Recent News

So, you landed your first internship this summer, congrats!

Internships are a great way to network and get your foot in the door in the world of the corporate job market, but were you aware of the things you should be doing now? You may be thinking to yourself, “I just started, what could I possibly need to do?” Well, I am here to tell you that by starting now, you set yourself up to have a plethora of key takeaways at the end of your internship experience.

First things first, keep track of your projects! Big or small, doesn’t matter, what matters is having enough pieces to fill your portfolio and resume with, so that future employers can get the best idea for how your skills would fit with their team. The best advice I can give is to start healthy/helpful habits now. Create weekly lists of specific tasks you …

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In this new era of virtual jobs and remote learning, it’s crucial to find new ways to stay focused. I speak from experience when I say that having a hybrid internship comes with tons of perks, like wearing sweatpants or spending the day with your pet, but it’s key to stay on top of your work. The comfort of home quickly can distract you from your weekly tasks, but we’re sharing a few pointers that will help you to keep your momentum while working from home.

Have a dedicated workspace
This may seem arbitrary to some, but the truth is, where you do your work matters. An article by the American College of Healthcare Sciences indicates that if you do most of your work in bed, you will have trouble sleeping at night. Our bodies are trained to associate sleep with our beds. When you begin using your bed …

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Hello! My name is Kennedy Eineman, and I am delighted to join the Indiana INTERNnet team as its summer 2021 intern!

I’m originally from Fairland, Indiana, a small town just southeast of Indianapolis. I attended Triton Central High School, graduating with fewer than 85 people in my class. My small town gave me some of the best memories, but I fell in love with Indianapolis and hoped that one day I would be a part of it.

This past May, I graduated from Ball State University with a major in public relations and a minor in communications. In my time as a college student, I was a part of Kappa Delta sorority, where I held and maintained strong leadership roles. My experience with Kappa Delta is what steered me towards my love for outreach and interpersonal communication: two integral elements to my position at Indiana INTERNnet.

I found Indiana …

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Indiana INTERNnet and the Indiana Commission for Higher Education will celebrate Hoosier interns on social media for the third annual Indiana Intern Day on July 29, 2021!

The occasion is modeled after National Intern Day – a movement to honor interns and the employers that provide meaningful internship opportunities.

Ensure your company or school makes the pledge to join us by filling out the online pledge form. You’ll immediately receive a digital content kit with sample social media posts, graphics and ways to celebrate interns.

Employers, we know that during the time of COVID-19, your internships may look a little different. But we believe that it’s more important than ever to highlight their impact. Whether you have a virtual intern, or had to take a break from hosting interns, you can still participate. Our digital content kit includes opportunities to recognize virtual interns too. If you don’t currently have an …

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More students are interning than ever before, and more employers are recognizing that internships help develop their talent pipelines. The logic seems simple: if employers want to hire and students want to be hired, then aren’t students who complete internships more likely to land a job than those who don’t?

It’s actually quite a bit more complicated – with devastating results for some young people.

The reason: Not all internships are created equal. In addition to needing strong structure and supervision to achieve maximum learning and productivity, paid internships lead to better post-graduation results than unpaid internships. Why should getting paid matter? Isn’t it about the real-world experience?

Data from the National Association of Colleges and Employers student survey shows otherwise. While overall, students who intern are more likely to have a job after graduation than students who don’t, this difference is fully related to whether the internship is paid. …

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As more people get vaccinated and we start to see light at the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, Indiana INTERNnet (IIN) surveyed employers to understand their plans for hosting interns this summer. IIN last surveyed employers in November 2020. You may view those results here. IIN distributed the survey to all registered employers on its web site;127 employers responded.

Of those surveyed, 65% (83 employers) indicated that they typically hired summer interns prior to the COVID-19 pandemic (summer 2019), and 56% (50 employers) said they hired summer interns during the COVID-19 pandemic (summer 2020).

With their current knowledge of events surrounding COVID-19, 93% (54 employers) of those who hired summer interns in 2020 plan on hiring interns again this summer. Of that 93% that still plan on hiring, 34 employers (63%) said they still plan on hiring interns without changes to plans. Twenty employers (37%) said they plan on hiring summer 2021 interns, but with changes to plans.

Those changes are (employers were able to select any/all changes):

Changing in-house …

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Indiana INTERNnet celebrated internship excellence on February 23, 2021 at the virtual 15th Annual IMPACT Awards Celebration. While the event may be over, it’s still important to recognize the successes of our nominees! Did you miss the program? Watch it here.

Indiana INTERNnet: Congratulations on winning College Intern of the Year! To start off, what school do you attend, and when do you plan on graduating?

Mason Gordon: Currently, I’m a student at the National University of Ireland, Galway, and I’m pursuing a master’s degree in rural futures planning and innovation. I’ll be graduating from there in May, it’s a one-year master’s degree program.

I’m there on a Mitchell Scholarship, which sends 12 U.S. students each year to Ireland to pursue a year of graduate studies. To my knowledge, I’m the first person in Indiana to win that.

Before this, I was a student at Purdue University, and …

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Indiana INTERNnet celebrated internship excellence on February 23, 2021 at the virtual 15th Annual IMPACT Awards Celebration. While the event may be over, it’s still important to recognize the successes of our nominees! Did you miss the program? Watch it here.

Indiana INTERNnet: Congrats on your nomination for Intern of the Year! What school did you attend, and when did you graduate?

Ashley Harter: I attended DePauw University in Greencastle, IN and graduated early this past December of 2020!

IIN: What are you majoring and minoring in? What made you interested in pursuing that?

AH: I majored in Psychology at DePauw – I’ve always been interested in studying human behavior and cognition, and it has been interesting being able to apply this field to my marketing experience at Anvl!

IIN: Where was your internship? Describe your experience. What were your favorite aspects?

AH: I had …

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Indiana INTERNnet, the state’s leading work-based learning matching marketplace, was established in 2001. It was designed to connect Hoosier college students and employers at a time when many postsecondary graduates were leaving Indiana to start their careers. The goal? Stem the “brain drain” as more college students learned about and completed internships with Hoosier companies.

Fast forward 20 years. Over 11,000 students have secured internships via IndianaINTERN.net.  But the robust economy that grew for more than a decade – before COVID-19 pushed the pause button – revealed that keeping college graduates in Indiana wasn’t enough for employers’ insatiable demand for talent. Some are looking for students in earlier stages of their education to take on internships.

While a lot of high school students work while in school, they’re behind fast food counters, babysitting or folding clothes in a department store. Though I learned the importance of a strong work ethic …

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The IMPACT Awards is our biggest day of the year as we come together to recognize internship excellence among Hoosier students, employers and educators. But did you know that the IMPACT Awards is also Indiana INTERNnet’s single largest fundraiser of the year? In 2020, 400-plus attendees gathered for one of the state’s last face-to-face events before the term “social distancing” entered our collective vocabulary.

This year, with our virtual format and free admission, sponsorships are more important than ever to support our work in matching students and employers at IndianaINTERN.net. There are many ways to sponsor the IMPACT Awards, with investment levels starting as low as $950. All guarantee visibility prior to, during and after the event.

You also can individually recognize internship excellence by sending your favorite intern, employee or educator a gift box filled with goodies from Hoosier companies. Snag a bag of gummy bears, pretzels or fudge. …

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The 15th Annual IMPACT Awards Celebration, presented by Ivy Tech Community College, will take place on February 23, 2021, from 12-1:00 p.m. The virtual program will celebrate the successes and resilience of internships across Indiana.

For the first time, attendance is free! If you’ve never taken part in Indiana INTERNnet’s IMPACT Awards, now’s your chance. Hear best practices from this year’s winners and nominees across a wide variety of categories. Don’t miss this virtual gathering with interns, employers, professionals and educators from around the state.

The IMPACT Awards program will take place via a livestream link. Registrants will receive the link prior to the event.

IMPACT Awards sponsorships are still available! Visit our sponsorship page for more information or contact executive director Mike Slocum at mslocum@indianachamber.com.

Register today for the 15th Annual IMPACT Awards here!

Celebrate with a Gift Box

This year, you most likely won’t be sitting at a table …

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Over the spring and summer, Indiana INTERNnet  surveyed employers to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected their summer 2020 internships. You may view March’s executive summary here, April’s here and July’s here. As we end 2020, Indiana INTERNnet wanted to better understand employers’ plans to host interns in 2021. 

Indiana INTERNnet distributed the survey to all registered employers on its web site. Also, Indiana colleges/universities and economic development organizations shared it with their employer networks. A total of 154 responses were received from November 4 to November 18. 

Of those surveyed, 56% (86 employers) indicated that prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, they typically hired spring interns. Nine percent (14 employers) indicated that they were unsure if their company typically hired interns.  

With their current knowledge of events surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, 64% (64 employers) of the 100 employers who either typically hire spring interns or were unsure, said they still plan on hiring spring interns. Of that 64% who still plan on hiring, 34 employers said they still plan on hiring interns without changes to plans. Thirty employers said they plan on hiring spring 2021 interns, but with changes to plans. 

…

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In order to combat the spread of COVID-19, many Indiana colleges and universities moved to eliminating fall and spring breaks while extending winter breaks. While a longer break can provide a much-needed period of relaxation for students, it also can be the perfect time to explore micro-internships.

Micro-internships are short-term, project-based experiences that provide individuals opportunities to increase their skills, explore new career paths and build their networks. They’re an excellent opportunity for employers to hire students specifically for the purpose of completing a singular project. It’s important to note, however, that micro-internships are not eligible for the EARN Indiana program.

Unlike traditional internships, micro-internships take place over a range of hours as opposed to a set timeframe. They typically last from 10 to 80 hours of work with most projects due within a week to a month after assignment. Their short timeframes make micro-internships a great fit for this …

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Indiana INTERNnet is now accepting nominations for the 15th annual IMPACT Awards, an annual celebration of internship excellence. We encourage you to complete the online nomination form, and share how an individual has made an impact at your organization by committing to internship excellence. The nomination deadline is November 6.

Have a question about the nomination process or awards program?  View our frequently asked questions. If you can’t find the answer you’re looking for, contact Caitlyn Beck (cbeck@indianachamber.com).

What are the awards categories?

Intern of the Year (3) High School College Non-Traditional *High school and college interns must be enrolled in school during the time of their internship in 2020. The non-traditional category is for an intern who was not an enrolled student at the time of the internship or was 26 years old or older during the internship. Career Development Professional of the Year (2) High School College *This individual must …

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Right now, virtual career fairs can be confusing to employers. Schools use multiple platforms to host their fairs and it’s overwhelming trying to master ones you’ve never used before! To help remove the guesswork for you, we recently attended several career fairs and share our experiences to help illustrate what you can expect from each platform. Don’t see one included here? Let us know in the comments!

Careernomics

Registration/before the fair
Careernomics is a virtual career fair platform Purdue used for its Krannert School of Management Virtual Career Fair hosted by Purdue’s School of Management Employers Forum (SMEF). When registering for Purdue’s career fair, I went through Purdue’s site, then received a confirmation email from Careernomics with login details for the event. Careernomics prepares a short corporate profile of your organization, which you can review as well as share any edits or attachments (such as pictures or videos) you’d …

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