silicon Valley. The articles indicate, as a result of the struggling economy, the job market is extremely competitive. Therefore, completing internships—virtual or in-person—is more important than ever. In addition, companies are trying to find ways to reduce their costs, so having a virtual intern is a win-win for both …

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Entry by Pat Patterson

As 2010 comes to a close, I just want to thank all our past blog contributors for making our blog a success since its June 2010 launch date!

Thanks to Courtney Sampson who blogged about her marketing and communications internship with the Indiana State Fair.  Read her first blog entry here. 

Thanks to Ashley Cashen, Talent Acquisition and Retention Coordinator with digitalKnowledge, who blogged about digitalKnowledge’s first experience with an intern.  Read her first blog entry here. 

Thanks to Colleen Borgmeier and Andrew Stoelting who blogged about their summer coordinator internships with PACE Community Action Agency.  Read their first blog entry here. 

Thanks to Ali Norman who blogged about her career and technical education internship with the Department of Workforce Development.  Read her first blog entry here.

Thanks to the Wabash College Career Services Staff and Peer Career Advisors who blogged about their weekly activities preparing …

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Entry by Valerie Petrey, Public Relations & Event Planning Intern, Purdue Liberal Arts Career Development

All of my weeks tend to have a topic that consistently comes up in classes and at my internship. This week the trending topic is email and texting.

Our generation would much rather send an email or text than talk on the phone, and that’s okay for most people because time is precious and it’s nice to read something at one’s leisure. However, where do you draw the line?

Is it acceptable to text your boss and tell him or her you aren’t coming to work? What about emailing a future prospective employer and addressing him or her with a “Hey what’s up?” Should you secretly blind copy (BCC) a person on an email, or copy someone who hasn’t been on that particular email string? The ethics behind email and texting …

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Image via CrunchBase

Entry by Valerie Petrey, Public Relations & Event Planning Intern, Purdue Liberal Arts Career Development

Have you Googled yourself recently? If you’re internship or job searching, I highly recommend you Google yourself to see how others view you in the virtual world. 

Everyone is always talking about setting your Facebook and Twitter accounts to private, and making sure there are no inappropriate pictures of you on the Internet. Okay, we know to do all of that so when employers Google us, they know we are responsible… but when they Google us, don’t we want them to see something that will make an impact on them?

Every job seeker’s goal should be to get on the first page of Google. It’s more difficult with names like “Kayla Smith,” but it’s doable. Rather than having your Facebook pop up, what if a well-written blog came up? …

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Entry by Brittney Horn, Membership Intern, Greater Lafayette Commerce

By now everyone pretty much knows to keep their Facebook free of any wild and crazy pictures and ludicrous statuses. This fact is old news by now (or at least I hope so). But what about blogging? Can you blog on your own free will without worrying about future employers reading and analyzing every word you write? The answer is yes. Well, urm, sort of.

You can have a blog that isn’t professionally related, but you MUST be careful at what you write about. If it’s about your life in general, you should be aware of what you reveal. Do you want your future employer to know that you had a 3-day drinking binge to celebrate your birthday? Yeah I didn’t think so. If it’s a specific type of blog such as a food, fashion, music, etc. be …

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Entry by Pat Patterson

We launched our blog in June, and every so often I will check our Google Analytics account to determine how many people visit our blog and how they find our blog in the first place.  Today, I noticed a trend that somewhat surprised me – the majority of traffic to Indiana INTERNnation is directed from our social media marketing, more specifically Facebook.

This made me think – although all organizations and websites are different, if you are not using social media to market your organization, you are missing out on a large, free opportunity to increase your exposure.  Specifically, I encourage all organizations to market your internship opportunities or at least links to your opportunities through your social media accounts. 

Think about it – Facebook was created for university and college students, a majority of which use Facebook at least once a day.  If you want …

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