Recent News

This is a guest post written by Elizabeth Newkirk, Asian Learning Center of Indiana intern.

On Day 1 of my internship at the International Center, I attended orientation. On Day 2, I  represented the Asian Learning Center of Indiana (ALCI) at Sunnyside Elementary’s International Night.

Sunnyside Elementary School of International Studies is one of the 18 schools in Indiana participating in the ALCI’s School Pilot Program. These schools have a vested interest in educating their students about Asia and generally preparing them to be globally conscious citizens. The goals and methods of implementation of each school vary, but they serve a mutual purpose for the ALCI: to identify good practices in schools, build on successful models for other schools to adopt, and implement the best practices for teaching Asian studies at Indiana schools.

On May 17 (a.k.a. Day 2), Sunnyside Elementary hosted an event called International Night for its …

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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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Here’s a quick survey for you:

Are you an intern in the Central Indiana area? Do you work long, grueling days at the office (or sit at a desk all day with little sun exposure and minimal opportunities to move around)? Have you had a boring “social calendar” this summer—away from school, living with your parents, or just missing your friends? Do you want some fun and free opportunities to meet new friends and fellow interns?

If you answered yes to any or all of these questions, you’re invited to attend Indy Interns’ first 2012 summer event! These are events planned and coordinated by fellow interns from companies throughout Central Indiana. (We do need you to RSVP, so read on for more.)

This series of both social and professional opportunities is available to any Central Indiana area interns—so bring your fellow interns and friends. Don’t let the summer waste away. …

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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 is a guest post written by Sara Hess, Campaign Coordinator and Editor at Learn More Indiana

Career success means different things to different professionals. Whether your industry defines success as products sold, media markets reached or something else entirely, there are smart steps students—in high school or college—can take to ensure success in their chosen field.

The KnowHow2GO Indiana 2012 campaign kicks off this summer with tips, step-by-step guides and goals for students of all ages to prepare them for college and career success. There’s even a fun contest to help you win $100 for college expenses!

Of course, one of the smartest things students can do to prepare for their future careers is to intern or job-shadow a professional. While interning will give you a deeper perspective on whether you’ll enjoy a specific career path, job-shadowing for just a day or afternoon can also give you a glimpse …

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So, maybe you’ve never had an intern at you organization? You’re not sure what they would do. Do you have enough project work? What about space and a computer? How do I find the best interns? Let’s face it: you’re scared it’s glorified babysitting. Well, we have the perfect solution for you: Indiana’s Employers Guide to Internships.

And here’s the perfect opportunity for a test run with anintern. DePauw’s Winter Term program  is the perfect opportunity for both students and employers to engage in a short internship. From January 3 to January 25, 2013, you have the chance to host an intern. Sound too good to be true? It just might be. I may be biased as a DePauw student myself, but DePauw has some excellent, driven students that fight tooth and nail for internships. Really, I’ve had to claw my way into my own internship—DePauw students really do jump …

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An interesting article came across my desk recently – 10 Ways to be a Terrible Intern.  So this got me thinking; you worked really hard last year, kept up your grades, scored a great internship, and passed your finals.  So right now are you just sitting around and waiting for this rock-star internship experience to start in June?  How many of you are taking the time to get ready for your internship?  Now I know that you might be thinking that the whole reason you got the internship is so that YOU can learn from US, and that’s right!  But I’m a firm believer that you will get more than any of your classmates out of an internship if you go in from day one with the right attitude, objectives, and research.

So the article above is a good starting place, and full of pretty obvious “do-not’s” for any intern.  …

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The “young professional.” To the rest of the workforce, it’s a cryptic—even daunting—term and generation. Who are they? What do they want? What do they value?

To me, it seems simple. They don’t want your job; they want to help you do your job! The “young pro” wants to learn, assist, and prepare for the day they have their own job. Young professionals are recent college graduates or currently-enrolled college students. They seek new employment opportunities or internships. This group is young and energetic. They have experience with social media and new forms of technology you didn’t even know existed. They’re driven and creative. They all have different skills, talents, and interests. But, the bottom line is they are willing to work, and they want to learn. Young professionals are the future after all.

As supervisors and managers, don’t you want your future to be ready? If you answered …

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Tyler is a guest blogger who wanted to share the lessons learned as a high school intern. Indiana INTERNnet supports experiental learning for all individuals, including high school students, traditional college students, and career changers.

Hi, my name is Tyler. I’m a senior at Ben Davis University High School, a school where students take high school and college courses–not just a course or two–but two years of college courses. With the help of MSD of Wayne Township and Vincennes University, in just a few days, I will be graduating with my Core 40, a Technical Honors diploma, and my Associate’s Degree in Information Technology. Just about all my classmates will receive their college degrees in one of four majors: including Health Careers, Business, Liberal Arts, and Information Technology. There are 75 of us who will earn this honor.
I’ve been applying my classroom skills to real-life projects in an internship …

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This is a guest post from Megan Crowley, an associate consultant at FlashPoint. With a background in industrial/organizational psychology, Megan contributes a unique perspective based on some of the newest research and techniques in her field. Megan also interned with FlashPoint.

I’m a little biased because I enjoyed my intern experience with FlashPoint, but the savviest recruiters know the benefits interns bring to your company. In case you’re not familiar with FlashPoint, we provide customized talent management consulting in three practice areas: organizational performance, talent development, and compensation. Bottom line: we help you leverage your talent. FlashPoint partners with mid-size to large organizations to help leverage talent and develop leaders in order to accomplish strategic business objectives. We consider interns a vital part of the talent management strategy!

So, if you don’t have interns, here are some benefits:

Complete project work that may be on the backburner Increase productivity Reduce …

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Jose Fregozo is not your typical high school student. A senior at Evansville North High School, he balances a full class schedule, works 30 to 35 hours weekly as a Papa John’s assistant manager, interns at architecture and engineering firm Three I Design, competes on cross country and track teams, and takes part in a variety of philanthropy events. In a nutshell, Fregozo is one of North High School’s shining stars, and he has a humble spirit, too.
              
Many employers may not traditionally consider a high school student for their internship program, but Three I Design was open to the concept after communicating with Andy Beadles, Fregozo’s teacher at the Southern Indiana Career and Technical Center (SICTC). The facility provides high school students with classroom and hands-on training in 18 diverse areas of study using the latest emerging technologies and equipment.

The management team at Three I …

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          Today, society expects students to know their major and future career plans long before entering college. This puts a lot of pressure on students to pick a field of study, often times without fully getting to explore their options. The truth is over half of college students change their majors at least once before graduation. I was one of these students who thought I knew what I wanted, but ended up changing my mind. I recently found Indianacareerexplorer.org, which is made for students trying to decide what they want and what careers best suit their skills and values.

After registering for the site, the first step is to take three assessment tests. The first, Kuder Career Search with Person Match, gives you sixty sets of three activities. You are asked to rank which activity you would prefer to do first, second, and third. Then, you are given results about …

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February 21st marked the date of the 6th annual Indiana INTERNnet IMPACT awards, honoring outstanding employers, career development professionals, and interns. This year, the awards luncheon was held at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art in downtown Indianapolis. The awards were such a popular event this year that it sold out!

The afternoon began with a delicious soup, salad, and dessert lunch. Nancy Ahlrichs, vice president of talent management at United Way of Central Indiana, spoke about the importance of interns and the outstanding employers willing to mentor interns. Next came a short video featuring interns and employers talking about their internship experiences.

The awards followed the keynote address. The first category was for outstanding career development professional. Several mentors were nominated for their excellence in assisting students with their career paths, however the award went to Saint Mary-of-the-Woods’ Susan Gresham. Susan is the director of the …

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This guest post was written by Kaitlin Owings, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods student. Owings reflects on the challenges and exciting moments during her internship in a college admissions office.

When many college students think about future internship possibilities, large companies in “Corporate America” seem to come to mind.  However, when I thought of doing an internship in a higher education office, I thought of no better place than Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, my home at heart.

The Office of Admission at SMWC accomplishes many tasks throughout the year.  One would think that the function of this office is simple because their main goal is to either admit or decline prospective student applications.  While this may be their main task, how they get to this point is complicated and requires a lot of hard work and dedication.  Recruiting these prospective students takes a considerable amount of time and energy to travel to various high …

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  This guest post is written by Indiana INTERNnet’s own intern, Tabitha Atwood, IUPUI student. 

     When people asked me, “Tabitha, what do you want to be when you grow up?” I always thought I knew the answer. I wanted to be a pharmacist, but I considered dentistry as a “backup plan.” I started college eager to begin all my science classes. I also joined a freshman interest group where I lived with other students with the same interests and we immersed ourselves in all things medical field related. I was so sure I was doing what I loved. 
      After a couple of semesters, I realized I did not love my science classes as much as I had hoped. I had such a dilemma. I didn’t know if I should give up my original dream and move on to something else, or if I should just sick to …

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