Recent News
National Group Names IUPUI Senior ‘Intern of The Year’
This story was posted on Inside INdiana Business.
The largest group of engineering educators in the world has selected Kirk Barber, a School of Engineering and Technology student at IUPUI, as its intern of the year. Barber received a $500 cash award and a recognition plaque, and he attended the American Society for Engineering Education‘s Conference for Industry and Education Collaboration in Mesa, Ariz.
Barber, who is expected to graduate in May with degrees in mechanical engineering and motorsports engineering, has completed three internships, including two consecutive summer internships at Allison Transmission Inc. in Indianapolis.
“Kirk is very capable and can achieve anything he sets out to do,” Bill Klenk, executive director of off highway and hybrid operations at Allison Transmission, wrote in a letter nominating Barber for the American Society for Engineering Education’s Intern of the Year Award. “He has an extremely high level of self-motivation and a strong …
Feeling the IMPACT, Part II
Indiana INTERNnet hosted the seventh annual IMPACT Awards Luncheon on Feb. 6 at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art. This year, we received more nominations than ever before, and it was a sold-out crowd. This is the final recap blog, focusing on the inspiring keynote address from Caroline Dowd-Higgins, particularly her words to employers. If you didnât join us this year, we hope to see you in 2014!
Each year, the IMPACT Awards Luncheon is our opportunity to celebrate the significance of internships and spotlight the success stories. The focus is on the interns and how they are working to become the best and brightest in Indianaâs workforce. We were inspired by each story of accomplishment and believe our âRock Star Internsâ theme couldnât have been more fitting.
This year in particular, though, we were reminded that itâs not only up to the interns to be rock …
Behind the Scenes of the IMPACT Awards
The IMPACT Awards Luncheon was a great way to see some of Indianaâs brightest interns, professionals and companies. I had the opportunity to learn why Indiana is such a great place to work and intern.
Caroline Dowd-Higginsâ speech was very moving and inspired me to create my own career plan path. She stated that 70% of employees are disengaged and unhappy. This really spoke to me because Iâve always believed in finding a career I will love going to each day and where I can make a difference.  Her speech was relatable–stating that itâs okay to change your mind and that we are each a âwork in progress.â
As an intern myself, it was great to listen to three different rock star internsâ (high school, college and nontraditional) success stories. It demonstrates the work you put forth in internships directly affects your career path, making it that much easier to land …
Feeling the IMPACT, Part I
Indiana INTERNnet hosted the seventh annual IMPACT Awards Luncheon yesterday at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art. This year, we received more nominations than ever before, and it was a sold-out crowd with 250 attendees. Weâll recap the event over the next few days. If you didnât join us this year, we hope to see you in 2014!
Gerry Dick, host of Inside INdiana Business and IMPACT Awards emcee, tweeted us immediately following the event yesterday: âDonât think thereâs talent out there? Should have been at the IMPACT Awards. Wow. Impressive young professionals.â
We couldnât agree more. Indiana is a hotbed of intelligence and talent, and thatâs exactly what we celebrate every year at the IMPACT Awards Luncheon. This year, we were blown away by our rock star interns, employers and career development professionals.
College Intern of the Year Cody Adams made significant contributions to Rocheâs HR …
Look Beyond Résumé to Predict Hiring Success
This article is from the Indiana Business Journal titled, âLook Beyond RĂ©sumĂ© to Predict Hiring Successâ by Jenny Vance, President of LeadJen.
Here is some insight into the mind of an employer. It is important to remember that although your rĂ©sumĂ© may not have a lot of relevant experience to a job you are applying for, companies still look for transferable skills and qualities. Donât get discouraged when applying for jobs or internships because your background doesnât necessarily reflect the description. Instead, try to highlight other qualifications that might show the company why you would make a great fit. See Indiana INTERNnetâs blog where other Indiana employers provide intern tidbits: Take it from the internship supervisors.
I hate resumes. Okay, “hate” may be a little strong, but I do think resumes are overrated. They tend to put prospective hires into a box and possibly limit companies from hiring outstanding employees. …
Intern InsightâWeek One on the Internship
As I begin my new journey into my internship with Indiana INTERNnet, I am most excited about creating content that will be useful to other interns and employers. I must reflect and admit that this wasnât where I thought I would be six months ago, but I am so thankful that this is where I am today. After finally graduating in August 2012, I was ready to embark on my journey of âlife after college.â I landed a job with the Indiana Department of Homeland Security after I had interned with them. I was funded by a grant, and found out that I would be losing my job at the end of the year, so I decided to explore other career opportunities. I actually created a profile through the Indiana INTERNnet website and began searching for internships. Â I was very excited about applying for the Marketing/Special Events coordinator position and …
Internship pulls one student out of comfort zone
This is a guest post by Sara Hollinshead, former intern at Pace Community Action Agency. She is a student at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College.
This semester I had the privilege to be a marketing intern at Pace Community Action Agencyâs corporate office in Vincennes, Ind. Some of my responsibilities were to provide new marketing and advertisement strategies for Pace. Pace is a local not-for-profit Community Action Agency that offers services in three counties â Knox, Sullivan and Daviess. Because Pace is a Community Action Agency, it supports area programs that are beneficial to the community. Underneath this Pace organization umbrella are several programs including Head Start, WIC, Energy Assistance, Neighborhood Stabilization, and even for profit businesses like CaptTech Consulting.
One of my duties at this internship was to come up with different marketing strategies for various events that Pace was sponsoring and implement those strategies. One area where I thought Pace …
Marketing internship provides applicable work experience
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 collegeâs 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 …
Internship helps solidify career goals
This is a guest post by Constance Chasteen, former intern at Summersville Regional Medical Center. She is a computer information systems student at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College in Wabash Valley, Ind.
For my internship, I was asked to either revamp or rebuild Summersville Regional Medical Centerâs Intranet site. Since their existing Intranet was only partially completed using Microsoft FrontPage 2003 (an outdated Web building program), I decided to implement a Content Management System (CMS) that could develop along with them.
I took into account that budgeting can be a struggle at small community hospitals. Therefore, I decided to use WordPress as the CMS of choice. It is a free, open source CMS with many plug-ins to expand functionality to meet the hospitalâs growing needs. Because others may need to modify what I have done, I did not want it to be excessively hard to use.
There was really no place for …
One intern’s experience: Thinking about a career in law enforcement?
This guest post is written by Jennie Faker, a criminal justice major and psychology, sociology, and women’s studies minor at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College.
Since the Criminal Justice program started at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College about six years ago, there has never been an intern at the Terre Haute Police Department – until now. As the City Departmentâs first SMWC intern I was excited to pave the way for future interns.
The Terre Haute Police Department has 136 sworn officers ranging from the uniform division to investigations. The main goal of the department is to protect and serve the people of Terre Haute as well as providing safety. I did not sit at a desk filing paperwork, stapling, mailing, or typing. I was in the middle of all the action! I rode with uniformed officers and conducted traffic stops, responded to domestic disputes, and served warrants. With the investigations division I sat …
Employers: A New Age of Internship Possibilities
I invite you to clear your mind of any pre-conceived notions about internships. Now, more than ever, employers have options when selecting an intern to fit your company’s particular needs. The word “internship” is expanding to include all types of structured and supervised experiential learning beyond the traditional 12-week college internship. Each type offers a distinct approach that can produce innumerable benefits for your organization, the student and our state.
Maybe youâve dismissed the idea of hosting an intern because you donât have the resources to manage a semester-long office internship. Or maybe your companyâs work lends itself to a different internship approach. There are several new internship trends that can address specific goals you have, help you tap into fresh talent and even recruit full-time employees. There are also different demographics you can consider for internships beyond the 20-year-old college student.
New Types
âą Virtual internships: Low on office …
From intern to full-time employee
There is no better case for the value of internships than the rate at which they lead to full-time jobs. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers, approximately 60 percent of 2012 college graduates who held paid internships received at least one job offer. Today, I join that group.
I began a full-time, paid internship in September with Indiana INTERNnet, a program managed by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce. This was my second post-graduate internship, following three months spent at the Indiana State Fair. Iâll admit that even I â a huge advocate for internships â was a little leery of doing a second post-graduate internship.
One of our mantras at Indiana INTERNnet is âIntern Today, Employee Tomorrow.â We say it because itâs often true.
After about two months into my internship with Indiana INTERNnet, I was offered a full-time job with the Indiana Chamber as an assistant …
The Forty-Year-Old Intern
This is a story by Felicia Edlin that ran in the Little Pink Book newsletter on Nov. 7, 2012.
“If you don’t like the road you’re walking, start paving another one.” – Dolly Parton
Not so long ago, internships were reserved for college students. That’s changing.
With high unemployment rates, many women are switching careers with the help of internships to learn fresh skills and widen their network.
These days, mid-career internships are viewed as an investment to a new career, not as a regression. Ideally, an internship could lead to a full-time position.
If not, it’s a way to keep up skills in between jobs.
Career expert J.T. O’Donnell says in-depth discussions with mentors and career advisors are essential to discovering what you are interested in.
O’Donnell suggests digging deeper into why you want to make the transition. Mid-career internships are most successful for those who plan a way …
Internship experience builds confidence, skill sets
This is a guest post by Nicole Francis, former intern at the Council on Domestic Abuse, Inc. (CODA) in Terre Haute. She is a psychology student at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College.
The goal of an internship at CODA is to gain a greater understanding of the field of social services by working to empower survivors of domestic violence. After the intern successfully completes the training program, interns begin to work at the emergency shelter, transitional housing or the CODA courthouse office.
Some of the things that I did during my internship experience include: talking to the residents, listening and letting residents voice their concerns to me. I was not confined to one area because there are several cordless phones in the house, which allowed me to move about the residence and be prepared for any calls at the same time. Interns were able to work in the donation room, linen closet, …
Discovering your career path, Part IV
This is the final installment of the series discussing methods to narrow down what jobs youâd like to pursue post-graduation. For previous entries, see personality, exploratory coursework and career aptitude tests.
You wouldnât buy a car without taking it for a test drive. You wouldnât marry someone without getting to know them.
Why would you jump into a career without first completing an internship or a similar form of experiential learning?
Experiential learning is a key step in your career development and is becoming less of an option and more of a necessity (see this USA Today College story). Not only can you âtest driveâ a career, but you acquire skills and complete real-world work in addition to what you learn in the classroom.
With that said, the goal is not to land just any internship. As you begin your search, there are several factors you want to keep in …