Tag Archives: Internships

The summer after my sophomore year, I interned and studied in London—an opportunity that left me academic and life skills I take with me each day. During my time in London, I worked for a corporate public relations firm. The internship gave me obvious work experience, but studying abroad offers so much more. Brazen Careerist’s recent blog (bit.ly/1rLjusY) shows how to convey the benefits of time overseas to future employers during an interview.

Talk up your communication skills: Even if you studied in an English-speaking country, travel abroad exposes you to people from all walks of life. Chances are you honed in on valuable communication skills that go far beyond polite conversation. Communication is indispensible in nearly every field, so bringing up what you learned during an interview signals that you could handle even the most difficult client.

Budget, budget, budget: Between tricky conversions and strange currency, handling your finances abroad …

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The busiest time for interns often comes as they near the end of their internships. With projects to finish, resumes to update and thank you notes to write, most begin to look toward the school year or full-time job search that looms ahead.

Your updated resume may be full of great quantitative gains from your internship, but it is important to remember the soft skills you learned on the job so you can discuss them in your next interview.

Many new graduates and interns struggle with soft skills, according to this Forbes article. Chances are you developed many of these during your internship, but articulating soft skills can be difficult. You may know that you are an effective communicator and team player, but emphasize this during an interview by recalling a project that required group collaboration. Communication skills are vital in any industry, and using an example from your internship …

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“Align,” “engage” and “advance” turned out to be more than just political buzzwords on Tuesday.

I had the opportunity to attend Align, Engage, Advance: Transforming Indiana’s Workforce cohosted by the Center for Education and Career Innovation and Education Workforce Innovation Network. The conference presented the Indiana Career Council’s strategic plan, and opened my eyes to the challenges Indiana faces with employment. It also reassured me the Indiana INTERNnet will play a significant role in helping provide paths for career success in Indiana.

The biggest lesson I took away from the day is that experiential learning is a driving force in the efforts to elevate Indiana’s workforce.

Lt. Gov. Sue Ellspermann said that she and the rest of the Indiana Career Council hope 60% of Indiana’s workforce will have postsecondary credentials by 2025. This includes industry-recognized certifications, apprenticeships and certificates, among others. Internships provide hands-on, real-world context to classroom studies and …

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Organizations, large and small alike, are frequently spread thin. Especially as an intern, it can even be tempting to fly under the radar. Come in, do your assigned tasks and make as few ripples as possible before the end of the day.

Getting noticed for the right reasons, however, can dramatically improve your career trajectory. As Brazen Careerist explains, small actions elicit big rewards.

One of the easiest ways to draw all the right kinds of attention is to start each day on time. Very few people (I’d argue no sane people) enjoy waking up before the sun to head to a job, no matter how fulfilling their careers are. That being said, arriving on time shows dedication and boosts your efficiency—make an effort to be prompt.

The minor details that send impressive messages don’t stop with your morning routine. Make eye contact with your boss and other coworkers; it …

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Generation Y “Millennials” may receive some criticism from the media and employers, but many possess skills that can increase the depth of an organization. Every generation has its quirks, and Gen-Y is no different. If employers know how to best work with them and utilize their burgeoning talents, however, Millennials can add great value to the office.

As the first generation to grow up with computers, cell phones and tablets at the ready, Millennials are primed to augment an organization’s technological skills. They can be the go-to candidates for starting a new social media platform or finding new technology resources to help your organization get ahead.

In addition to bringing new technology to the tools in your organization’s arsenal, Gen-Y interns and employees bring increased social awareness to the table. Today’s twenty-something employee is attracted to socially-conscious organizations and can help develop office volunteering plans. Beyond making an impact at …

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By now, the shine has worn off of many summer internships. The first week butterflies are gone, and the faces in the office are more familiar than fresh. As the days grow longer and warmer, it is prime time for motivation to wane. However, there are some easy ways to keep enthusiasm and productivity high when dragging yourself out of bed and into the office seems like a chore.

Review your goals: Chances are, you came into your internship with a list of skills you wanted to improve or tasks you wanted to accomplish. Assess how many of those goals you’ve reached and what you still need to do to finish the others. This will give you a sense of accomplishment in what you’ve done so far while inspiring you to reach for your remaining goals. Mid-internship reviews with your supervisor and mentor can also be a good time to …

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Interviews are notoriously stressful. From your resume to your clothes and posture, it is no wonder interviewees often get little sleep before the big day. Augmenting this stress is the fact that one of the hardest questions always comes at the end.

“What questions do you have for us?”

Every job candidate expects it, but it still presents a challenge, especially if the recruiter already covered some of the ones you had prepared. While saying that all of your questions have been answered is clearly not the right response, many find it difficult to think on their feet. Luckily, there are some tried and true themes that can help guide your questions and show the recruiter that you want to know more about the position and organization.

Any place where you spend the majority of your days should share your values, so it helps to ask the recruiter what values …

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“Social” often describes millennial interns. Plenty of studies and begrudging comments from adults note that Gen-Y can hardly take a step without tweeting about it. Rather than being born into the social media era, we grew up with it, and are therefore more likely to embrace new platforms of telling people what we are doing and with whom.

For young interns, “social” must take on a second meaning in the workplace. Clearly, it is important to be friendly with coworkers, but our social media presence must evolve as well. A recent article from Careerealism (http://bit.ly/1p78WQa) boldly claims that while social media cannot replace your resume, it is an additional virtual component that employers look at.

Toward this end, make sure your Twitter account is professional. While it may be fun to livetweet the latest episode of “The Bachelorette” (guilty), use your professional twitter to engage in conversations about your field …

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Kristen Fuhs Wells is the director of communications and development for Indiana Humanities, a statewide nonprofit that encourages Hoosiers to think, read and talk. She has been interviewing, selecting and managing interns in this role and a previous position since 2007.

Make a good first impression. I can tell a lot within the first five minutes based on your timeliness, appearance, handshake and your first few statements. Smile, speak eloquently, shake hands firmly and dress professionally. Show some personality. You’re competing with a lot of other top candidates – don’t just tell me what you think I want to hear. Give me a reason that I can’t NOT hire you. Tell me you’re the perfect candidate by connecting to our mission, explaining why you love Indiana or how your hobbies make you a more well-rounded person. I always start off asking candidates to tell me about themselves. We’re going …

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Indiana INTERNnet celebrated internship excellence on Feb. 5, 2014, at the 8th Annual IMPACT Awards luncheon. Though the event is over and the winners have been announced, we are continuing to celebrate the nominees’ successes.

It isn’t just Ron Arruejo’s affinity for Indy’s delicious food truck offerings that motivates him to commute from Bloomington to the capitol city weekly (though we’re sure it plays a role!). It’s a hands-on internship experience with Thomas P. Miller & Associates (TPMA) that makes the travel worthwhile.

“Being able to work on a vast variety of projects from local economic development to state economic reforms and various market analyses with universities, counties and regions has given me a deeper appreciation of how interconnected the economy is with everyone and everything,” Ron said.

In 2012, Ron was placed with TPMA for his fellowship for graduate school. He has been with TPMA as an intern …

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Sarah Melvin, a 32-year-old mother of two, attended Franklin College out of high school and withdrew her senior year to join the US Navy. After living in Hawaii for eight years, she moved back to the mainland to raise her children near family. Sarah is currently a junior at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College seeking her bachelor’s degree in Business Administration.

I recently served as a Marketing/Support Intern for the Parke County Community Foundation (PCCF). I was curious as to what the organization was and visited the Foundation last summer to perform informational interviews with the staff members. My intentions were to gain insight on how nonprofits operated, and if I would be interested in pursuing a career in the field. Before I left, the executive director offered me the internship position that I recently completed.

The PCCF is a local nonprofit whose mission is to aid …

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Indiana INTERNnet is proud of the two Indiana colleges that made onto the U.S. News’ “10 Colleges With the Highest Rate of Student Internships” list: Holy Cross College and Taylor University. Below is an excerpt from the featured article by Devon Haynie, an education reporter at U.S. News.

It’s a tough job market for recent college graduates.

Of the workers who graduated from college in the past two years, 41 percent say they are underemployed and working in jobs that do not require their college degrees, according to a 2013 survey from Accenture, a consulting company.

And even with their degrees, nearly 63 percent of recent graduates said they will need more training in order to get the job they want, the survey states.

Faced with this reality, many college students are doing everything they can to be more marketable after graduation.

More often than not, landing an internship is key to that strategy – …

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As fall internships are in high gear, we want to remind you of an opportunity to recognize the rock star you had the pleasure of working with this past year. Whether it’s the intern who exceeded your expectations or the employer or career coach who’s served as a great role model, we want to hear your success stories!

Indiana INTERNnet would like to recognize these overachievers at the annual IMPACT Awards luncheon which will be held on Feb. 5, 2014, at the Ivy Tech Culinary Center Ballroom. We are now seeking nominations for these awards (Deadline: Oct. 22). More information on the IMPACT Awards is available here.

Several great stories from last year’s IMPACT Awards remind us of the gems in the workplace:

College Intern of the Year Cody Adams made significant contributions to Roche’s HR department. He was instrumental in the development of first annual summer …

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Have you noticed the leaves turning from green to red, yellow and brown – as if the cooler weather wasn’t enough of a clue that the seasons are changing? So, you reach for that college-branded hoodie from the back of your closet and head to the nearest coffee shop for that pumpkin spice latte. As you sit there in your black rimmed glasses and faded jeans, you browse your Twitter feed and wonder how the summer flew by.

Maybe you spent it lounging on the lake, or taking orders at the neighborhood fast food joint. Maybe you were working your way through online quizzes for that one math class, or watching all 4 seasons of Arrested Development. Or maybe, just maybe – you were gaining some experience at an internship (I can only hope).

As you take a sip of that heavenly java concoction, the smile that …

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This is a guest blog by Armenda Boyer, a sophomore at Purdue University. She is currently working toward a dual major in Agricultural Communication and Agricultural Economics. This past summer, she was an education intern for the Indiana State Fair Commission.

I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I accepted an offer to work as an education intern at the Indiana State Fair. Of course, I expected to have the opportunity to work with children and to share my love of all-things agriculture. And I was able to do just that! What I didn’t expect to do involved 6,500 pounds of caramel corn and a national television show…

The World’s Largest Popcorn Ball tipped the scales at 6,510 pounds. Check out my last post to see how this massive sphere of popcorn and sugar came together to break a world record! The popcorn ball …

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