Category Archives: Young Professionals
Answering the hardest question
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.
âWhat questions do you have for us?â
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 …
Working in the “social generation”
âSocialâ often describes millennial interns. Plenty of studies and begrudging comments from adults note that Gen-Y can hardly take a step without tweeting about it. Rather than being born into the social media era, we grew up with it, and are therefore more likely to embrace new platforms of telling people what we are doing and with whom.
For young interns, âsocialâ must take on a second meaning in the workplace. Clearly, it is important to be friendly with coworkers, but our social media presence must evolve as well. A recent article from Careerealism (http://bit.ly/1p78WQa) boldly claims that while social media cannot replace your resume, it is an additional virtual component that employers look at.
Toward this end, make sure your Twitter account is professional. While it may be fun to livetweet the latest episode of âThe Bacheloretteâ (guilty), use your professional twitter to engage in conversations about your field …
Top 10 Tips for Intern Interviews (and any job interview for that matter)
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. Youâre competing with a lot of other top candidates â donât just tell me what you think I want to hear. Give me a reason that I canât NOT hire you. Tell me youâre 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. Weâre going …
Don’t doubt the power of experience
Summer is here. For me and many other college students, that means transitioning our lifestyles from âcollege kidâ to âintern.â
Having just finished my junior year at Indiana University, the stress of final exams is still fresh in my mind. Iâm an advocate of flashcards and all-nighters before the exam, so moving into a full-time internship is an adjustment. Itâs strange (but great) that when I get home at the end of the day, I donât have to crack open a textbook.
A recent study by the New York Federal Reserve, however, makes me reevaluate some of those all-nighters, and makes me even more grateful for my internship experience thus far. Three economics professors from University of Wisconsin La Crosse, University of Pennsylvania and Auburn, respectively, sent out more than 5,000 fake resumes for online jobs to see what employers were really looking for when hiring graduates.
The results? Only …
Summertime brings new Indiana INTERNnet intern
As we begin to finally thaw out from what seemed like the longest and coldest winter, signs of spring and summer are everywhere. The trees are green, the air is fresh and the pollen count is high.
With these new beginnings comes a new season of summer interns, including myself. Now that my first days as Indiana INTERNnetâs Marketing and Special Events Intern is under my belt, I am ready for the learning experiences that await me this summer.
Having just finished my junior year at Indiana University in Bloomington, I am excited to return home to Indianapolis for the summer to continue the learning process. My previous internships in marketing and public relations at home in Indianapolis and abroad in London helped greatly strengthen my workplace experience, and I know those experiences will only grow during …
Thank you very much!
The importance of a simple thank you â it may seem nominal, but the more I read about job interview follow ups, the more I understand why it is essential.
There are a lot of people that take time out of their schedules for interviewing purposes: the person that has to filter through the resumes, the person that conducts the phone interviews and the people that conduct the actual interview, and donât forget the individual that you may have networked with to learn of the open position. The least we can do is say thanks.
Thanking the interview team
The general rule of thumb is to send a thank you note within 24 hours after your interview. The thank you note could be a simple thank you, but it could also be used to reiterate your interest in the company and position, remind the interviewer who you are or mention …
Time for some spring cleaning
Spring has sprung. Finally!
After my battle with the winter weather, I couldnât be more excited about spring. Besides enjoying the warmth, we all know that spring is a busy time with cleaning and making way for new things by getting rid of the old.
Itâs also the time of the season where some college students will be graduating soon or closing in on the last day of their internship. If youâre like me, you are going through both of these. So, thereâs no better time than now to start sprucing things up a bit for the job search. You know, spring clean it.
Where to start? What needs to be done? Here are some things we all can do.
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Tidy up the résumé
Remove all of the unnecessary items. Make sure your rĂ©sumĂ© fits the position that you are applying for. And remember, …
How are you beating the competition?
March Madness has reached the peak of excitement, a great time for college basketball lovers. Teams are competing to become the champion. Fans are competing to have the best bracket predictions. What are you competing for? A full-time job?
Follow our playbook to become a first-round draft pick.
Practice makes perfectÂ
No good player was made over night. Players develop their skills by practicing. You are practicing your skills through your internship and class projects. Display your strengths on your résumé and show off your talents.
No one hits the court without warming up first. You should be prepared for your interview. Practice for your interview by reviewing typical interview questions and rehearsing your answers with a friend, family member or advisor. Practicing will make you a well-rounded player for your dream job.
Listen to your coach, know your team
Coaches inspire people to be their best while …
Ashlyn Sanders: Making an IMPACT
Indiana INTERNnet celebrated internship excellence on Feb. 5, 2014, at the 8th Annual IMPACT Awards luncheon. Though the event is over and the winners have been announced, we are continuing to celebrate the nomineesâ successes.
This is a blog by Ashlyn Sanders, a senior Marketing & Operations Management and Psychology major at Indiana University, Bloomington.
During my sophomore year of college, I attended the business career fair at Indiana University and realized that day exactly where I wanted to work â ExactTarget.
Unfortunately, I was not chosen that year to be an intern, which encouraged me to work even harder to earn a spot the following year. One year later, however, I was chosen to be an ExactTarget Slingshot intern, and I had the time of my life that summer.
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âI would recommend that everyone gets at least one internship under their belt during …
Jessica Otteman: Making an IMPACT
Indiana INTERNnet celebrated internship excellence on Feb. 5, 2014, at the 8th Annual IMPACT Awards luncheon. Though the event is over and the winners have been announced, we are continuing to celebrate the nomineesâ successes.
This is a blog by Jessica Otteman, a senior studying Business Administration and Facility & Event Management at Grace College in Winona Lake, IN.
Last summer, I had the privilege of working as the Event Management Intern at the headquarters of the Special Olympics of Southern California in Long Beach. While my time with the Special Olympics seemed short (it lasted from May to July), I learned about what goes into making a large-scale athletic event happen by working alongside the Special Olympics staff.
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 âTo provide year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, giving them continuing opportunities …
Who are you? Who? Who? Who? Who?
Stop and think for a moment. When a potential employer is browsing your resume, what impression are they forming about you? What about in person, in the interview?
We all know first impressions mean a lot and developing your personal brand can help achieve a good, and hopefully lasting, impression. According to Forbes, âYour personal brand is all about who you are and what you want to be known for.â Personal branding is an ongoing process of forming an image about you.
Letâs discover how to develop your brand so that you can be assured what you have to offer shines.
Define who you are and who you want to be.
You know yourself and where you want to end up in life better than anyone. Remember those things during an interview and when you are networking. Let yourself and your passions shine!
What makes you unique?
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Goodwill intern puts classroom knowledge to work
Victoria is a junior studying journalism and public relations at Indiana University. She is a member of Alpha Chi Omega sorority and is also the director of the Canvas Creative Arts committee on IU’s Union Board. In her free time, Victoria enjoys running and writing.
Last year, I worked as a student ambassador for Goodwill Industries of Central Indiana. As a student ambassador, I worked on marketing Goodwill to students at Indiana University and members of the Bloomington community. My work consisted of hosting events, utilizing social media and a lot of crafting.
Goodwill Industries of Central Indiana focuses largely on giving back to the community. They do this through donations at their stores as well as working to educate people at the Indianapolis Metropolitan High School and The Excel Center, a tuition-free charter school for adults.
At Indiana University, my educational focus is journalism and public relations. This student …
8th Annual IMPACT Winners, Part I
We recognized six individuals and organizations that dedicated their energy and expertise to successful internships in 2013 during the 8th Annual IMPACT Awards luncheon, sponsored by Ivy Tech Community College. These are the first three stories; we will post the other three in an upcoming blog.
Pam Plain Intern of the Year (College/University)
Pam Plain led an international public health initiative as a summer intern with Komen Tissue Bank (KTB) at the IU Simon Cancer Center in Indianapolis.
KTB began to collect breast tissue from women all over the world, and started in Kenya, Africa, where the prevalence of a particularly aggressive type of breast cancer is common. Plain made arrangements for facilities and transportation of medical and surgical supplies and volunteer materials from the United States to Kenya.
âThis involved tens of thousands of dollars, superb communication skills and organizational skills, and an understanding …
Nothing Stops Us From Honoring Internship Excellence
Keeping with the extreme winter weather patterns weâve experienced this season, a snowstorm threatened to cancel the 8th Annual IMPACT Awards luncheon on Feb. 5. But itâll take more than that to keep us from honoring internship excellence! We had so many great stories to celebrate this year [be on the lookout for upcoming blog with winner stories]!
We were honored to have Gerry Dick, the president/managing editor of Grow INdiana Media Ventures and host of Inside INdiana Business, as our MC. It was also our pleasure to have Peter Dunn, aka Pete the Planner, as our keynote speaker. Pete is an award-winning comedian and an award-winning financial expert & comedian, author and radio host.
Pete talked about smart financial decisions to those in attendance. He spoke about the importance of paying student loans immediately after graduating college and how to save 10% of every paycheck, which …
Surviving the Unknown
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Nothing is more nerve wracking than the unknown. Not knowing what to wear. Not knowing what time to wake up. Not knowing what to eat. Not knowing what time to leave your home. All of these, plus some, went through my mind during the days leading up to my new position as the Marketing and Special Events intern for Indiana INTERNnet.
The unknown consumed my first day. Having to drive a little over an hour with Indianaâs unpredictable weather would pose a challenge. And it did. But who would have thought that I would begin my internship during the second round of the Polar Vortex? Because of the weather, I was nearly 2 hours late on my first day. I did not see that coming. Luckily, I am working with a group of caring and understanding people that admire the fact that I even drive as far as I do every day. However, it …