Tag Archives: employer
Employers: Recruiting Your Interns
Entry by Pat Patterson
If you plan on hiring interns for the summer of 2011, plan to begin recruiting soon if you have not started already. As a general rule of thumb, employers should begin recruiting for an internship six months in advance of its start date to allow for a large candidate pool.
Collaborating with high schools, colleges, and universities, is one of the best, most common ways to recruit interns. Indiana high schools, colleges, and universities offer many opportunities for intern recruiting on campus. Employers may participate in career/internship fairs, conduct presentations, perform on-campus interviewing and/or get involved with various career services sponsored events. It may be best to target two to three schools in close proximity with academic programs that match your ideal criteria.
Employer Presentations
Presenting on campus is a convenient way for students to learn about your organization and its job openings – both …
Turkey Break: You Can Never Overcook Your Intership Search
Entry by Pat Patterson
Students and employers, Thanksgiving break is a great opportunity to prepare for upcoming career fairs. Although it may not sound like fun, researching and preparing for career fairs will help all you students land internships and all you employers find the perfect interns…not to mention, make you feel better after stuffing your face. After all, what else are you going to do for the six to eight hours that your turkey is cooking?
Students and employers, check out Indiana INTERNnet’s event page to view upcoming career fairs near you.
Students, check out past blog entries for career fair advice: Students: Preparing for a Career Fair, Career Fair Game Plan, Career Fairs 101: Create Customized Resumes, Career Fairs 101: Avoid the Herd Mentality, and Career Fairs 101: After the Career Fair.
Employers, check out our past blog entry: Career Fairs 101: Selling Your Company …
Employers: Is Your Organization Ready for Your Intern’s Arrival?
Entry by Pat Patterson
Preparing your office for an intern’s arrival
If you have already decided you would like an intern or even have hired someone to begin soon, consider following these steps:
Orientation
Before an intern reports to work for the first time, it is recommended that the employer establish an orientation schedule. This helps the student feel like he or she is a member of a professional team and cultivates a sense of camaraderie.
Be sure your plan includes the following:
Confirmation of intern’s work schedule Introduction to staff Meeting with intern mentor Meetings with individuals at the organization with whom the intern will interact frequently Tour of the facility HR paperwork Paperwork for intern’s academic credit Parking arrangements Discussing project work in detail, assigning priority and setting deadlines Arranging any necessary training
Anything I left out? Leave your …
Employers: Is Your Organization Ready for an Intern?
Entry by Pat Patterson; from the November INTERNnetwork
Before you decide to host an intern, you should consider the benefits and whether it’s practical for your organization.
Interns can:
complete project work that may be on the backburner; increase productivity; reduce recruiting costs; and bring fresh, innovative perspectives to your organization.
Hosting an intern can allow you to:
provide a student with a rich learning experience; offer management experience to employees working as intern supervisors; market your company via word of mouth; and begin training potential full-time employees.
Is it practical?
Do you have the appropriate staff to support an intern? Do you have meaningful project work to assign? What will be the duration of the internship? What is the best time of year to host an intern? Do you plan on potentially hiring an intern full-time? Do you have difficulty finding qualified …
Looking for a Speaker? – Think Indiana INTERNnet for Your Next Event
Indiana INTERNnet welcomes the opportunity to be included on the program for your next event. Service organizations, member-based associations, employers, students and universities all benefit from the experience and knowledge included in an Indiana INTERNnet presentation.
Students and Universities
Allow the Indiana INTERNnet staff to assist with your next career fair workshop. Presentations on the following subjects are available:
• Interview etiquette
• Resumé critiques
• The power is in the connection: networking 101
Employers
Invite Indiana INTERNnet to present a brown bag lunch series to your staff. In just three short weeks, your staff will learn how to establish an internship program with the goal of mutual benefit for your company and Indiana students. One topic will be covered in each 45-minute session:
• How to find interns
• How to identify meaningful project work
• How to manage your intern
…
Employers: Hosting an International Student Intern
Entry by Pat Patterson; from the October INTERNnetwork
For some reason or another, some employers are hesitant to hire international students as interns. Gary Beaulieu, Butler University director of internship and career services, believes many businesses have false preconceptions about hiring international students. For example, “many employers think there is a lot of additional paperwork involved, which simply is not true,” he emphasizes.
An issue of the BU INTL – News dispels some of the myths commonly associated with hiring international students. Here are the truths:
International students DO NOT need a green card to intern. Students who maintain an F-1 or J-1 visa status are permitted to intern in their major field of study by federal regulation (up to 12 – or possibly 29 months – for F-1 status and up to 18 months for J-1 status). There is NO excessive paperwork needed to hire an international intern. The …
Making the (Regional) Connection
This blog was originally posted at Building a Better Indiana.
It’s time to tune into GLE! Not “Glee,” the pop culture phenomenon about a high school show choir. I’m referring to GLE, which stands for Get Linked Expo, a regional event bringing together business leaders from six Central Indiana counties: Delaware, Hamilton, Hancock, Henry, Madison and Marion.
GLE is all about one thing: connections. It will promote networking among participants (more than 1,000 people are expected to attend) and vendors (over 100 will showcase their products and services). Industries represented include technology, business services and economic development.
The Indiana Chamber is among Hoosier organizations partnering on the event. Individuals can attend for free by registering in advance. GLE will take place on November 4 at Hoosier Park Racing and Casino in Anderson from 3-7 p.m., followed by an after-hours mixer.
Take advantage of this opportunity to reach out to – …
Last Call for Nominations – Indiana INTERNnet IMPACT Awards
Friday, October 29 is the deadline for Indiana INTERNnet IMPACT Awards nominations in the categories of Intern of the Year (both college and high school), Employer of the Year (both nonprofit and profit), and Career Professional of the Year. Last year’s winners were honored at the annual IMPACT Awards Luncheon and we’ll be doing the same this time around recognizing finalists and winners on February 10, 2011.
Nominations are open to interns, employers and educational institutions statewide. Share your story of internship success by nominating yourself, your organization or another who is making an impact on stemming the Indiana “Brain Drain” through internship connections. And, remember to mark your calendar for the luncheon in February. Registration for the luncheon will open in late November.
Yet Even More Reasons for Internships
Entry by Pat Patterson
For students, if you have yet to do an internship, the findings from a recent employer poll through the National Association of Colleges and Employers may motivate you to do so. The survey indicates that a majority of employers use internship programs to identify full-time hires:
Among employers responding to NACE’s 2010 Internship Survey, 83.4 percent say internship programs are designed to help the organization recruit entry-level college hires. Around one-third (31.1 percent) say the programs are there to help students gain experience, and just under 20 percent report offering internships as a way to build relationships with key schools. (Note: Respondents were able to offer multiple answers.)
For employers who are still hesitant to hire interns, the survey also points to a positive correlation between internships and employee retention:
The survey also found a correlation between doing an internship—either with the full-time employing organization or …
Career Fairs 101: After the Career Fair
Entry by Pat Patterson
Students
After a career fair (From the 2010 September INTERNnetwork):
Jot down your notes and organize the information you collected (including contact information – it is a good idea to note where you met certain individuals and what you talked about), write thank you notes to those you met, apply for positions you are interested in, and follow up with employers about applications you submitted.
Remember, making a positive impression with people greatly influences your internship and career search. When recruiters sift through resumes and decide who they plan to interview, you are more likely to stand out if the recruiters remember who you are and the interest you showed in their particular organization.
Employers
After the Career Fair (From the National Association of Colleges and Employers NACE)
Post-fair activities do help with your recruiting efforts. Here are some ideas:
Host a networking …
Career Fairs 101: Selling Your Company to Potential Interns
Entry by Pat Patterson
From the 2010 September INTERNnetwork:
Now that you have established a need for interns in your organization, you need to make sure you have students that are interested in your internship opportunities. And although having too many interested candidates may not be a bad thing, it is important that the candidates you attract are qualified for your positions and are the right fit for your organization.
Conveying a clear, concise message about your organization and its mission is vital in attracting the type of talent you would like to fill your internships. Here are some tips on how to sell your company to interns, specifically at career fairs:
Have a section of your website dedicated to your internship opportunities, including detailed descriptions, which you can direct interns to visit (the link can be included on any literature students are provided before the career fair), attend those …
Call for Nominations/Indiana INTERNnet IMPACT Awards
Entry by Pam Norman, Indiana INTERNnet Executive Director
Today is your chance to recognize internship excellence as Indiana INTERNnet makes a call for nominations in the categories of Intern of the Year (both college and high school), Employer of the Year (both nonprofit and profit), and Career Professional of the Year. Last year’s winners were honored at the annual IMPACT Awards Luncheon and we’ll be doing the same this time around recognizing finalists and winners on February 10, 2011.
Nominations are open to interns, employers and educational institutions statewide. Share your story of internship success by nominating yourself, your organization or another who is making an impact on stemming the Indiana “Brain Drain” through internship connections. And, remember to mark your calendar for the luncheon in February. Registration for the luncheon will open in late November.
Employers: Are You Effectively Branding Your Organization?
Entry by Pat Patterson
Your organization’s brand determines its reputation, which will in turn determine how well your organization will perform. Therefore, it is important to periodically ask yourself if you are effectively doing all you can to take charge of your brand. Even if you are not hiring interns or employees for the fall, consider attending campus career fairs to spread awareness of your organization and its future work opportunities.
Consider these results from NACE’s 2010 Recruiting Benchmarks Survey, citing career fairs as the most effective branding tool:
More than 90 percent of employers taking part in NACE’s 2010 Recruiting Benchmarks Survey cited branding to the campus as very important to their program. In addition, more than 90 percent cited career/job fairs, the corporate web site, and building relationships with key faculty as the tools and activities they use to build their brand. Nearly two-thirds of those using career/job …
Indiana INTERNnet: The Next Generation
Change is in the air for Indiana INTERNnet. We are designing a new website that will position the organization to utilize new media in serving our user database populations. The plan is to unveil the new site in 2011, and here’s what we have in store:
Email integration to deliver timely, automated communication to INTERNnet users, website integration of social media tools, higher level of search functions, including filtering mechanisms designed to zero in on search results, enhanced matching technologies to provide a robust solution intended to help people discover the best internship match, and improved visability of our blog, Indiana INTERNnation, intended to offer ease-of-use for contributing authors.
Overall, we know we are competing with every other communication channel for the attention of our users and we’re working to make Indiana INTERNnet: The Next Generation a destination site that will offer a dynamic, interactive, and more engaging experience for …
Employers: Market Your Internships via Social Media
Entry by Pat Patterson
We launched our blog in June, and every so often I will check our Google Analytics account to determine how many people visit our blog and how they find our blog in the first place. Today, I noticed a trend that somewhat surprised me – the majority of traffic to Indiana INTERNnation is directed from our social media marketing, more specifically Facebook.
This made me think – although all organizations and websites are different, if you are not using social media to market your organization, you are missing out on a large, free opportunity to increase your exposure. Specifically, I encourage all organizations to market your internship opportunities or at least links to your opportunities through your social media accounts.
Think about it – Facebook was created for university and college students, a majority of which use Facebook at least once a day. If you want …