Tag Archives: Indiana INTERNnet
The Secret to Finding the Perfect Job (Er, Internship)
Entry by Brittney Horn, Membership Intern, Greater Lafayette Commerce
Okay well maybe not the secret because let’s be honest, it’s still really hard to find a job at all. I’ve searched high and low, far and wide for almost a year now and it’s still a rough economy. That doesn’t mean that everyone that is graduating within the year is doomed to be jobless for the rest of their lives but it does mean the more experience you have (ahem, internships), the better chance you have of getting a job. But searching for internships can be pretty frightening too. It can be a daunting task to search through websites, internship postings, and company profiles to find the perfect internship. I have become a self-proclaimed “pro” at finding great resources for finding pretty much any kind of internship you can imagine. Hopefully you’ll be able to use one …
Interning and Living in Indiana
Entry by Pat Patterson
Have you found an internship that is perfect for you, but you don’t know much about the region in Indiana where it is located? Are you only searching for internships in certain cities because you are more familiar with those areas? If so, make sure to check out Indiana INTERNnet’s regional page to learn more about what Indiana cities have to offer, including information about arts and culture, attractions, housing, networking groups, nightlife, restaurants, and shopping – after all, more likely than not, you will be living in the city where you intern.
Also, if you have your heart set on interning outside of the state, don’t completely disregard what Indiana cities have to offer. For example, according to Yahoo! Real Estate, Indianapolis-Carmel, IN is rated the 10th best city to move in America:
Indianapolis-Carmel ranked high on both stability and affordability. The average home …
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
…
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.
An Event You Won’t Want to Miss
Entry by Pam Norman, Indiana INTERNnet Executive Director
No matter how large or small, your company can benefit from hiring an intern. Now more than ever, today’s challenging business environment offers opportunity to access talented student interns willing to put their creative energy to work for your organization. Learn how easy it is to get an internship program designed and implemented!
On October 7th, Indiana INTERNnet joins forces with IndySHRM to present a workshop designed with you in mind. An interactive panel of experienced internship employers, former interns, and career services staff will highlight how to make a solid business case for hiring an intern.
Hiring managers, career services professionals, and students are invited to attend the event in downtown Indy which includes time for networking, six easy steps to creating an internships program, practical tools to help you get started and lively conversation from panelists with internship experience.
We …
Students: Internship Experience May Increase Your Salary
Entry by Pat Patterson
As you may already know, there are many benefits of interning, including:
Enhancing your educational experience, testing out a new organization or industry, exposing yourself to multiple departments within an organization, discovering your talents and aspects of a job you find appealing, gaining real-world job experience, learning new skills, building your resumé, making new connections, and setting yourself up for full-time employment.
In addition, according to NACE’s 2010 Student Survey, students from the Class of 2010 who had internship experience received higher average starting salaries than students who had no internship experience:
In terms of starting salary offers, there is a definite financial advantage for students who have internship experience, according to results of NACE’s 2010 Student Survey. Overall, students in the Class of 2010 who had internships received an average salary offer of $41,580. Meanwhile, their classmates who didn’t take internships received an average starting …
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 …
Let Your Interests Guide Your College/Career Choices
Entry by Pat Patterson
If you have not declared your college major yet, try not to be persuaded to pursue a degree solely based on the current economic conditions. Statistically speaking, in our current economy, students with certain majors have landed more job offers after graduation than students with other degrees. However, it is important to pursue a major that you are interested in, and let your passions guide your career decisions. After all, you are more likely to perform well when you have an interest in what you are studying, and it is uncertain which courses of study may “increase your odds” of landing a job one, two, three, or four years from now.
A recent article in the Chicago Tribune echoes this sentiment:
The key is to think ahead about which jobs would also let you capitalize on your interests. And the earlier you start, the more opportunities …
Employers: Use Indiana INTERNnet to Find Your Fall Interns
Entry by Pat Patterson
Looking to hire fall interns? You can use Indiana INTERNnet www.workandlearnindiana.com for free to post internship opportunities in Indiana.
1. What are the advantages of using Indiana INTERNnet for my intern search?
Indiana INTERNnet is a free statewide system with students from 436 high schools and 84 colleges and universities throughout Indiana (the numbers continue to grow). With such a large number of students with diverse interests seeking internships through our database, your organization will gain greater exposure and gain a larger pool of qualified candidates to ensure you will acquire the best talent for your needs.
Indiana INTERNnet makes it easier to search for students. When seeking a specific type of student, employers can search for matches by utilizing any combination or all of the following fields: geographic preference, minimum GPA, job category, industry, and University. Employers may also post an unlimited number of internships.
…
Employers: Creating an Internship Description
Entry by Pat Patterson
Now that career fairs are approaching, it is important to have clear, detailed descriptions of the internship opportunities that you have to offer. Your internship description should include a brief overview of your organization, the intern responsibilities/duties, desired candidate skills, and any additional logistical details.
The following is an example of an internship description:
Marketing/Communications Intern*
Indiana INTERNnet is a business-education partnership between the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, Indiana higher education institutions and high schools, and Indiana-based employers to promote the quality and quantity of internship opportunities statewide. Indiana INTERNnet serves as the state’s online matching system connecting students and employers for internship opportunities. For more information about Indiana INTERNnet, visit www.workandlearnindiana.com.
Indiana INTERNnet is currently offering one paid internship opportunity to assist current staff members with internship activities.
Intern Responsibilities:
• Follow up with employers who have posted internships in the past to collect internship metrics and …
Calling All Bloggers
Entry by Pat Patterson
We are inviting any students, employers, or educators to contribute to Indiana INTERNnation.
For students, you may want to blog about your day-to-day life as an intern. As you document your experience, you will have a portfolio to reference when you interview for your next internship or first job. For employers, you may want to blog about your internship program. Other employers may benefit from your shared information, and the blog will be free advertising for your organization. For educators, you may want to blog about success stories you have had with students or resources you may have benefitted from utilizing. There are no strict guidelines – we are willing to share any stories of mutual interest.
If you would like to become a contributing author to our blog, then contact Indiana INTERNnet’s Program Coordinator, Pat Patterson, at ppatterson@indianachamber.com or 317-264-6863.
When submitting a blog entry, please …
Southeast Indiana Economic Opportunities 2015 (EcO15) Initiative
Entry by Pat Patterson
As described in Monday and Wednesday’s blog entries, valued partners such as the Greater Fort Wayne Chamber’s Graduate Retention Program and the Southwest Indiana Education and Experience (E2) Initiative are using Indiana INTERNnet‘s technology platform to facilitate internship matches among students and employers.
To the southeast, another group, the Economic Opportunities 2015 (EcO15) Initiative is working with high school students to promote internship interest in the advanced manufacturing, tourism, and health care industries.
Here is a brief overview of EcO15:
Economic Opportunities through Education by 2015 (EcO15) is initially focusing on education and careers associated with Advanced Manufacturing, Healthcare, and Hospitality/Tourism for 10 counties in Southeastern Indiana. Counties include: Bartholomew, Dearborn, Decatur, Franklin, Jackson, Jefferson, Jennings, Ohio, Ripley, and Switzerland. Advanced Manufacturing is the value-added combination of people, processes, and products, which remains competitive in a high-wage environment in the pursuit of continuous improvement. Advanced Manufacturing …
Southwest Education and Experience (E2) Initiative
Entry by Pat Patterson
As I have stressed numerous times, internships are invaluable experiences for both students and employers. After Indiana INTERNnet was established, some regions realized the necessity to create their own additional programs to promote the significance of internships.
From a statewide perspective, Indiana internships are being promoted by Indiana INTERNnet and its regional partners. In Monday’s blog entry, I described how the Greater Fort Wayne Graduate Retention Program utilizes Indiana INTERNnet’s technology platform to facilitate internship matches among students and employers; The Southwest Indiana Education and Experience (E2) Initiative works to do the same in nine Southwestern counties.
Former Indiana INTERNnet intern, Anastasiya Elaeva, describes E2 in the August INTERNnetwork:
With just a few people on staff, the Southwest Indiana Education and Experience (E2) Initiative team, also known as the E2 initiative, has been enthusiastically working on boosting the region’s talent retention. Since its start in …