Tag Archives: Education

First-time intern gets top-notch experience at Juvenile Detention Center

This guest post is from Krista Rangel, a St. Mary-of-the-Woods student majoring in Criminal Justice and minoring in Sociology and Psychology. Krista will graduate in 2013.

My internship at Chicago Juvenile Detention Center was not only my first internship, but I was also the first intern to my site supervisor. I can honestly say this was one of the best experiences I have ever had. I learned about so many facets of the system — from the judges to simply being in the building; I would not have been able to gain these hands-on experiences in a classroom.

My internship at the detention center allowed me to see the system’s process first-hand. Working in a big building with a bunch of lawyers and judges was initially intimidating because I had never been in a corporate environment. After a few weeks, I got to know some of my co-workers and realized that although they have “big …

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Unexpected “Internduction”

This is a guest post written by Collin LaMothe. Currently, he interns for the Wellness Council of Indiana. He recently graduated from Ball State University with a degree in Creative and Professional Writing. He hopes to find a job where he can expand creatively—traveling, meeting new people, and writing about his own experiences.

My name is Collin LaMothe, and I am a cubicle intern.

This wasn’t my first intern gig. When I was accepted at the Wellness Council of Indiana, I couldn’t help but wonder what an out-of-shape guy like me was doing in an organization promoting health. I suppose it felt a little ironic, but my background in creative writing and design qualified me to lend some help with the main website redesign. So I signed-on for the summer, with the terms laid out plainly from day one.  I was here to assist and, most importantly, renovate http://www.wellnessindiana.com before August …

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Do you “know how 2 go” to career success?

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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Wanted: Employers Interested in a “Test-Run” with Interns

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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Ben Davis University student applies classroom skills to real world internship

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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6th Annual IMPACT Awards Wrap Up

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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WGU Indiana features Indiana INTERNnet program

Happy Tuesday, INTERNnet fans!

Did you know Indiana has 53 colleges and universities — many with multiple locations — from which you can choose to attend? With a plethora of options, there is one that may best fit your needs: our state’s newest college, WGU Indiana.

WGU Indiana is a fully-accredited online university and is specifically geared towards working adults and/or career changers. Our own Janet Boston spoke with the folks at WGU about how Indiana INTERNnet can help both traditional and non-traditional students by providing a free resource to locate an internship.

Check out the video to learn more: Janet Boston WGU Indiana Interview

Are you a non-traditional student who needs assistance in locating an internship? Leave a comment or feel free to contact us!

Ft. Wayne Graduate Retention Program to Host Breakfast

Our partners at the Ft. Wayne Graduate Retention Program will host a breakfast in November, and we want you to attend! Read below for all the details:

Who: You and the Graduate Retention Program of the Greater Fort Wayne Chamber of Commerce

What: Annual Graduate Retention Breakfast

When: Wednesday, November 2nd from 7:30 to 9 a.m. Eastern Time

Where: The Ft. Wayne Chamber of Commerce, 826 Ewing Street, Fort Wayne, IN 46802-2182
 
Why: To celebrate internships!

The keynote speaker for the morning is Dr. Michael Hicks, Associate Professor of Economics and Director of Ball State University’s Center for Business and Economic Research. Dr. Hicks will provide attendees with a great perspective on Northeast Indiana and its future. Amy Johnson from Northwestern Mutual and Matt Toler from Group Dekko, two regional employers, will speak about their internship programs.

This breakfast is FREE of charge and provides a great opportunity to …

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Indiana INTERNnet crew hits the road!

Happy Thursday, Indiana INTERNnet readers. We know it’s been a few weeks since we last posted, but that’s because both we’ve been traveling throughout Indiana to present the new website to employers, and we’ve made the rounds to a few job fairs in August.

Are you interested in finding the perfect internship match; putting together a customized internship program for your company, or having the Indiana INTERNnet team provide a website demonstration, class presentation, or attend your job/internship/career fair? If so, please contact me, Courtney Sampson — csampson@indianachamber.com or 317.264.6863.

In the meantime, check out where we’re headed in September and October, and let us know if we’ve missed an event or if we’ll be in your neighborhood sometime soon!

Happy (almost) Labor Day weekend –

Your Indiana INTERNnet team

 

Does Working While in School Really Pay Off?

As a college student, you are given a lot of freedom in how you choose to spend your time.  There are classes to attend and homework to finish.  But as you decide how to spend your time, many students have to choose whether or not working fits into their school schedule.  Before deciding whether a part-time job or internship experience is worth your time, consider the following:

The National Center for Education Statistics (Horn & Malizio, 1998) found that students who worked 1–15 hours per week had the lowest risk for enrollment interruption, even when compared with students who did not work.

Retrieved from: http://rer.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/76/1/63

What does this mean?

Working students are more likely to graduate on time vs. those who don’t work.

In a study by Van de Water (1996), student grades tended to improve as students worked more hours per week, up to a total of …

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Why Intern?

As a college student, you put in a lot of time, effort and work during the school year. There are many late nights involving lots of studying, lots of pizza, lots of energy drinks, and little sleep. Some weeks seem like a year
 and some tests seem like they were probably written in ancient Greek. But
 through it all
you survive because there is a light at the end of the tunnel: SUMMER!

But wait. In order to best prepare myself for the “real world,” everyone suggested I take advantage of the summertime to work and gain experience through an internship. This is the process that I and many of my peers have gone through this year. But, I’m here to tell you, your summer internship will be worth every minute!

First, if you are unsure of what you want to do, having an internship can help narrow your field …

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The Freddie Factor: Tales from one of Indiana INTERNnet’s own

An internship, as defined by Webster’s Dictionary, is “a student or recent graduate who works for a period of time at a job in order to gain experience.” The goal of Indiana INTERNnet is to be an internship-matching program linking employers, students, high schools, colleges and universities. It works—well, it did for me!

Here’s how:

Ever since my arrival as a freshman student at Indiana University, internships have been stressed by faculty and staff as important learning experiences. Not wanting to disappoint, that very year, I went on- the-hunt for the mighty internship. The process seemed straight forward: make a great resume, apply, and interview. How do you find the internship, though? Most colleges have career services, which provide help locating internships and jobs, as well as preparing your resume for career fairs and interviews. These services are invaluable. In addition to checking out my college’s career services offerings, I …

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Employers: Earn 6 HRCI Credits

Entry by Pat Patterson

Indiana INTERNnet is proud to reinforce its three year partnership with Intern Bridge through three Total Internship Management workshops. These workshops will provide national internship best practices to Indiana employers, further strengthening our mission to reduce the state’s “brain drain.”

Utilizing interns is the perfect way to conduct recruiting activities by identifying future hires, increasing retention rates, maintaining a pipeline of highly qualified candidates, creating and building relationships with local universities and organizations, and having short-term projects completed by an educated workforce. For the above to be true, organizations must host effective and meaningful programs. How is this done? What are students looking for? What are the expectations of universities? What can organizations do to make their programs the best they can be?

The Total Internship Management Workshop helps you build a win-win internship program within your organization. Based on the most in-depth research ever …

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Employers: Crafting Your Internship Postings to Attract Talent

Entry by Pat Patterson (from the December INTERNnetwork)

Now that you have a need for an intern(s), it is important to advertise your opportunities properly to encourage students to apply. When writing a position description, be sure to include the following key elements:

Organization overview: It is helpful to provide the potential applicant with a brief overview of your organization, along with links to your company web site, blog, social media accounts, etc. Remember, internship postings are a form of advertising and students are searching for organizations that will be a good fit for them. 

Internship title: Be specific (e.g., “marketing intern,” “event planning intern,” “accounting intern”). Giving your internship a detailed title will help the student determine if he/she wants to learn more.

Minimum GPA: Based upon a 4.0 scale, determine the minimum GPA you will accept from applicants (4.0 = A; 3.0 = B; 2.0 …

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10 Tips to Avoid End of Semester Burnout

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

 

 1. Stay organized
Keep an agenda or calendar. Write down the days and times of when all of your papers, projects and exams are due. This will serve as a great outline for you to refer to, and will ensure you don’t accidentally mix up times or dates.

2. Don’t pull an all-nighter
If you did number one, you hopefully won’t be pulling all nighters! Know your grades beforehand, and know how well you have to do on the exam or final project to get the grade you want. Be realistic and manage your time wisely. Splitting up study hours will also allow you to rejuvenate yourself.

3. Wrap up final internship projects
It’s not a good idea to try and fit last minute meetings …

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