Tag Archives: intern

Entry by Pat Patterson

Are you a 2010 graduate who is still searching for that first job?  It is no breaking news that jobs are difficult to come across in our current economy.  However, what may be news to some of you is that job search databases and networking are not the only ways to land a full-time job offer. 

One option that is continuously overlooked by graduating seniors is the possibility of acquiring a post-graduate internship.  Now, more than ever, because of the low cost of hiring interns, internships are used as a recruiting tool for full-time hires.  A recent article in Forbes reports:

“In this economic climate, people still want to get entry-level hires but don’t have the budget, so they’re trying candidates as interns and looking to hire them afterward,” says Adeola Ogunwole, CollegeGrad.com’s director of marketing and public relations.

In addition, although all internships may not …

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Entry by Pat Patterson

In the July INTERNnetwork, I included an article about social networking and how to create a “professional” Facebook profile. However, I am going to correct myself – since Facebook is less of a business-oriented site and more of a personal social networking platform, I think the word “respectable” more appropriately labels how you should represent yourself in your profile.

Let me explain what I mean by “respectable” – the content in your profile should not be content that you would not want an employer to view. Creating a respectable profile means including both personal and professional content. For example, you want to include your career goals and interests, but that does not mean you have to exclude your other interests as well. Take look at the Facebook profile I have included for your reference – For example, Anastasiya lists “journalism” and “public relations” as some of …

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Entry by Ali Norman, Career and Technical Education Intern, Department of Workforce Development

Last week I had the opportunity to do something both nerve-racking and very exciting for an intern – I pitched an idea for a commercial to the Director of Communications of the Department of Workforce Development. As a communications major, this was a huge step for me. When my supervisor approached me with the idea for a new commercial design for the agency’s job database website, I was immediately excited and got to work. After putting two years’ worth of effort into intensive communication theory and critical writing classes, this was a golden opportunity that I couldn’t possibly pass up.

I spent two weeks creating the concept, designing a storyboard, and making an outline consistent with the storyboard.  I had my co-workers read it to make sure it made sense and then finally, after many deep breaths, …

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Entry by Pat Patterson

In the July INTERNnetwork, I included an article about social media networking. Of all the current social media platforms, LinkedIn is the most obvious tool to use for professional networking because it was created for exactly that reason.

LinkedIn provides an easy to follow template to create a professional profile, but it is important to fill out your profile accurately and in detail.

Check out the included example of a professional, completed LinkedIn profile.

In addition, here are four key tips:

Make sure your profile is 100% complete – having a complete profile increases your search result rankings and shows that you took the initiative to complete your profile join groups that are related to your industries of interest and groups that are designed for networking, job, and/or internship searching, follow organizations of your interest, and take advantage of your network – on LinkedIn, you have …

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Entry by Pat Patterson

In the July INTERNnetwork, I included some tips on how to use Twitter for marketing, networking, and research.  Here is a recap:

Some tips to build a professional Twitter profile:

– Use your real name,
– use a head shot photo as your profile picture,
– create a Twitter name that is appropriate and easy to remember,
– list a website for yourself – a professional profile such as LinkedIn, an online resume, an online portfolio, or your blog,
– customize your profile with a clean, professional design, and
– tweet about your interests, internship/career search process, articles related to your industries of interest, opinion on current events in your industries of interest, etc.

Besides acting as a marketing tool, Twitter is great for networking and conducting research.  Some tips on how to use Twitter to network and research:

– Follow individuals with similar interests,
– follow Twitter …

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Entry by Ashley Cashen, Talent Acquisition and Retention Coordinator, digitalKnowledge

I can’t believe that Bart’s internship is at the halfway mark.  While he has plenty of work to show for his time with us, time really has flown by.  I was sitting at my desk a week or two ago and realized that with the halfway point approaching, our mid-internship evaluation would be soon.  I created an evaluation form prior to the start of the internship, but I wanted to make sure that the evaluation process was not just about filling out a form and filing it away – I wanted to use this experience to make sure that Bart’s second half of the internship was even better than the first.

I want to take the time to fully prepare for the evaluation with Bart and make sure that he is getting the most value from his time with us.  …

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Entry by Pat Patterson

Although you may perceive Facebook as a personal social media tool, don’t think that your friends are the only ones searching for you.  I have heard countless “horror” stories of students who did not get a job or an internship or who have even been fired because of the content in their Facebook profile.  Many organizations also routinely search for students on Facebook after reviewing their resumes – this is becoming a more and more common practice. 

In the July INTERNnetwork, I included some tips on how to create a professional Facebook profile.  To recap:

– Use a head shot photo for your profile picture and delete, un-tag, or hide unprofessional/inappropriate pictures,
– in the “About Me” section, list networking as something you are interested in,
– include interests relevant to your career goals in the “Interests” section,
– join groups or “Like” pages that are related …

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Entry by Colleen Borgmeier and Andrew Stoelting, Summer Coordinator Interns, PACE Community Action Agency

For all of you skeptics out there who are wondering whether or not an internship is worth your time, we are here to tell you that it is most definitely worth your time, and money in some cases!  Some universities, like Ball State, require that you have an internship for most majors.  Other universities don’t require it, but it is highly recommended.  Anything that can add to your resume, especially an internship, shows that you have more specific job skills in your career area. 

Andrew and I are working to organize a volunteer day, Race to PACE, where the community comes in and volunteers their time to help benefit Early Head Start and Head Start.  We were given this opportunity to coordinate this event about two weeks into our internship.  With no prior …

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Entry by Courtney Sampson, Marketing and Communications Intern, Indiana State Fair

Social media – talk about a “buzz phrase.” The mere thought of social media evokes some serious emotion from people – You either seem to love and embrace it, or you dread the thought of “tweeting,” “tipping,” or “tagging.”

NEWSFLASH! Here’s the thing: social media is not for every person or every single thing. Well, I guess that’s my opinion, but here’s why: You have to actively update your presence online! Online time = real time. If you’re not willing to update and participate, you might as well stay offline.

The best part about social media is connecting with a virtual community; granted, some of your “friends” and “followers” are neighbors, best buds, and co-workers, but face it, you probably haven’t met face-to-face with a significant portion of your social media community. Why then, would any person (or company, …

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Entry by Pam Norman, Indiana INTERNnet Executive Director

Last week I had the good fortune to enjoy baseball, hotdogs and career conversation.   A beautiful Indiana evening at Victory Field proved to be the perfect setting as university career services professionals and employers met to further relationships to benefit the students of Indiana.  Sponsored by Career Development Professionals of Indiana, the College Career Center Consortium, Harrison College, Indiana University Career Development Center, and Northwestern Mutual Financial Network, the event attracted 106 attendees representing 59 employers and 25 college career centers.  While networking was the ultimate goal of the evening, many stayed to cheer the Indians on to a 9-1 victory over the Durham Bulls. 

As I think about the conversations I participated in, it was evident that higher education staff members work as advocates for Indiana students in a variety of ways.  Discussions surrounding employer campus visits, internships, and talent …

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Entry by Anastasiya Elaeva, Indiana INTERNnet Intern

In Monday’s blog entry, I provided you with Interactive Intelligence’s perspective on virtual internships.  I also recently spoke with one of Interactive Intelligence’s virtual interns, Courtney Guard, who would like to share her advice on having a successful internship experience.  An economics major at Purdue University with minors in business management and political science, she is currently doing an internship in the office of Interactive Intelligence, a global provider of business communications solutions.  However, last fall she worked for the company from her campus, assisting with the management of Interactive Intelligence’s customer accounts.

Courtney’s started as a regular summer intern in Interactive Intelligence’s office.  When her term at the company was over, she talked to her manager about the possibility of keeping her job over the fall while working from home.  Courtney really wanted to have a professional job in the fall semester, …

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Entry by Courtney Sampson, Marketing and Communications Intern, Indiana State Fair

Last Tuesday, I shared with you a “Top 10 List of Things I’ve Learned about the Indiana State Fairgrounds.” While there is plenty more where that list came from, this week I’m shifting my focus to writing. Sounds thrilling, doesn’t it?

Seriously, whether or not you’re studying communications (like me), employers across the board will take you more seriously if you can write well. But how can you write well if you don’t know where to begin?

Well, you can start by reading and asking a lot of questions. Just ask my boss – I’m sure he’d confirm that I ask plenty of questions. Because I’m an inquisitive person, I feel like I’ve learned a lot about the State Fair, agriculture education, the 4-H, FFA, and even musical acts set to perform at this year’s fair, like Drake! As …

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Entry by Colleen Borgmeier, Summer Coordinator Intern, PACE Community Action Agency

Pace has always wanted to implement an internship program, but the funds were not available until 2009 when stimulus dollars became available through the American Recovery Reinvestment Act. This Internship Program is providing summer employment opportunities for college students, giving us the opportunity to acquire skills, gain valuable work experience, and help finance our return to school. Opportunities are being offered within Pace facilities in Washington and Vincennes and will run for a 13-week period beginning May 11th and completing August 6th.

As summer coordinator interns, Andrew and I have already learned valuable skills to use next year after graduation. We have been working to monitor the high school workers who have been placed around various small businesses in Vincennes and Washington. We are also organizing and implementing a volunteer day and researching and creating surveys and other documents …

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Entry by Anastasiya Elaeva, Indiana INTERNnet Intern

Still not feeling ready to start a virtual internship program at your organization? Maybe reading another organization’s success story may persuade you. Interactive Intelligence Inc., a global provider of IP unified business communications solutions, headquartered in Indianapolis, has been hosting virtual interns for several years. Their corporate recruiter, Debbie Linville, shared with me how the idea of running a virtual internship program was born and what types of projects interns were working on remotely.

Interactive Intelligence launched their summer internship program in 2006. That year the company hosted six bright interns from different schools in Indiana. When the summer was coming to an end, and it was almost time for the students to return to their universities, one of the company’s managers came up with the idea that the interns could keep contributing to Interactive Intelligence projects by working remotely from their …

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Entry by Ashley Cashen, Talent Acquisition and Retention Coordinator, digitalKnowledge

This past week, Bart had the opportunity to not only take part in a client meeting but to also do some traveling with our Co-Founder and Vice President, Sean. With digitalKnowledge being a consulting firm, we made the decision early on that it was imperative that we expose our intern to the client side, not just the internal works. Bart traveled to a small town in Ohio and had the opportunity to observe, meet a variety of people, and get a taste of the art of consulting.

Bart shared his experience…

“Recently I was given the opportunity to attend my first client meeting! When I was approached I wasn’t sure where I would be heading, or what digitalKnowledge was doing for the client. I was excited for a few reasons. I was given the chance to see what consulting does …

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