Tag Archives: Internship Interview

Internships aren’t just for gaining real-world experience in your desired field. They are more than just programs to receive college credit, too.

Interns have an especially advantageous position within a company that has potential to turn into a full-time offer. It’s best for interns and employers to sit down at the beginning of their experience to discuss some goals they wish to accomplish with each other. If full-time employment is a possibility at the end of the internship, interns can treat their 10-12 weeks as an ongoing interview. Here is some more advice on how you can be remembered as the rock star intern who turned into their next full-time employee.

Be dependable. Employers want to see that you are arriving on time to work, successfully hitting your deadlines, and ready to help out whenever needed. Pay attention to detail and do your work consistently well. Network with your co-workers. …

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The importance of a simple thank you – it may seem nominal, but the more I read about job interview follow ups, the more I understand why it is essential.

There are a lot of people that take time out of their schedules for interviewing purposes: the person that has to filter through the resumes, the person that conducts the phone interviews and the people that conduct the actual interview, and don’t forget the individual that you may have networked with to learn of the open position. The least we can do is say thanks.

Thanking the interview team

The general rule of thumb is to send a thank you note within 24 hours after your interview. The thank you note could be a simple thank you, but it could also be used to reiterate your interest in the company and position, remind the interviewer who you are or mention …

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Spring has sprung. Finally!

After my battle with the winter weather, I couldn’t be more excited about spring. Besides enjoying the warmth, we all know that spring is a busy time with cleaning and making way for new things by getting rid of the old.

It’s also the time of the season where some college students will be graduating soon or closing in on the last day of their internship. If you’re like me, you are going through both of these. So, there’s no better time than now to start sprucing things up a bit for the job search. You know, spring clean it.

Where to start? What needs to be done? Here are some things we all can do.

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Tidy up the résumé

Remove all of the unnecessary items. Make sure your résumé fits the position that you are applying for. And remember, …

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Stop and think for a moment.  When a potential employer is browsing your resume, what impression are they forming about you? What about in person, in the interview?

We all know first impressions mean a lot and developing your personal brand can help achieve a good, and hopefully lasting, impression. According to Forbes, “Your personal brand is all about who you are and what you want to be known for.” Personal branding is an ongoing process of forming an image about you.

Let’s discover how to develop your brand so that you can be assured what you have to offer shines.

Define who you are and who you want to be.

You know yourself and where you want to end up in life better than anyone. Remember those things during an interview and when you are networking. Let yourself and your passions shine!

What makes you unique?

…

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We recognized six individuals and organizations that dedicated their energy and expertise to successful internships in 2013 during the 8th Annual IMPACT Awards luncheon, sponsored by Ivy Tech Community College. These are the second in a two-part series on winners.

Claudine Meilink

Career Development Professional of the Year

Since 2006, Claudine Meilink has played a key role in facilitating student-employer connections at Purdue University. She wears many hats within the Center for Career Opportunities (CCO), including career counselor, employer coordinator and data collector.

Meilink volunteers as a Faculty Fellow and has served on search committees for various departments on campus. She also serves as an at-large board member with the Career Development Professionals of Indiana and also held leadership positions with Midwest ACE (Association of Colleges and Employers), even chairing two of its conferences.

“Claudine is one of those people who makes working in career services at …

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So, it’s now officially August, and if you’re anything like me, you’re looking at your summer reflecting on everything you’ve accomplished.  My full-time internship at Slingshot SEO has definitely been a contributing factor to my fast paced summer–but I honestly don’t mind.  It’s crazy to think that I worked forty hour weeks and actually enjoyed it!

Back in December when I was frantically applying for internships, IndianaINTERN.net helped me find exactly what I was looking for. The countless hours I spent searching for internships, researching companies, submitting my resume and hitting “repeat” on that very process finally paid off when Slingshot SEO offered me an internship. When I received the call from my (current) boss, I was elated! Little did I know how much I would learn in a few short months…
When I applied for the internship at Slingshot SEO, I figured it would be like the “typical …

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This week marks the end of my internship here with Indiana INTERNnet, and just by coincidence, it signifies a close to the Freddie Factor blog series. My goal with this blog series was to inform peers, employers, and educators about the opportunities that arise from interning.  

Hopefully, you’ve found this blog to be informative and gained a better understanding of why internships are beneficial. I’ve tried to give tips and tricks relating to interviews, resumes, and the latest-and-greatest Indiana INTERNnet website technology. The Freddie Factor or “FF,” as it is referred to in the “factor fan circles,” was also helpful to me…yes, there are factor fans. I did quite a bit of research when writing these blogs and learned a great deal about interning, as a result. With this final blog, I thought I’d recap my internship experience.

During my internship at Indiana INTERNnet, one of my assignments was …

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As you wrap-up your internship, you may find that you have a few treasured weeks of summer left. What are going to do during this time? Maybe you’ll vacation, eat pizza, catch up on the latest blockbusters, relax, or prepare your dorm room or apartment. While these are all great ideas, if you do have a few spare minutes, you should consider utilizing the time to work on documenting your professional experiences.

Here at the Freddie Factor, I’m hoping for an upcoming school year packed with interviews for full-time employment. During those interviews, recruiters and other interviewers will want to hear about your internship, personal, and academic accomplishments. They also want to see and hear that you’ve prepared for the interview by researching the company, the position, and tailoring your answers accordingly.

Now is the time to update your resume—demonstrating what you did during your internships and results that …

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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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Branding, branding, branding. It’s a popular buzzword in the college, internship, and job worlds, but what exactly is it?

Yes, branding can refer to “It’s so easy a caveman can do it”— thank you, GEICO. The branding to which I am referring is personal branding. This type of branding has many different definitions, but simply put, it is the personal identity you wish to convey to schools and employers. Your “brand” can involve many aspects of your life—from your appearance, your knowledge, and your resume, to your online presence with Facebook and LinkedIn. All of these elements are visible to potential schools or employers, and knowing how to create and manage your personal brand is important to future success.

So, how do you create a brand and manage it? In creating a brand, you first need to identify your goals. If you are trying to snag a specific job, …

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As many of you may already be aware, actor Charlie Sheen has been working with internships.com to hire a “winning” summer 2011 social media intern to monitor and manage his social media marketing campaigns – imagine having that experience listed on your resume…

If this is your first time learning about the internship, don’t get too excited; the competition/interview process is already in its third round, narrowing the some 82,000 applicants down to 250 individuals who have proven to have #tigerblood thus far.

21-year-old Julia Hatmaker is one of the 250 left.  She has made comments to The Patriot-News about her experience:

In the first round, she was asked to tell why she thought she should get the job. Her response was a twist on Sheen’s own words: “Winners don’t have to explain themselves. Only losers do.”

“I guess they liked that,” she said.

Although this answer is …

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Entry by Pat Patterson

Aside from the usual interview preparation – researching the organization and opportunity, preparing answers to questions, dressing in appropriate professional attire, etc. – the key to performing your best at your next internship interview is to get enough sleep the night before, so be prepared to catch some zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzs………

According to studies discussed in Brain Rules, a book by molecular biologist Dr. John Medina, sleep helps our brains function at peak performance:

To highlight this, Medina refers to a study in which math graduate students were given a problem and told the way to solve it. 

“It was a bonehead solution,” Medina says. “Unbeknownst to students, there was a much more elegant way to solve the math problem.”

The researchers, who wanted to study the effect of sleep on cognition, broke the students into two groups, Group A and Group B. With 12 …

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Entry by Pat Patterson

The “dead fish handshake” – Always shake your interviewer’s hand firmly and confidently (just make sure you don’t over do it). 

The “poker face” – When you answer questions, do so with a smile on your face and at least appear as if you are enjoying yourself.  A pleasant attitude is contagious, and your interviewer will remember you as a positive person if you are pleasant. 

Forgetting to breathe – I don’t mean literally forgetting to breathe and passing out (I hope no one is that nervous during an interview) – I mean try not to talk too quickly.  Take some deep breaths and slow your speech enough to be understood.  If you think you may be speaking too quickly, there is a good chance that you are.  Practice answering questions with a friend to gauge a good talking speed. 

“Thanks Tom, uhh…I …

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Entry by Pat Patterson – from the January 2011 INTERNnetwork

Non-traditional Interviews

Virtual Interview
With today’s technology, interviews do not necessarily need to be face-to-face. If you are unable to meet with students for interviews or vice versa, conducting an interview via video/audio equipment may be a viable option. Many career services offices have webcams and Skype accounts to accommodate students and employers for virtual interviews. If your organization typically conducts preliminary phone screening interviews, you may even consider a virtual interview as a substitute.

Meal Interview
If you have a client-focused organization that regularly involves interacting with different individuals, including lunch or dinner meetings, consider interviewing students over lunch or dinner. By doing so, you may be able to gauge a student’s social skills and mannerisms in a more relaxed setting. Even if you are not a client-focused organization, conducting interviews over meals may …

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Entry by Pat Patterson

Before an internship or job interview, it is important to learn as much as you can about the particular opportunity and organization.  The more you know about an opportunity and organization, the more you can understand an employer’s needs, and how you may address such needs if hired.  However, in general, employers will look for certain skills/qualities in potential hires.  According to NACE’s Job Outlook 2011 survey, employers listed verbal communication skills as the top quality they look for:

Survey respondents indicate that verbal communication skills topped the list of “soft” skills they seek in new college graduates looking to join their organizations, followed by strong work ethic, teamwork skills, analytical skills, and initiative.

Employers Rank Top 5 Candidate Skills/Qualities

Verbal Communication Skills Strong Work Ethic Teamwork Skills Analytical Skills Initiative

Read more. 

To hone your verbal communication skills, make sure you practice your elevator …

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